This Military Service Page was created/owned by
George Gibmeyer, RM2
to remember
Sansone, James Joseph, SN.
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SN James Joseph Sansone's last known activity was serving aboard USS Newport News (CA-148) off the coast of North and South Vietnam in 1972. On Sunday, September 10, 1972, SN Sansone died as a result of a non-hostile accident, having fallen overboard while manning a 5-inch mount. SN Sansone was on the outboard side of the mount holding onto the mount's metal ladder rungs, when suddenly, the mount lurched as it swung over the water, causing SN Sansone to lose his grip. Despite search and rescue attempts by an approaching mail helicopter and Newport News, SN Sansone's body was never recovered. He was 22 years old.
Vietnam War/Vietnam Cease-fire Campaign (72-73)/Battle of Haiphong Harbor
From Month/Year
May / 1972
To Month/Year
May / 1972
Description May 10 was a day of spectaculars for the new Navy.
Three cruisers, led by the Newport News with her eight-inch guns, and two destroyers pulled close to North Vietnamese coast and hit targets only four miles from Haiphong in what the Navy called "the first multi-cruiser gunfire action since World War II."
Navy publicists began calling the Newport News "the fastest gun in the West" and the Oklahoma City "the gray ghost of the Vietnam Coast."