The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the USS Forrestal Fire (7/29/1967)

There will be stories told of the brave men of Forrestal for years to come. These are only a few examples:

Ltjg. Robert Cates, the carrier's explosive ordnance demolition officer, calmly recounted later how he had "noticed that there was a 500-pound bomb and a 750-pound bomb in the middle of the flight deck . . . that were still smoking. They hadn't detonated or anything; they were just setting there smoking. So I went up and defused them and had them jettisoned."

One hundred thirty-four men died on the Forrestal that day. Their fellow sailors had to create a makeshift morgue on the hangar deck.
Ltjg. Cates also told how one of his men, whom he named only as Black, volunteered to be lowered by line through a hole in the flight deck to defuse a live bomb that had dropped to the 03 level — even though the compartment was still on fire and full of smoke. Black did the job; later, Ltjg. Cates had himself lowered into the compartment to attach a line to the bomb so it could be jettisoned.
This too from Cates: "We [Black and himself] started picking up everything we could find that had explosives in it and started throwing them over the side. Some squadron pilots came up to me as we went aft — I don't know who they were — [and] helped me take a Sidewinder missile off a burning F-4. We just continued working our way aft and taking what ordnance we found off aircraft and throwing it over the side."
Two Forrestal flight deck crewmen, reports said, were knocked overboard by one of the explosions, fell 70 feet into the water, were picked up by a rescue helicopter and deposited back on the flight deck — and resumed fire fighting at once.
One man in a crash crew forklift vehicle, with only one hose playing water on him, tried to get rid of a burning plane by ramming it repeatedly. The plane was jettisoned.
Lt. Cmdr. Larry Forderhase, ship's catapult officer, was preparing to launch aircraft when the fire broke out. He immediately started clearing the deck of bombs and rockets before helping to move planes forward.

The destroyer USS Rupertus (DD-851) steams alongside the burning Forrestal ready to assist in the damage control effort, 29 July 1967
Aviation Electrician's Mate 3rd Class Bruce Mulligan, a 22-year-old VA-106 crewman, was all the way aft on the flight deck when he heard explosions. He turned, saw a "fireball" coming at him and hit the deck. Somehow, he managed to get forward and was headed for a fire hose when he was hit by shrapnel. He helped a friend with a broken leg get to sick bay, then returned to the flight deck.

"Back aft of the island, we started throwing missiles and rockets over the side," he recounted later. "After that was done, I looked around for some of my buddies on the line crew and I could find only one. So we decided to help them fight the fire and got the fire hoses back aft and went to fight the plane fires. My buddy and I stayed back aft for I don't know how long. We got separated and some officer said later to leave.

In the photos above, the crew tries to fight the fires on the flight deck

"I went back to the island and got my hands taken care of and stayed back there [to rest for a while]. I was kind of groggy. I found another of my buddies and we went back aft again to help with the fire. By this time, they were working on the holes in the flight deck.

"Once again, one of our officers in the squadron found me and took me down to the forecastle to rest. I stayed down there for about ten minutes, then went back aft again. ... I stayed back there until I just about passed out and my buddy dragged me out of there. . ."
Seaman Milton Parker was just watching flight operations from the 09 level when the fire struck. Unable to get to his General Quarters station because it was cut off, he manned a hose on the flight deck for almost nine hours. He told how the heat of the deck burned both soles off his shoes, but "my feet are okay because I put on some flight deck shoes and went back in" to continue fire fighting.
The CVW-17 operations officer, Lt. Cmdr. Herb Hope, was to fly a VA-46 A-4 with a launch time of 11a.m. 'When the flight deck erupted in flames, he managed to escape from his plane and, between explosions, literally rolled off the flight deck into a safety net. He made his way down to the hangar deck to coordinate the actions of a damage control party in one of the hangar bays. "The port quarter of the flight deck, where I was," he said, "is no longer there."

