At odds with Bush’s policies on trucking as a result of enforcement of NAFTA, Illegal immigration, International Court retrying 51 convicted criminals/murders from Mexico due to treaty agreement, Custom Officers jailed, Attorney General conduct, while Obama may sweep house like Clinton did, and as well other issues relating to energy, environment and natural resources, privacy and reconstruction methods of Iraq, with millions homeless, Bush was still my President and the elected head of our nation by the majority.

As a sailor, solider, airman or SEAL serving in harms way; President Bush was there Commander-In-Chief at the beginning of OIF and OEF and will be until he leaves office.

Voicing an opinion is an Americans right, yet I’m not comfortable calling politician’s names or pursuing hate tactics in a march to exclaim the faults of our President.

If change doesn’t take hold, the American people can vote again as with other elected officials.

Presently our nation is leaning to the Democrat Party and liberals have there day. State propositions will affect American society, politics, energy, environment and natural resources.

Issues on National Security, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Georgia/Russia, Poland, North Korea, China, Africa, Europe, South America, etc., Gun Control, Abortion, United Nations, International agreements on the environment, economy, taxes addressed in the congress and senate by a Democrat Controlled forum will notably be aligned.

We can however hold Obama accountable and address our concerns about Senate and House Bills and Laws governing business practices over hauling banking procedures and the handling of mortgages to include an investigation into Wall Street.

In the up coming months we will witness the building of an executive branch of the government transformed in search of change that will rock our world.

As I’m quickened up into the mayhem of real change, I can only pray the direction our country heads will quicken the Kingdom Of God.

If Israel ever nukes Iran and Syria, preceded by an attack on Iran’s nuclear power plants, resulting in war between Iran and Israel, Syria joining Iran, Syria and Iran would be hit at the same time. Would America defend such and action? Millions dead as a result of self preservation and seven years to go if we abandoned Israel during which time our Lord would return. Are we in the end time or can Obama fix everything?

Will Americans stand by there President elect or bash him?

Can Obama unite the American people leaning to the left?

Will the economy be boosted through green jobs?

Will we loose the Iraq war?

Will Bin laden be captured?

Will we invade Pakistan to get bin laden?

Will Iran be allowed to have nukes?

Will Chavez be allowed to install ballistic missiles from Russia?

Will Israel be defended?

Will the Middle East policies of Obama solve issues of state sovereignty for Israel’s neighbors?

Will Supreme Court judges be replaced with more liberal judges?

Will we survive the future?

The group, Muslim Americans for Obama [MAFO], insists that all of its voter registration activity is non-partisan, despite the fact that its mission statement says it was launched in August 2008 “to provide a vehicle for Muslim-American supporters of Barack Obama to organize and mobilize our fellow citizens to get out the vote to elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States.”

http://www.onenewsnow.com:80/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=273884

To me, Obama is a voice to a party. His faith, my faith, your faith, does it play a role in how we feel and when we make decisions?

Can a politician exempt themselves from moral values brought on by any religion?

Would a Christian be more likely to be against same sex couple sexual activities based on biblical adherence, abortion while being tolerant and not pushing religious view about the hole thing unless attacked by those forcing others to accept there course.

Muslims around the world disagree with same sex life styles, abortion, etc. yet are groups within the masses as tolerant as Christians are expected to be?

I read about fathers murdering there daughters because they chose who to marry in Pakistan or 400,000 Christian homes and four hundred churches burned, displacing 50,000 Christians now in refugee camps because they won’t convert back to Hindu within a nuclear India.

Muslims are killing each other in Iraq and coalition forces when ever they get a chance.

Why won’t more Muslims fight?

I can see the forced marched by some Muslims, convincing others through threats of death to support them.

A peaceful person regardless of religion can get along, yet Muslims in Iran want to wipe Israel off the map.

I don’t see any Christians wanting to wipe out any country, to include every person, but through defense we may have to help Israel against how many million Muslims?

You can count Syria in for sure, Lebanon, Palestine, etc.

What makes an American Muslim different from a Middle East Muslim or Christian worshiping in a communist or socialist country?

Obama’s deep rooted association with liberals and socialist is evident and that is important to note and research the truths and false, yet today it’s no big deal and that is what is alarming.

From what I can see, Obama because of his ancestral religious back ground would have had to convert to Christianity, yet Christians can convert back to the Muslim faith.

Either way Obama is clealy for government regulation, important in the banking industry and as it turns out the energy industry as well; more power to the United Nations, 7.5% gnp annually, Sea Treaty favoring the United Nations as in international courts of 51 convicted murders from Mexico.

So if Obama favors Muslims over Christians then that is important, yet his liberal views echoing the Democratic party I guess illustrates a direction our country may just follow and hope for change.

John McCain spent 5½ years in captivity as a POW in North Vietnam. His first-person account of that harrowing ordeal was published in U.S. News in May 1973. Shot down in his Skyhawk dive bomber on Oct. 26, 1967, Navy flier McCain was taken prisoner with fractures in his right leg and both arms. He received minimal care and was kept in wretched conditions that he describes vividly in the U.S. News special report:

This story originally appeared in the May 14, 1973, issue of U.S.News & World Report. It was posted online on January 28, 2008.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/01/28/john-mccain-prisoner-of-war-a-fir st-person-account.html?PageNr=1

McCAIN, JOHN SIDNEY III
Name: John Sidney McCain III
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY (CVA-34)
Date of Birth: 29 August 1936
Home City of Record: Coco Sole, Canal Zone, Panama (family in Norfolk VA at
time of release; resides in AZ 1999)
Date of Loss: 26 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210100N 1055100E (WJ876270)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
REMARKS: 730314 RELEASED BY DRV

Source: Compiled by from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews, information from John McCain III, Arlington National
Cemetery. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 2008.

