Richard Lee Owens
Chief Petty Officer
VA-46, CVW-17, USS FORRESTAL, TF 77, 7TH FLEET United States Navy Fresno, California May 11, 1929 to July 29, 1967 RICHARD L OWENS is on the Wall at Panel 24E, Line 38 |
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The Incident![]() On 29 July 1967 the USS FORRESTAL was conducting combat operations off the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. The ship was preparing to launch an ALPHA strike when a major fire broke out among the crowded aircraft on her deck, resulting in a series of 500 and 1000 pound bomb explosions. Thirteen hours later, the fires were extinguished - and 135 men were dead or dying, with hundreds more injured. Chief Petty Officer Richard Owens was one of the 135.
Visit The Virtual Wall's USS FORRESTAL ![]() Memorial Page |
![]() 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. More information with a list of the dead are on The Virtual Wall's USS FORRESTAL Memorial. The 18 crewman who perished on the USS Forrestal and buried in Arlington National Cemetery are:
![]() - - The Virtual Wall, June 24, 2014
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