Fed by clothing, bedding and other flammables, the fires in the levels between the flight and hangar decks burned with an awesome fury. Men trying to locate shipmates trapped in compartments were driven out by flames and smoke. The after section of the hangar deck was so thick with smoke that it was impossible to see.

As the crew realized that some of the bombs were exploding in the fire very quickly, they decided to get rid of them in any way possible. The photo at left shows crew members rolling a bomb over to the deck edge so they could throw it over.

These are excerpts from an account given by Ens. Robert R. Schmidt, a 24-year-old engineering officer:

"... My work really wasn't the exciting kind of thing; just keeping the fire from spreading into any other areas. My people were doing all kinds of dirty work, moving into areas where the water was so hot it was almost boiling. OBA (Oxygen Breathing Apparatus) windows started fogging up and the people could hardly see anything. Yet, these kids went into the deeper areas of the ship, endangering their own lives. . . ."

At 1:48 p.m., Forrestal reported that the fires in the 01, 02 and 03 levels still burned, but that all the ship's machinery and steering equipment were operational.

Flight deck personnel aboard USS Oriskany (CVA-34) disembark a wounded Forrestal sailor from a SH-3A Sea King helicopter. Oriskany, herself the victim of a fire the previous year, provided medical support during the Forrestal fire.

At 2:12 p.m., the after radio compartment was evacuated because of dense smoke and water. "All fires out on 01 level, port side," the ship reported.

At 2:47 p.m. the compartment fires continued but progress was being made. Forrestal was steaming toward a rendezvous with the hospital ship USS Repose (AH 16).

At 3 p.m., the commander of Task Force 77 announced he was sending Forrestal to Subic Bay, Philippines, after the carrier rendezvoused with Repose.

At 5:05, a muster of Forrestal crewmen — both in the carrier and aboard other ships — was begun. Fires were still burning in the ship's carpenter shop and on the main deck.

At 6:44 p.m., the fires were still burning.

At 8:30 p.m., the fires in the 02 and 03 levels were contained, but the area was still too hot to enter. Holes were cut in the flight deck to provide access to compartments below.

Ens. Schmidt and his damage control team continued to fight their way into burning compartments; his work later that afternoon was as an investigator for the damage control assistant. There were times he had to enter spaces that were virtually inaccessible. "I asked for volunteers," he recalled, "and I immediately had two or three who followed me back into the guts of the fire. Several times, people would come up to me and say, 'What can I do? How can I help?' ... At first, I couldn't find work for all the people who wanted to help. I can't give enough praise to the sailors I supervised. They fought the fire and did all the dirty jobs ... These kids worked all night, 24-28 hours, containing the fire. . . . I've nothing but praise for the American sailor."

On the hangar deck, a chief petty officer — his soaked clothing plastered to his body — ran from burning hangar bay three and called for five volunteers. He got 30.
At the height of the fire, Capt. John K. Beling, Forrestal's commanding officer, went to hangar bay two. He watched quietly for a while, told his men they were doing well. He returned to the bridge; there was nothing more he could do.
Filipino stewards, some who appeared to weigh no more than 100 pounds, rolled 250-pound bombs to the edges and pushed them overboard.
With strength born of adversity, 130-pound Lt. Otis Kight single-handedly carried a 250-pound bomb to the edge of the hangar deck and threw it over the side. His shipmates are certain he will never be able to repeat that feat.
Chief Aviation Ornanceman Thomas Lawler escaped from his shop on the 03 level when the first explosion occurred and the overhead "began to glow like it was on fire." For hours afterwards, he disarmed aircraft in the after hangar bays, groping his way through smoke so thick that he could see no more than a foot ahead. "I don't believe we were in very great danger in hangar bay three," he said later. "All the fires were contained in the very aft end of the hangar bay. The only thing that worried me slightly at all was on the first trip in the hangar bay when you could see practically nothing at all [but] we kept hearing a gushing, a loud, gurgling sound and we couldn't quite determine what that was and the unknown always worries you a little bit. . ."