SYNOPSIS: John McCain graduated from Episcopal High School, Alexandria VA in
1954. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD graduating in
1958.

John S. McCain came from a Navy family. Both his father and grandfather
became Navy aviators, and John III followed in their footsteps. He graduated
from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958, as his father had in 1931. John III was
later shipped to Vietnam, where he became the third generation of his family
to serve.
http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/m/m125.htm

John McCain
AKA John Sidney McCain III
Born: 29-Aug-1936
Birthplace: Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone
Gender: Male
Religion: Baptist [1]
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Politician
Party Affiliation: Republican
Nationality: United States
Executive summary: US Senator from Arizona
Military service: US Navy (1958-81, Capt.)
http://www.nndb.com/people/914/000023845

CVW-16 squadrons consisted of VF-111 Fighter Squadron, Sundowners flying Vought Crusader F-8C Jet Fighter and VF-162 Fighter Squadron, Hunters flying Crusader F-8E Jet Fighter; VA-163 Attack Squadron, Saints, VA-164 Attack Squadron, Ghost Riders and VA-152 Attack Squadron, Friendlies flying Douglas Skyhawk A-4E Jet Attack Bomber; VFP-63 Det G/34 Light Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Eyes of the Fleet flying Vought Crusader RF-8GRF-8G Jet Fighter/Reconnaissance; VAH-4 Det G/34 Heavy Attack Squadron, Fourrunners flying Douglas Skywarrior KA-3B Jet Attack/Tanker; VAW-111 Det G/34 Carrier Tactical Electronics Warfare Squadron, Willy Fudd flying Grumman E-1B Traacer. On 20 April 1967 Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 111 (VAW-111) was established and VAW-11 detachments became part of VAW-111. VAW-13 Det Carrier Tactical Electronics Warfare Squadron, flying Douglas EA-1F Attack Fighter/Special electronic installation . VAW-13 did not submit a Command History Report for 1967; consequently, it is not possible to verify all the squadron’s detachments operating aboard carriers on Yankee Station in 1967. HC-1 Det 34 Helicopter Combat Support Squadron, Pacific Fleet Angels, flying Kaman UH-2A & UH-2B Seasprite/Transport (Utility). HC-7 was established on 1 September 1967. VAP-61 Det Heavy Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron or VA(P) Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy)or Heavy Photographic Squadron.flying Douglas RA-3B /A3D-2P (RA-3B)Skywarrior/Photographic Reconnaissance/Survey

“Designated flagship of Carrier Division 9 in Subic B ay 9 July 1967, Oriskany commenced “Yankee Station” operations 14 July 1967 and while on the line, on 18 July 1967, the aircraft flown by Lieutenant Commander RICHARD DANNER HARTMAN fell victim to anti-aircraft fire near Phu Ly in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam.

Hartman, from VA 164, ejected safely, but could not be rescued due to the hostile threat in the area.

Others in the flight were in radio contact with him and resupplied him for about three days.

He was on a karst hill in a difficult recovery area.

Eventually the North Vietnamese moved in a lot of troops and AAA guns, making rescue almost impossible.

One of the rescue helicopters attempting to recover LCDR Hartman on 19 June was a SH3A SIKORSKY SEA KING helicopter flown by Navy Lieutenant DENNIS WILLIAM PETERSON.

The crew onboard the helicopter included Ensign DONALD PATRICK FRYE and AX2 WILLIAM BRAXTON JACKSON and AX2 DONALD PAUL McGRANE.

While attempting to rescue LCDR Hartman, this aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed killing all onboard.

The remains of all but the pilot, Peterson, were returned by the Vietnamese on 14 October 1982.

The remains of Lieutenent Peterson are still missing.

The decision was made to leave Hartman before more men were killed trying to rescue him.

It was not an easy decision, and one squadron mate said, ” To this day, I can remember his voice pleading, ‘ Please don’t leave me.’ We had to, and it was a heart breaker.”

Hartman was captured and news returned home that he was in a POW camp.

However, he was not released in 1973.

The Vietnamese finally returned his remains on 5 March 1974.

Hartman had died in captivity from unknown causes.

In July 1967, Lieutenant Commander DONALD VANCE DAVIS was one of the SAINTS of VA 163 onboard the USS ORISKANY, and he was an aggressive pilot.

On the night of 25 July 1967, Davis was assigned a mission over North Vietnam.

The procedure for these night attacks was to drop flares over a suspected target, then fly beneath them to attack the target in the light of the flares.

Davis and another pilot were conducting the mission about 10 miles south of Ha Tinh when Davis radioed that he had spotted a couple of trucks.

He dropped the flares and went in.

On his strafing run, he drove his A4E SKYHAWK straight into the ground and was killed immediately.

Davis is listed among the missing because his remains were never recovered.

On 26 July, Oriskany provided medical assistance to the fire-ravaged attack carrier USS Forrestal (CV-59).

Lieutenant JG RALPH CAMPION BISZ was also assigned to Attack Squadron 163.

On 4 August 1967, Bisz launched on a strike mission against a petroleum storage area near Haiphong.

Approximately a minute and a half from the target area, four surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed lifting from the area northeast of Haiphong.

The flight maneuvered to avoid the SAMs, however, Bisz’ aircraft was observed as it was hit by a SAM by a wingman.

