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Contact Info
Home Town Abingdon, VA
Last Address Abingdon, VA
MIA Date Nov 12, 1967
Cause Non Hostile- Died while Missing
Reason Drowned, Suffocated
Location Tonkin Gulf
Conflict Vietnam War
Memorial Coordinates 29E 085
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Following six months of normal operations along the East Coast and in the West Indies, William V. Pratt departed Mayport on 20 June 1967 for her only deployment to the western Pacific during the American involvement in the Vietnamese civil war. En route, she transited the Panama Canal and made port calls at San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam before arriving in Subic Bay in the Philippines on 28 July. Early in August, she departed the Philippines for the Gulf of Tonkin and duty on the northern sea-air rescue (SAR) station. She relieved USS BerkeleyTemplate:WP Ships USS instances on 12 August and remained on station in the gulf until early in September.
On 12 Nov 1967 USS WILLIAM V. PRATT (DLG 13) was preparing for helicopter operations from the helo platform on her stern. The ship was rolling in heavy seas when a 20-foot wave swept over the main deck and carried three men from the handling party overboard.
The ship immediately turned to recover the men while at the same time requesting a helicopter from another ship to assist. One man was quickly spotted and rescued. Five additional ships and two helicopters joined the search for the remaining men but failed to locate either one. The two men lost at sea were SFM2 James D. Roark and Seaman John D. Cayce of San Antonio, Texas.
This Sailor has an (IMO) Memory Of Headstone in Courts of the Missing, Honolulu, Hawaii
Description Forward most ship, off Hai Phong. Passive Air Control for USN Air Strike Ops over North Vietnam.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1965
To Month/Year
December / 1968
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories William V. Pratt departed Mayport on 20 June 1967 for her only deployment to the western Pacific during the American involvement in the Vietnamese civil war. En route, she transited the Panama Canal and made port calls at San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam before arriving in Subic Bay in the Philippines on 28 July. Early in August, she departed the Philippines for the Gulf of Tonkin and duty on the northern sea-air rescue (SAR) station. She relieved USS BerkeleyTemplate:WP Ships USS instances on 12 August and remained on station in the gulf until early in September.