At 8:33 p.m., Forrestal reported that fires on the 02 level were under control but that fire fighting was greatly hampered because of smoke and heat.

At 8: 54, only the 02 level on the port side was still burning. Medical evacuation to Repose was in progress.

At 12:20 a.m., July 30, all the fires were out. Forrestal crewmembers continued to clear smoke and cool hot steel on the 02 and 03 levels.

The tragedy of the hours that had passed since the fire started began to penetrate into the minds and bodies of the men aboard the carrier. The adrenalin that had pumped through them began to seep away. They were tired but they could not sleep; they walked restlessly about the ship, lending a hand wherever they could.

The fire destroyed millions of dollars worth of planes and other equipment. The flight deck and much of the rest of the ship was in ruins after the fire.

As time passed, volunteers were still requested and swarms of men — men who had fought the fire since 11 a.m. and who were dead tired and sick from smoke and the sights they'd seen — forgot their fatigue and their sickness and raced through passageways to man the hoses again.

Lt. j.g. Frank Guinan sat on the deck next to his room, too tired to get up and go inside. "It seems so unreal," he said, and he added: "Nobody had better say to me that American youth [is] lazy. I saw men working today who were not only injured but thoroughly exhausted and they had to be carried away. They were trying so hard to help but they were actually becoming a burden."

It was time, now, to begin to assess the damage. There were four gaping holes in the flight deck where bombs exploded, pushing armored steel down and under — much like an old-fashioned hole in a beer can.

Stock was taken of the aircraft. It leveled off to a report of 26 either destroyed or jettisoned and 31 more damaged to some extent.

Aerial view of the flight deck on fire

And it was time to arrive at a final toll of dead and injured. For hours, the muster of Forrestal men continued; it was made terrifically difficult because so many of the crew were scattered in other ships.

And it was time to recall how those ships had come to the aid of the stricken Forrestal. From Oriskany and Bon Homme Richard had come medical teams and fire-fighting equipment. The skippers of the destroyers USS Rupertus (DD 851) and USS George K. MacKenzie (DD 836) , in what Rear Adm. Harvey P. Lanham, ComCarDiv Two, called an act of "magnificent seamanship," had maneuvered their ships to within 20 feet of the carrier so fire hoses could be effectively used.

But mostly it was a time to think of shipmates, those who had fought the flames and died because of their heroism. They were men like Data Systems Technician 2nd Class Stephen L. Hock, who was one of the first to reach the 03 level and who fought the fire and aided survivors until he was driven back by fire and smoke, then donned an OBA and returned again to the blazing area to fight the flames and help the injured. He kept up the pace for hours, then was overcome in a flooded and gas-filled compartment. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

A ruined 5 inch gun is hoisted out of the ship during repairs. The guns were sent to the scrappers and eventually were replaced by missiles.

They were men like Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Joseph C. Shartzer who returned to the inferno on the 03 level from which he had narrowly escaped and sacrificed his life as he aided in rescuing trapped men and fighting the fire.

They were men like Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Hydaulics) 3rd Class Robert A. Rhuda, who could have escaped from the smoke-filled compartments where he was on duty as a police petty officer, but who remained behind to awaken and direct or physically assist shipmates out of the area — returning time and time again until the explosion of a bomb destroyed the compartment in which he was last seen.

They were men like that.

Eighteen of the crew were eventually buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
They are buried beneath the memorial that appears above

As Forrestal steamed for Subic Bay, a memorial service was held in Hangar Bay One for the crewmen who had given their lives for their ship and their country. More than 2,000 Forrestal men listened to and prayed with Chaplains Geoffrey Gaughan and David Cooper as they paid tribute to their lost shipmates. The three volleys fired by 13 U.S. Marines were followed by the benediction, which closed the service after 15 minutes of prayer and hymns.