Bisz’ aircraft exploded, burst into flames, and spun downward in a large ball of fire.

Remnants of the aircraft were observed falling down in the large ball of fire until reaching an altitude estimated to be 5,000 feet and then appeared to almost completely burn out prior to reaching the ground.

No parachute or ejection was observed.

No emergency beeper or voice communications were received.

His aircraft went down in a heavily populated area in Hai Duong Province, Vietnam.

Information from an indigenous source which closely parallels his incident indicated that his remains were recovered from the wreckage and taken to Hanoi for burial.

The U.S. Government listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War with certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his fate.

Bisz was placed in a casualty status of Captured on 4 August 1967.

The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz ejecting was slim.

If he had ejected, his capture would have taken place in a matter of seconds due to the heavy population concentration in the area and that due to the lack of additional information it is believed that Bisz did not eject from his aircraft and that he was killed on impact of the SAM.

Classified information on Bisz’ case was presented to the Vietnamese by General JOHN VESSEY in the fall of 1987 in hopes that the Vietnamese would be able to resolve the mystery of Bisz’ fate.

His case is one of what are called “discrepancy” cases, which should be readily resolved.

The Vietnamese have not been forthcoming with information on Ralph Bisz.

On 31 August, three pilots from the USS ORISKANY were shot down on a particularly wild raid over Haiphong.

The Air Wing had been conducting strikes on Haiphong for two consecutive days.

On this, the third day, ten aircraft launched in three flights; four from VA 164 (call sign GHOSTRIDER), four from VA 163 (call sign OLD SALT) and two from VA 163 ( call sign SAINTS).

As the flight turned to go into Haiphong, one of the section leaders spotted two SAMs lifting off from north of Haiphong.

They were headed towards the SAINTS section leader and the GHOSTRIDERS section leader, Lieutenant Commander RICHARD CLARK PERRY.

The SAINTS section leader and his wingman pitched up and to the right, while Old Salt 3, Lieutenant Commander HUGH ALLEN STAFFORD, turned down, his wingman, Lieutenant JG DAVID JAY CAREY close behind him.

Carey, an Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first operational mission.

The missile detonated right in front of them and aircraft pieces went everywhere.

The other SAM headed towards Perry’s section, and he had frozen in the cockpit.

All three planes in the division pulled away, while he continued straight and level.

His helpless flightmates watched as the missile came right up and hit the aircraft.

The aircraft was generally whole and heading for open water.

Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and Carey, had by that time ejected from their ruined planes and were heading towards the ground.

Both were okay, but Stafford had landed in a tree near a village, making rescue impossible.

Stafford and Carey were captured and held in various prisoner of war camps until their release in Operation Homecoming on 14 March 1973.

Richard Perry had also ejected and was over open water.

But as Perry entered the water, his parachute went flat and he did not come up.

A helicopter was on scene within minutes, and a crewman went into the water after Perry.

He had suffered massive chest wounds, either in the aircraft or during descent in his parachute and was dead.

To recover his body was too dangerous because the North Vietnamese were mortaring the helicopter.

The helicopter left the area.

Richard Perry’s remains were recovered by the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at which time they were returned to U.S. control.

Flight members were outraged that they had lost three pilots to SAMs that they were forbidden to attack.

Policy was soon changed to allow the pilots to strike the sites, although never to the extent that they were disabled
completely.

On 7 October 1967, VA 164 pilot Lieutenant DAVID LAWTON HODGES was killed when his A4E SKYHAWK was hit by a SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi.

His remains were never recovered and he is listed among those Missing In Action in Vietnam.

On 18 October 1967, VA 164 pilot Lieutenant Commander JOHN FREDERICK BARR was killed when his A4E SKYHAWK was hit by enemy fire and slammed into the ground while on a strike mission at Haiphong. His remains were not recovered.

On 2 November 1967, VA 164 pilot Lieutenant JG FREDERIC WOODROW KNAPP launched as the lead of a flight of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.

The wingman reported that during an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have been hit by anti-aircraft fire.

The wingman saw Knapp’s aircraft impact the ground and did not see the canopy separate from the aircraft.

There was no parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard.

The aircraft crashed about 9 kilometers west-southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe An Province.

A source later reported that people from his village had removed the remains of a dead pilot from his aircraft and buried the remains nearby.

These remains are believed to be those of Knapp.

On 14 October 1982, Vietnamese officials turned over to U.S. authorities a Geneva Convention card belonging to Lieutenant JG Knapp.

To date, no remains have been repatriated” (Ref. 1)).

“LTJG James E. Dooley was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 163 onboard the USS ORISKANY. On October 22, 1967, Dooley was flying an A4E aircraft in the second division of Attack Squadron 163. The aircraft was on a strike mission over North Vietnam. The target was the Haiphong railroad yard.

It is believed that Dooley’s aircraft hit anti-aircraft fire as he pulled off the target.

Witnesses observed his aircraft straight and level and streaming fuel while heading eastward toward open water at approximately 6,000 feet. The aircraft then commenced a gradual descent heading toward the water and crashed. The aircraft impacted in the water in a nose and wing down attitude about one mile from land. A thorough search of the area was conducted by the strike group but there was no evidence of a survivor. There was no parachute seen, nor any radio transmissions from the target area to the site of impact. The surrounding land area was densely populated and if he had ejected he most certainly would have been captured immediately.

James E. Dooley was placed in a status of Missing in Action. After six years, and following the end of the war, Dooley’s status was changed to Presumed Killed in Action because there was no evidence that he was alive.

