USS FORRESTAL arrived on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin on 25 July 1967 and immediately began combat operations. The first four days were routine; the fifth day, 29 July, was not. At 10:52 AM a 5-inch Zuni rocket accidentally fired across the crowded flight deck, impacting an armed A-4 Skyhawk. The resulting explosions and fires raged for 13 hours and more, killing 135 crewmen with hundreds more injured. Some of Fighter Squadron 11's berthing spaces were located immediately below the area of the flight deck first involved, and many off-duty men from VF-11 died in those compartments. The squadron lost a total of 48 men. Fighter Squadron 74, also on board, lost 42 men during the conflagration. It is unknown if Petty Officer Second Class Bishop's remains was buried at sea, cremated, or buried in the States. It has been determined that both of his parents were cremated but it is not clear what happened with their remains. If you look at the news clipping below, the parents were in Okinawa at the time of Mark's death on the USS Forrestal, and they held a memorial service only with no mention of remains disposition. More information and a list of the dead are on The Virtual Wall's USS FORRESTAL Memorial - - The Virtual Wall, June 17, 2014

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