The heroes and the brave men aboard Forrestal were uniformly praised by those under whom they served. Vice Adm. C. T. Booth, ComNavAirLant, paid tribute to their courage, as did Adm. Roy L. Johnson, CinCPacFlt, Adm. E. P. Holmes, CinCLantFlt, and Paul Nitze, Deputy Secretary of Defense, who also spoke for Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara.

And there was this personal message to Capt. Beling: "I want you and the men of your command to know that the thoughts of the American people are with you at this tragic time. We all feel a great sense of personal loss. The devotion to duty and courage of your men have not gone unnoticed. The sacrifices they have made shall not be in vain." It was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson.

Capt. Beling also commented on his crew: "I am most proud of the way the crew reacted. The thing that is foremost in my mind is the concrete demonstration that I have seen of the worth of American youth. I saw many examples of heroism. I saw, and subsequently heard of, not one single example of cowardice."

Forrestal men were men like that.

Additional Sources:

www.sailorstotheend.com
www.naval-air.org
www.hazegray.org
www.forrestal.org
users.erols.com
tampabayonline.net
www.lostliners.com
www.arlingtoncemetery.net

List of those who lost their lives onboard USS Forrestal - 29 July 1967 (As listed on panel 24E at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (the Wall) in Washington, D.C.)

Marvin J. Adkins * Everettt A. Allen * Gary J. Ardeneaux

Tony A. Barnett * Dennis M. Barton * Robert L. Bennett

Mark R. Bishop * James L. Blaskis * William V. Brindle

Bobby J. Brown * Jerry D. Byars * Marvin F. Campeau

Jack M. Carlan * Daniel G. Cavazos * Ray A. Chatelain

Richard D. Clendenen * William D. Collins * Robert B. Cotton

James L. Crenshaw * Mario C. Crugnola, Jr. * Robert J. Davies

Thomas J. Dawson, Jr. * Jerold V. Despard * Edward R. Dorsey

Joseph G. Dugas * Paul A. Dupere * John S. Duplaga

Walter T. Eads * James A. Earick * John T. Edwards

Gerald W. Farrier * Kenneth L. Fasth * John J. Fiedler

Russell L. Fike * Harold Fontenot * Johnnie L. Frazier

Gerald G. Fredrickson * Herbert A. Frye * Ramon Garza

Robert E. Geller * Richard H. Gibson * Laurence J. Gilbert

William T. Gilroy * Larry E. Grace * Russell A. Grazier

Charles C. Gregory * William C. Hartgen * Robert L. Hasz

Richard A. Hatcher * William K. Hinckley * Stephen L. Hock

Larry D. Holley * Calvin D. Howison * Philip L. Hudson

Julius B. Hughes * Donald N. Hugo * Ralph W. Jacobs

Donald W. Jedlicka * William B. Justin * Thomas M. Kane

Charles D. Kieser * Joseph Kosik III * Edward L. La Barr

Wade A. Lannom, Jr. * William Lee * Robert C. Leonberg

John T. Lilla * Arnold E. H. Lohse * Charles E. Long

William E. Lowe * Kenneth W. Lozier * James S. MacVickar, Jr.