Nearly 2500 Americans are missing in Southeast Asia. Unlike the MIAs from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for. Tragically, thousands of reports have been received, and continue to be received, that indicate Americans are still captive in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Whether James Dooley survived the crash of his plane or died that day in October 1967 is not known. What is apparent, however, is that someone knows what happened to James Dooley. Someone knows what happened to the others who disappeared. Even though men are alive and held captive, the U.S. has been unable to secure their freedom. Even though American aircraft litter the countryside of Vietnam, the U.S. has been unable to investigate these sites.

For those men and their families, the war is not over” (Ref. (2)).

“On 29 July 1967, a devastating fire and series of chain-reaction explosions caused great loss of life on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CV-59) after an unusual electrical anomaly discharged a Zuni rocket on the flight deck. One hundred thirty-four sailors were killed, and 161 were injured. Forrestal was engaged in combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War at the time, and the damage totaled $72 million (not including damage to aircraft). The launch that was scheduled for a short time later was never made. Lt. Cmdr. John S. John McCain III, piloting a A-4 Skyhawk, No. 416,
said later he heard a “whooshy” sound then a “low-order explosion” in front of him.

Suddenly, two A-4s ahead of his plane were engulfed in flaming jet fuel — JP-5 — spewed from them.

With his aircraft surrounded by flames, McCain escaped by climbing out of the cockpit, walking down the nose and jumping off the refueling probe.

Reassigned to USS Oriskany (CV-34) that deployed 16 June 1967 some time after the awful conflagration or devastation onboard USS Forrestal (CV-59), her self deploying 6 June 1967, LtCdr. John S. McCain III was assigned to VA-163 Attack Squadron, Saints, one of three squadrons flying Douglas Skyhawk A-4E Jet Attack Bomber; VA-164 Attack Squadron, Ghost Riders and VA-152 Attack Squadron, Friendlies.

LtCdr. John S. McCain III who would become a U.S. Senator from Arizona, and Presidential candidate during November 2008 Presidential election second test of Leadership would result in the events that would befall a veteran naval pilot downed behind enemy lines during a mission, launched in his A4E “Skyhawk” attack aircraft as the number three aircraft in the first division of a strike group against the Hanoi Thermal Power Plant October 26, 1967” (Ref. 3)).

“ In the words of McCain III “on my 23rd mission, flying right over the heart of Hanoi in a dive at about 4,500 feet, when a Russian missile the size of a telephone pole came up—the sky was full of them—and blew the right wing off my Skyhawk dive bomber. It went into an inverted, almost straight-down spin” (Ref. (4)).

“The flight met with considerable resistance in the form of anti-aircraft fire and surface-to-air missiles (SAM) approaching the target. As McCain III rolled into his dive, his aircraft was observed by his wingman to take a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire and to burst into flames. McCain was able to eject from his crippled aircraft and made brief emergency contact before his parachute landed in a nearby lake in Hanoi” (Ref. (5)).

“As stated by McCain III, “I pulled the ejection handle, and was knocked unconscious by the force of the ejection—the air speed was about 500 knots. I didn’t realize it at the moment, but I had broken my right leg around the knee, my right arm in three places, and my left arm. I regained consciousness just before I landed by parachute in a lake right in the corner of Hanoi, one they called the Western Lake. My helmet and my oxygen mask had been blown off.

I hit the water and sank to the bottom. I think the lake is about 15 feet deep, maybe 20. I kicked off the bottom. I did not feel any pain at the time, and was able to rise to the surface. I took a breath of air and started sinking again. Of course, I was wearing 50 pounds, at least, of equipment and gear. I went down and managed to kick up to the surface once more. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t use my right leg or my arm. I was in a dazed condition. I went up to the top again and sank back down. This time I couldn’t get back to the surface. I was wearing an inflatable life-preserver-type thing that looked like water wings. I reached down with my mouth and got the toggle between my teeth and inflated the preserver and finally floated to the top.

Some North Vietnamese swam out and pulled me to the side of the lake and immediately started stripping me, which is their standard procedure. Of course, this being in the center of town, a huge crowd of people gathered, and they were all hollering and screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking at me.

When they had most of my clothes off, I felt a twinge in my right knee. I sat up and looked at it, and my right foot was resting next to my left knee, just in a 90-degree position. I said, “My God–my leg!” That seemed to enrage them —I don’t know why. One of them slammed a rifle butt down on my shoulder, and smashed it pretty badly. Another stuck a bayonet in my foot. The mob was really getting up-tight” (Ref. (6)).

He was captured immediately and confined in the Hanoi prison system, as was verified by Radio Hanoi broadcasts and later information gathered during his years of imprisonment. McCain was severely injured, having broken both arms and his right leg, and his strength in coping through his recouperation was inspiring to many of his fellow POWs.” (Ref. (7)).

“Six of the thirteen pilots and crewmen lost in 1967 off the deck of the USS ORISKANY remain listed as a prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese “stockpiled” the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous times (Ref. (1)).

“Lt. Ralph E. Foulks, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 163 onboard the aircraft carrier USS ORISKANY (CVA-34). On January 5, 1968, he launched in his A4E “Skyhawk” attack aircraft as the wingman on a two-plane night armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Shortly after crossing the coast, the flight leader took a column of trucks under attack. Lt. Foulks acknowledged that he had the bomb impacts of his flight leader in sight. The time was 6:10 a.m. and that was the last communication received from him. At that time, Foulks was located at Phat Diem in Ninh Binh Province, North Vietnam.

