This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Shaun Thomas (Underdog), OSC
to remember
Shields, William John, PO3.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Philadelphia
Last Address Philadelpha
Casualty Date Jul 29, 1967
Cause Non Hostile- Died while Missing
Reason Other Accident
Location Vietnam, North (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment North Cedar Hill Cemetery - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
following article is taken from The Philadelphia Daily News, special supplement entitled 'SIX HUNDRED AND THIRTY,' October 26, 1987.
Shields centered his life on his niece and nephew, his mother said, and went out of his way to help everyone. "If he saw people coming down the street with packages, he would help them in the house," she recalled. He loved the Jersey shore, and drove there on weekends in his car, which he had nicknamed "Baby," until he enlisted in the Navy in September 1965. The 22-year-old Dobbins Vocational High School graduate, an aviation structural mechanic third class, was assigned to Fighter Squadron 11 and worked on mechanical and hydraulic systems. He died on July 29, 1967, as a result of a fire and explosions aboard the giant aircraft carrier USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin. Wayne H. Ott, another Philadelphia veteran, also died in the accident, which took 10 (sic) lives. Shields' survivors included his mother.
From a native Philadelphian and Marine, Jim McIlhenney christianamacks@comcast.net