Ralph E. Manning * Earle E. McAuliffe, Jr. * Brian D. McConahay

George C. McDonald * Frank C. McNelis, Jr. * William V. McQuaide

Allan R. Metz * George D. Miller * Edward A. Mindyas

Hubert H. Morgan, Jr. * Leroy Moser * James E. Neumeyer

Gary E. Newby * James E. Newkirk * Ronald R. Ogring

Thomas D. Ott II * Wayne H. Ott * Richard L. Owens

Richard T. Pinta * Raymond N. Plesh * John C. Pody

Ernest E. Polston * Douglas A. Post * Robert M. Priviech

John M. Pruner * Robert A. Rhuda * Charles R. Rich

Jerry P. Rodgers * Dale R. Ross * James M. Runnels

Harvey D. Scofield * Joseph C. Shartzer * William J. Shields

Richard M. Sietz * David W. Smith * Richard T. Smith

John F. Snow * John C. Spiess * Nelson E. Spitler

Johnny W. Spivey * Gerry L. Stark * Walter E. Steele

Wendell W. Stewart * Robert A. Stickler * Kenneth D. Strain

Robert H. Swain * Delton E. Terry * Norman A. Thomas

William F. Thompson * Richard J. Vallone * Robert J. Velasquez

Juan A. Velez * George E. Wall * Harold D. Watkins

Gregory L. Webb * Gerald A. Wehde * Judson A. Wells, Jr.

Richard L. Wescott * Edward J. Wessells * Fred D. White

Kerry D. Wisdom * Robert L. Zwerlein

Not to be forgotten...

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Veterans Day 2003 - Attention Northern California
PDN News Desk ^ | Monday, October 13, 2003 | Patriot Defenders Network

Posted on 10/13/2003 11:56 AM PDT by comwatch

Veterans Day is right around the corner.

It's an opportunity for us to support our troops, our country and show appreciations for our local veterans. It's another way to counter the Anti-Iraq campaign propaganda. Would you like to help? Are there any VetsCoR folks on the Left Coast? We have a school project that everyone can help with too, no matter where you live. See the end of this post for details.

Three Northern California events have been scheduled and we need help with each:

Friday evening - November 7th Veterans in School (An Evening of Living History, A Veterans Day Ice Cream Social)

http://www.patriotwatch.com/V-Day2003c.htm

Saturday - 11 a.m. November 8th: Veterans Day Parade (PDN & Friends parade entry)

http://www.patriotwatch.com/V-Day2003b.htm

Sunday November 9, 2003 Noon to 3:00 PM Support our Troops & Veterans Rally prior to Youth Symphony Concert

http://www.patriotwatch.com/V-Day2003d.htm

Each of the WebPages above have a link to e-mail a confirmation of your interest and desire to volunteer. These are family events and everyone is welcome to pitch in. We'd really appreciate hearing from you directly via each these specific links. This way, we can keep you posted on only those projects you want to participate in.

Veterans in School - How you can help if you're not close enough to participate directly. If you are a veteran, share a story of your own with the children. If you have family serving in the military, tell them why it's important that we all support them. Everyone can thank them for having this special event. Keep in mind that there are elementary school kids.

Help us by passing this message around to other Veteran's groups. I have introduced VetsCoR and FreeperFoxhole to a number of school teachers. These living history lessons go a long way to inspire patriotism in our youth. Lets see if we can rally America and give these youngsters enough to read for may weeks and months ahead. If we can, we'll help spread it to other schools as well.

Click this link to send an email to the students.

Good morning everyone!

Good Morning Feather. Glad to see you're home.

God Rest and Keep you in His loving care, Shipmates!

Dear Lord, watch over our Brothers and Sisters who remain in harms way, where ever they are around the globe. Grant them Thy blessing, that they be protected from harm, and may they be safely, and swiftly, returned to their loved ones. AMEN

Thanks again, Sam, for all the hard work you and Snippy do to post these threads!

Click on the image

to visit the tribute page±

"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty."
Toward FREEDOM

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Tuesday Morning Everyone!

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

Beautiful Graphic feather. Good morning.

Howdy Snippy, you had your coffee yet??

I did at 3:00am and now I can't sleep!!! LOL

No coffee yet, Foxhole ping list comes first. I'm going to get a cup now though. Glad to have you home.

Thanks snippy, glad to be home.

Good Morning Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole. How's it going?

Good morning EGC. It's the start of a shortened work week for me, still seems like a Monday!

I saw the movie "Trial by Fire" in boot camp. I scared the hell out of me. I thought about it everytime I went on the flight deck. This year I read the book "Sailors to the End." They were truly Sailors to the End. Heros every one.