No crash was observed, nor were ejection or parachute seen. If Foulks radioed or transmitted emergency signals, they were not heard. All Search and Rescue efforts were unsuccessful in locating Lt. Foulks. Both Da Nang and Chu Lai airfields, the two designated emergency locations, were contacted with no results. Lt. Ralph E. Foulks, Jr. was placed in Missing in Action status” (Ref. (7)).

On 31 January 1968, Oriskany with CVW-16 embarked arrived Naval Air Station pier at Alameda, California, earning near legendary status by virtue of extensive losses suffered in the ship’s squadrons, including among the GHOSTRIDERS of VA 164, and SAINTS of VA 163.

Ref. (1): LIEUTENANT COMMANDER DONALD VANCE DAVIS

remains returned 1997
identified 04/01/1998

Name:
DONALD VANCE DAVIS
Rank/Branch:
O4/US Navy
Unit:
Attack Squadron 163
USS ORISKANY ( CVA - 34 )
Date of Birth:
08 November 1934
Home City of Record:
Salisbury NC
Date of Loss:
25 July 1967
Country of Loss:
North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
181259N 1055500E (WF828272)
Status (in 1973):
Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:
A4E SKYHAWK
http://www.thevirtualwall.org/index.cfm?SectionID=110&anClip=213476

Ref. (1): LIEUTENANT DAVID LAWTON HODGES

Remains Identified 04/16/99

Name:
DAVID LAWTON HODGES
Rank/Branch:
O3/US Navy
Unit:
Attack Squadron 164
USS ORISKANY ( CVA - 43 )
Date of Birth:
21 November 1937
Home City of Record:
Chevy Chase MD
Date of Loss:
07 October 1967
Country of Loss:
North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
204400N 1054158E (WH728926)
Status (in 1973):
Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:
A4E SKYHAWK
Refno: 0854

20 January 1999
Posted by: CLAY MARSTON
Email: CMARSTON@INTERLOG.COM
Relationship: BIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCHER - NAVY
Saturday, June 21, 2008
http://www.thevirtualwall.org/index.cfm?SectionID=110&anClip=213391

Ref. (2): James Edward Dooley
Rank/Branch: Lieutenant (JG)/USN
Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY (CVA 34)
Date of Birth: 14 November 1942 (Middlebury VT)
Home City of Record: Manchester Center VT
Date of Loss: 22 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205100N 1064000E (XH860893)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E
Refno: 0872
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK 1998.
http://www.scopesys.com/cgi-bin/bio2.cgi?bio=D033

Ref. (3) Http://www.uscarhistory.com ; U. S. Navy Aircraft Carriers and en.wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967USSForrestal_fire

Ref. (4): Department of Veterans Affairs Prepares to Strip John McCain of Vietnam Veteran Title
http://bluewaternavy.org/Reclassifies%20John%20McCain.pdf

Ref. (5) : McCAIN, JOHN SIDNEY III
Name: John Sidney McCain III
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY (CVA-34)
Date of Birth: 29 August 1936
Home City of Record: Coco Sole, Canal Zone, Panama (family in Norfolk VA at
time of release; resides in AZ 1999)
Date of Loss: 26 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210100N 1055100E (WJ876270)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
REMARKS: 730314 RELEASED BY DRV
Source: Compiled by from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews, information from John McCain III, Arlington National
Cemetery. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 2008.
http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/m/m125.htm

Ref. (6): John McCain, Prisoner of War: A First-Person Account
By John S. McCain III, Lieut. Commander, U.S. Navy
By John S. McCain
Posted January 28, 2008 http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/01/28/john-mccain-prisoner-of-war-a-fir st-person-account.html?PageNr=1

Ref . (7): FOULKS, RALPH EUGENE JR.
The symbol next to Ralph’s name on the Wall was changed from a cross (MIA)
to a star (KIA) April 30, 1994. Remains were identified 12 JAN 93.
Name: Ralph Eugene Foulks, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY (CVA-34)
Date of Birth: 21 July 1943
Home City of Record: Ridgecrest CA
Date of Loss: 05 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 200600N 1060400E (XH167227)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E
Refno: 0968
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of one or more
of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviewsd: 01
January 1990. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998.
http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/f/f030.htm

Cutting a wake through the calm waters of the Gulf of Tonkin on 29 July 1967, operating on Yankee Station off the coast of North Vietnam conducting combat operations, launching aircraft from her flight deck on strikes against an enemy whose coastline was only a few miles over the horizon.

For four days, the planes of Attack Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17) had been launched on, and recovered from, about 150 missions against targets in North Vietnam.

On the ship’s four-acre flight deck, her crewmen went about the business at hand, the business of accomplishing the second launch of the fifth day in combat.

On 29 July 1967, a devastating fire and series of chain-reaction explosions caused great loss of life on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CV-59) after an unusual electrical anomaly discharged a Zuni rocket on the flight deck. One hundred thirty-four sailors were killed, and 161 were injured. Forrestal was engaged in combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War at the time, and the damage totaled $72 million (not including damage to aircraft).

On the fifth such day of operations and at 10:52am the crew was starting the second launch cycle of the day made near 19°9?5?N 107°23?5?E / 19.15139, 107.38472, when suddenly an unguided 5-inch Mk-32 “Zuni” rocket, one of four contained in a LAU-10 underwing rocket pod mounted on a F-4 Phantom II, was accidentally fired due to an unusual electrical anomaly causing a power surge during the switch from external power to internal power striking.

