This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tom Bateman, GMM1
to remember
Worcester, John Bowers (Smiley), LCDR.
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This Sailor has an (IMO) In Memory Of Headstone in Highland View Cemetery, Big Rapids, MI. :
On 19 Oct 1965 a section of A-4s from VA-195 embarked in USS BON HOMME RICHARD was tasked with an armed recon mission between Vihn and Thanh Hoa to the north. Then-LTJG John Worcester was flying as wingman in A-4C BuNo 148584. Worcester failed to join on his lead following an attack on a bridge some 35 miles southeast of Thanh Hoa and 20 miles inland. Although his lead retraced his route three times and was joined by other aircraft for the search, nothing was found. Worcester and his A-4 had simply disappeared. Although BON HOMME RICHARD had been in the combat zone since May 1965, LTJG Worcester had joined VA-195 only a few weeks earlier and was flying his 14th mission when he disappeared. He was carried as Missing in Action, and was twice promoted while in that status to the rank of Lieutant Commander, until the Secretary of the Navy approved a Presumptive Finding of Death on 08 Dec 1975. As of 27 Apr 2005 his remains have not been repatriated.
Other Comments:
Note: O2 at loss. Promoted while in MIA status LCDR (04) Incident Date: Tuesday, 10/19/1965, Change Status: Monday, 12/08/1975 Missing to Died while Missing
Description This campaign was 8 March to 24 December 1965. As communist efforts in South Vietnam increased, US carriers continued bombing North Vietnam while US Marines landed from seventh Fleet ships at danang, marking the beginning of major combat in involvement in Vietnam.
In April 1965 the Joint General Staff (JGS) decided to enhance their control of the Vietnamese Marine Corps by making it a separate service within the armed forces. In addition, the JGS redesignated the I, II, III and IV Naval Zones as Coastal Zones and, along with the newly created III and IV Riverine Areas, placed them under the operational control of the army commanders of the I, II, III, and IV Corps Tactical Zones. Because of its special riverine characteristics, the Rung Sat remained in the navy's charge. Thus, with the exception of ships steaming outside of territorial waters, most of the navy's combat forces came under army direction.
Administrative responsibility for the navy, however, remained with the Chief of Naval Operations. Another significant reorganization occurred in July 1965 when the JGS formally integrated the 3,500-man, paramilitary Coastal Force into the navy. Thereafter, the command's divisions and the old coastal district designations were dropped and the coastal zones became the operational sectors. In a similar move, in October the following year, the Vietnamese Navy was assigned administrative responsibility for the headquarters and training center of the 24 paramilitary Regional Force Boat Companies and maintenance responsibility for their 192 vehicle and personnel landing craft (LCVP).
The Navy established the coastal surveillance force (dubbed operation Market Time), using its own swift boats and Coast Guard WPBs to stop communist infiltration from the sea. On 18 December, the U.S. Navy began patrolling the rivers of South Vietnam in an operation named game warden.