Today's classic warship, USS Wisconsin (BB-9)

Illinois class battleship
displacement. 11,564
length. 373'10"
beam. 72'2.5"
draft. 28'8.1"
speed. 16 k.
complement. 531
armament. 4 13", 14 6", 16 6-pdrs., 6 1-pdrs., 4 .30-cal. mg.

The USS Wisconsin (Battleship No. 9) was laid down on 9 February 1897 at San Francisco, Calif., by the Union Iron Works; launched on 26 November 1898; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Stephenson, the daughter of Senator Isaac Stephenson of Marinette, Wis., and commissioned on 4 February 1901, Capt. George C. Reiter in command.

She mainly operated along the western coasts of North and Central America during the next two years, often serving as flagship of the Pacific Squadron. She also cruised to the South Pacific in late 1901 and to Chile early in 1902. Between June 1903 and September 1906 Wisconsin was stationed in the Far East as Asiatic Fleet flagship. She was out of commission at the Puget Sound Navy Yard from November 1906 until April 1908, and in July 1908 joined the "Great White Fleet" battleships that were then preparing for the trans-Pacific stage of their cruise around the World. Participating in the remainder of this epic voyage, Wisconsin visited New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, China, Ceylon, then crossed the Indian Ocean, transited the Suez Canal, and passed through the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic before steaming into Hampton Roads, Virginia, in February 1909.

Over the next few months, Wisconsin underwent modernization work that greatly changed her appearance. Emerging from the shipyard with a new "basket" foremast, grey paint and many other alterations, she operated along the U.S. East Coast and in the Caribbean from mid-1909 to the spring of 1910, then went into reserve. Fitted with a second "basket" mast, she emerged briefly from reserve in 1912, and in 1915 joined the Naval Academy Training Squadron. In the middle of that year, the battleship passed through the Panama Canal on a Midshipmen's training cruise, thus returning to the Pacific for the first time in nearly seven years.

However, Wisconsin's remaining career was primarily spent in the Atlantic. Her Naval Academy tour ended when the United States entered World War I in April 1917. During that conflict she was employed to train the huge numbers of new Sailors needed to man the greatly enlarged wartime Navy. Wisconsin generally operated in the Chesapeake Bay for this purpose, but made occasional trips along the East Coast. With the War at an end, in early 1919 she participated in Atlantic Fleet exercises off Cuba and, in mid-year, carried Naval Academy midshipmen on a Caribbean cruise. Decommissioned in May 1920, a few weeks later Wisconsin was given the hull number BB-9, but had no further active service. She was sold for scrapping in January 1922.

Thank you SAM for today's thread on the USS FORRESTAL.

"I've nothing but praise for the American sailor."

"Nobody had better say to me that American youth [is] lazy. I saw men working today who were not only injured but thoroughly exhausted and they had to be carried away."

"USS George K. MacKenzie (DD 836) , in what Rear Adm. Harvey P. Lanham, ComCarDiv Two, called an act of "magnificent seamanship," had maneuvered their ships to within 20 feet of the carrier so fire hoses could be effectively used."

"I am most proud of the way the crew reacted. The thing that is foremost in my mind is the concrete demonstration that I have seen of the worth of American youth. I saw many examples of heroism. I saw, and subsequently heard of, not one single example of cowardice."

SAM, imo, after having met the young men of the USS TARAWA, I have no doubt that this is how sailors would respond no matter the ship or the time and place. They showed a bond between them that I can only guess happens not only with Sailors but also with Soldiers and Marines and any of our Armed Forces in harms way and this is why all those serving are hero's in my eyes.

Heartbreaking story SAM, I thought of "our" sailors while I read this and it makes it even more touching and sad.

May God Bless the lost and the living of the FORRESTAL.

Run the straight race through God's good Grace,
Lift up your eyes and seek His face; Life with it's way before us lies, Christ is the path and Christ is the prize.