The warhead’s safety mechanism prevented it from detonating but the rocket flew across the flight deck, striking a wing-mounted external fuel tank on a A-4 Skyhawk awaiting launch, and ignited the resulting spray of escaping JP-5 fuel from aircraft No. 405, piloted by LCDR Fred D. White, causing an instantaneous conflagration.

Other external fuel tanks overheated and ruptured, releasing more jet fuel to feed the flames which spread along the flight deck, leaving pilots in their aircraft with the options of being incinerated in their cockpits or running through the flames to escape. LCDR Fred D. White, waiting to launch in Aircraft No. 405, leaped out of his burning Skyhawk but was killed instantly (along with many firefighters) by the cooking off of the first bomb.

LCDR Herbert A. Hope of VA-46 (and operations officer of CVW-17) jumped out of the cockpit of his Skyhawk between explosions, rolled off the flight deck and into the starboard man-overboard net. Making his way down below to the hangar deck, he took command of a firefighting team. “The port quarter of the flight deck where I was”, he recalled, “is no longer there.”

The launch that was scheduled for a short time later was never made. Lt. Cmdr. John S. John McCain III, piloting a A-4 Skyhawk, No. 416, later a prisoner of war in Vietnam and still later U.S. Senator from Arizona, and Presidential candidate during November 2008 Presidential election said later he heard a “whooshy” sound then a “low-order explosion” in front of him.

Suddenly, two A-4s ahead of his plane were engulfed in flaming jet fuel — JP-5 — spewed from them.

With his aircraft surrounded by flames, McCain escaped by climbing out of the cockpit, walking down the nose and jumping off the refueling probe.

The impact of the Zuni dislodged two of the 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs, dropping to the deck and rolled about six feet and came to rest in a pool of burning fuel.

The fire teams chief, Gerald Farrier (without benefit of protective clothing) immediately smothered the bombs with a PKP fire extinguisher in an effort to knock down the fuel fire long enough to allow the pilots to escape. According to their training, the fire team normally had almost three minutes to reduce the temperature of the bombs to a safe level, but the chief did not realize the “Comp. B” bombs were already critically close to cooking-off until one split open. The chief, knowing a lethal explosion was imminent, shouted for the fire team to withdraw but the bomb exploded seconds later - only one and a half minutes after the start of the fire.

The detonation destroyed McCain’s aircraft (along with its remaining fuel and armament), blew a crater in the armored flight deck, and sprayed the deck and crew with shrapnel and burning jet fuel. It killed the entire on-deck firefighting contingent, with the exception of three men who survived with critical injuries. The two bomb-laden A-4s in line ahead of McCain’s were riddled with shrapnel and engulfed in the flaming jet fuel still spreading over the deck, causing more bombs to detonate and more fuel to spill, resulting in a massive chain reaction of explosions that engulfed half the air wings aircraft leaving huge holes in the steel flight deck. Nine bomb explosions occurred on the flight deck, eight caused by the “Comp. B” bombs and the ninth occurred as a sympathetic detonation between an old bomb and a newer H6 bomb, causing flaming jet fuel to drain into the interior of the ship, including the living quarters directly underneath the flight deck, and the below-decks aircraft hangar.

Fuel and bombs spilled into the holes in the flight deck igniting fires on decks further into the bowels of the ship. Berthing spaces immediately below the flight deck became death traps for fifty men, while other crewmen were blown overboard by the explosion.

Sailors and Marines controlled the flight deck fires by 12:15, and continued to clear smoke and to cool hot steel on the 02 and 03 levels until all fires were under control by 13:42. They finally declared the fire defeated at 04:00 the next morning, due to additional flare-ups.

Throughout the day the ship’s medical staff worked in dangerous conditions to assist their comrades. HM2 Paul Streetman, one of 38 corpsmen assigned to the carrier, spent over 11 hours on the mangled flight deck tending to his shipmates. The large number of casualties quickly overwhelmed the ship’s Sick Bay staff, and Forrestal was escorted by USS Henry W. Tucker (DD-875) to rendezvous with hospital ship USS Repose (AH-16) at 20:54, allowing the crew to begin transferring the dead and wounded at 22:53.

Nearby ships hastened to the Forrestal aid. The USS Oriskany (CV-34), herself a victim of a tragic fire in October 1966, stood by to offer fire-fighting and medical aid to the larger carrier. Nearby escort vessels sprayed water on the burning Forrestal and within an hour the fire on the flight deck was under control. The crew heroically fought the fire and carried armed bombs to the side of the ship to throw them overboard for 13 hours. Secondary fires below deck took another 12 hours to contain. Once the fires were under control, the extent of the awful conflagration or devastation was apparent.

The fire left 134 Forrestal crewmen dead and 161 more injured. Many planes and armament were jettisoned to prevent them from catching fire or exploding. Twenty-one aircraft also sustained enough damage from fire, explosions and salt water to be stricken from naval inventory, including seven F-4 Phantom IIs (BuNos 153046, 153054, 153060, 153061, 153066, 153069 and 153912); eleven A-4E Skyhawks (149996, 150064, 150068, 150084, 150115, 150118, 150129, 152018, 152024, 152036 and 152040); and three RA-5 Vigilantes (148932, 149282 and 149305). The fire also revealed that Forrestal required a heavy duty, armored forklift for use in the emergency jettisoning of aircraft (particularly heavier types such as the RA-5B Vigilante), since the sailors of Forrestal had been forced to manually jettison numerous aircraft through human force.

