In June 1967, the USS Forrestal departed Norfolk, VA, for duty in waters off Vietnam. In the Gulf of Tonkin on July 29th, the Forrestal had been launching aircraft from her flight deck. For four days, the planes of Attack Carrier Air Wing 17 had flown about 150 missions against targets in North Vietnam from the ship. At about 10:50 AM (local time), during preparation for another strike, a Zuni rocket installed on an F-4 Phantom misfired, impacting an armed A-4 Skyhawk parked on the port side. The rocket's force dislodged and ruptured the Skyhawk's 400-gallon external fuel tank. Fuel from the leaking tank caught fire, creating a conflagration that burned for hours, killing 134 including AMS3 Larry E. Grace.
(Source: vvmf.org/wall-of-faces)
In June 1967, the USS Forrestal departed Norfolk, VA, for duty in waters off Vietnam. In the Gulf of Tonkin on July 29th, the Forrestal had been launching aircraft from her flight deck. For four days, the planes of Attack Carrier Air Wing 17 had flown about 150 missions against targets in North Vietnam from the ship. At about 10:50 AM (local time), during preparation for another strike, a Zuni rocket installed on an F-4 Phantom misfired, impacting an armed A-4 Skyhawk parked on the port side. The rocket's force dislodged and ruptured the Skyhawk's 400-gallon external fuel tank. Fuel from the leaking tank caught fire, creating a conflagration that burned for hours, killing 134 including AMS3 Larry E. Grace.
(Source: vvmf.org/wall-of-faces)
Inscription
Larry E. Grace
AMS2 U.S. Navy
Vietnam
Dec. 15 1945
July 29 1967