This was and still remains the single worst loss of life on a navy vessel since the USS Fraklin (CV-13) was bombed in WWII. The ship proceeded to Cubi Point in the Philippines for temporary repairs. In only eight days enough repairs were made that she could start the long trip back to her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia for permanent repairs. On her way home she was capable of operating aircraft if needed. With over a dozen major detonations from 1,000 and 500 lb bombs and numerous missile, fuel tank, and aircraft explosions no ship has ever survived the pounding Forrestal underwent that day, before or since. She and her crew proved the toughness and dangers associated with the operation of super-carriers, this is one of her greatest legacies. The entire nation felt the tragedy, and Life magazine reported, “In five minutes, everyone became a man to.” Her 11th deployment (6 June to 14 September 1967) since her commission.

Ref. Http://www.uscarhistory.com ; U. S. Navy Aircraft Carriers and en.wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967USSForrestal_fire

This re-writing of history began at least 4 years ago and can be seen quite clearly in a presentation made by Dan Brown, Director of the Environmental Agents Service, in November, 2004 in the “Science for Judges” Symposium, held annually at Brooklyn Law School. In that presentation, Brown says that those veterans not covered by the Agent Orange Act of 1991 are “non-Vietnam veterans” and “non-Vietnam War veterans.” These are not typographical errors on the part of the VA. They are well thought out titles developed in their new emphasis on who is covered by the Agent Orange Act and who is not. They are titles meant to separate “boots-on-the-ground veterans” (often referred to as in-country veterans) from all other Armed Forces participants in that Southeast Asian War. Read this carefully. It is the creation of a very well-defined rift, a division, within the ranks of Vietnam War veterans. It is part of a campaign to “divide and conquer” which will have immense negative impact on these veterans as well as all present and future veterans. It gives the DVA the power to segment groups of veterans for the purpose of withholding or bestowing VA benefits on selected groups from any current or future armed conflict.

All aircraft pilots who flew off aircraft carriers during the time of the Vietnam War, as stipulated by the DVA to be January 9, 1962 to May 7, 1975, are therefore Vietnam Era veterans, as they are all Blue Water Navy veterans. They are also non-Vietnam War veterans. All jet fighter pilots who may have flown in the “airspace above” the Republic of Vietnam, or above North Vietnam or any of the surrounding countries, are also exempt from herbicide coverage and therefore are titled Vietnam Era veterans. Furthermore, all US Navy pilots who were shot down over North Vietnam, who landed by parachute in North Vietnam, and were not fortunate to have landed in the Republic of Vietnam, fall under this re-written definition of Vietnam Era veterans. A pilot from an aircraft carrier who became a POW and was kept in captivity anywhere but on the soil of the Republic of Vietnam, is now officially referred to as non-Vietnam War veterans. All POWs who spent time in the prison called the Hanoi Hilton, or any other place not located in South Vietnam, receive this new title as well.

John McCain, Jim Stockdale and all others in this predicament have been re-classified by the Department of Veterans Affairs as Vietnam Era veterans. Public reference to them as Vietnam War veterans is incorrect, per the new re-written history presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Our Presidential Candidate should no longer refer to himself as a veteran of the Vietnam War. This title is being stripped from him by the DVA. And just imagine the embarrassment of having to remove names chiseled in the stone the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

An Analysis

The DVA issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on April 16, 2008 to change the “definition of Service in the Republic of Vietnam”. The Public Response period on that NPRM ended June 18. A copy of that entire Federal Register Notice is here –> http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-8091.pdf . At this point in time, it is projected that this rule will be published and become DVA doctrine before the end of the month of July and probably be back dated to 6/19/2008 - unless some special intervention takes place.

In the Federal Register NPRM of April 16, (link given above) in the middle of the first paragraph of the section “Supplementary Information” you will find reference to “…a Vietnam Era veteran who never set foot on land….” The language is very specific of a pattern that has been showing itself over recent years. The DVA has been moving in this direction since it “illegally” removed Blue Water Navy veterans (Navy, Coast Guard, Marine and some Air Force veterans) from eligibility for receipt of service-connected VA Health Care as well as from receipt of any service-connected compensation for disabilities from the “presumptive eligibility” status for effects of dioxin, which is found in Agent Orange. The initial withdrawal of that presumptive eligibility status for a specific class of Vietnam veteran actually occurred in February, 2002. This was done despite the fact that several studies, including one by the CDC, indicated that water-born veterans had a higher incidence of dioxin-caused disease and disability by a factor in excess of 20%.

Both the latest VA NPRM on the “definition of service in the Republic of Vietnam” and a 2004 presentation of VA Director Dan Brown specifically indicate that, upon implementation of the Proposed Rule, the DVA will also be puting into play a nomenclature change of great significance.

According to the Brown presentation of 2004, only individuals who served with “boots on the ground” in South Vietnam would be referred to as “Vietnam War veterans.” All others in the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1975, would be referred to as Vietnam Era veterans or non-Vietnam War veterans.

Click the hyper link in the discussion of Dan Brown’s paper found at http://www.bluewaternavy.org/brownpaper.htm and then find and click on the following statement, below the bulleted paragraph, which contains the name of his presentation:

“The Role of Science in Department of Veterans Affairs Disability Compensation Policies for Environmental and Occupational Illnesses and Injuries. It appears in Vol. XIII No. 2 Journal of Law & Policy (2005). ”

You will be taken to a copy of Brown’s paper. On Page 604 (Journal of Law and Policy) you will find his explanation for usage of this distinctive new name for two classes of veterans. This language has been carefully crafted to be in lock step with their Master Plan which has unfolded over the past six years.

It strips everyone whose feet did not touch the soil of “the Republic of Vietnam,” which refers to South Vietnam, of the title of a War veteran as well as strips them of the benefits of a War veteran. http://bluewaternavy.org/Mccainbackup.htm

Does anyone know if this ruling passed. This is very up setting to Veterans.

Do U. S. Naval Veterans even care?

The general public doesn’t?

As determined by the U. S. Navy Judge Advocate General, disclosure of U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployment History “serves to inform a small segment of interested persons rather then the general public.”

He further states that information requested through my FOIA “also pertains to information about which there is currently a high level of public knowledge and thus does not meet the threshold of contributing significantly to the public record.”

Presently, there are hundreds of deployments made by our carriers which have no history reported publicly, although the U. S. Navy publishes a summary report of each carrier and the Naval Historical Center publishes major deployments on the internet.

There is no record of the total number of U. S. Aircraft Carrier Foreign Water Fleet Deployments either, yet disclosing further information about U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployments to the public “serves to inform a small segment of interested persons rather then the general public” and “thus does not meet the threshold of contributing significantly to the public record.”

I don’t mind paying the cost for ship logs in order to be able to count carrier FWFD, but what concerns me is the U. S. Navy’s position that disclosing carrier deployment history of every deployment publicly “does not meet the threshold of contributing significantly to the public record.”

How cannot disclosing un disclosed information not contribute significantly to the public record?

My conclusion is that the U. S. Navy does not feel there are enough Americans interested in the History of U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployment History to merit public disclosure of any further history of carrier deployments rather then carrier summaries provided publicly by the U. S. Navy on the internet.

There have been millions who have served aboard U. S. Aircraft Carriers from 1946 to present when the U. S. Navy established east and west coast deployments, but since most are now dead and those living who have served, now U. S. Navy Veterans and family members of those who served now past away, since there is no public interest, in the words of the U. S. Navy; disclosure of further information requested by a U. S. Navy Veteran of U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployment History, “while may contribute to public understanding it does not rise to the level of significant or meaningful contribution as set forth in paragraph 7 of enclosure (3) to SECNAVINST 5720.42F, and that complete disclosure of carrier deployment history and accurate carrier deployment dates “is not likely to contribute significantly to the public understanding of the operations or activities of the U. S. government.”

Since the history of U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployments “serves to inform a small segment of interested persons rather then the general public,” I have concluded that nearing 7-years of research and near completion of 17 books on the history of U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployment History, with 13 books completed, 7-years of my life on a project of no interest but to a small “segment of interested persons rather then the general public,” has no value to anyone less a handful.

In the up coming weeks, I will be deleting all past operations and activities of U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployment History on my web site and no loner will post current operations or activities of all Aircraft Carriers, both Amphibious and Attack Carriers with the exception of the EQNEED Founder Navy Data Base which in areas of carriers will most likely be set to private.

Once I pay for and receive requested ship logs most likely presented to me in mid 2009, I’ll complete the remaining volumes on U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployment History and the history resulting in 8-years of research will only be available in book form.

My country of my birth is no longer a country of brothers and sisters and few Americans care to honor those who served, endured sacrifices, and countless who have laid down there lives so we could and continue to have the freedom to not give a shit about those who have served, protecting a way of life fading away from our very eyes.

While the U. S. Navy Judge Advocate General, representing the U. S. Navy Officially may feel only a “segment of interested persons rather then the general public” are interested in the History of U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployments, young sailors and old alike are posting article after article about the men and women who our serving aboard our nations carriers, to include the operations and activities.

I wonder if the U. S. Navy Judge Advocate General is speaking for the Chief of Naval Operations?

I guess it’s just the history of those who have served aboard U. S. Aircraft Carriers during peace time past 2000 no one gives a dam about, but one thing for sure, our sailors now serving and as far back as 2003 because of those serving posting articles will have a documented record of there tour of duty and a cruise book honoring there service.

Thanks to others like Global Security, GoNavy (Japan) and UnOffical Navy Site (German) who feel disclosure of U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployment History contributes significantly to the U. S. government public record, there is a quantity of carrier history dating back to 1990 with as much information that was released by the U. S. Navy.

Know one has the complete history of U. S. Aircraft Carrier Deployment History except the Navy Historical Society and Modern Military Branch, but the cost for all carrier ship logs ($110,000.00) and Command History Reports ($18,000.00) is out of my reach and no one else gives a dam.

As General Macarthur once said “I shall simply fade away.”

As socialism and communism expands it’s well rooted foundation in America, one day our Republic will simply cease to be.

Americans diverse in everyway fashionable, declaring there great desire for freedom have failed to grasp that it takes the Armed Forces to secure there liberties.

BWT hell, the past is just that, the past, to be for gotten with no clear record of those who served for there government during operations or activities with the exception of war, and then only WW II and the Korea War in great detail has been released relating to carrier operations and activities.

U. S. Aircraft Carrier deployment history during Vietnam, Desert Shield and Desert Storm is not complete while Operation Southern Flight carrier operations are well documented as are Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In the end, it will take greater support by Americans to encourage the U. S. Navy to disclose further unclassified and non sensitive carrier deployment history from 1946 forward which may never come as U. S. Aircraft Carrier deployment history “serves to inform a small segment of interested persons rather then the general public.”

May God save America from Americans?

Will Senator McCain unite veterans?

FOIA Request Final Appeal, page 1
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FOIA Request Final Appeal, page 2
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