41 years ago tomorrow, on July 29. 1967 a missile accidentally fired from an aircraft on the deck of the USS Forrestal. It flew across the flight deck, slammed into another plane, detonated that aircraft, its fuel, and its weapons. Shrapnel from that explosion punctured a dozen other aircraft that were waiting at the aft end of the ship-fully fueled and loaded with bombs for a massive airstrike. In the cockpit of the one of those planes-sitting right next to the plane that had accidentally launched the first missile, was John McCain. Less that 2 seconds after that first missile launched, the entire flight deck was an inferno. Pilots who had been strapped into their planes waiting for their turn to launch were trapped and surrounded by burning jet fuel, launching missiles, a hailstorm of shrapnel, and thousands of pounds of bombs.
John McCain unstrapped himself, climbed out on the nose of his A4 Skyhawk plane, jumped, and rolled through burning jet fuel. On his way to safety, some of the bombs on the burning planes began to explode, and he was knocked down by the shockwaves and by shrapnel piercing his body.
The crew and airwing of the USS Forrestal who were there that day deserve to have this day remembered and honored. That includes Senator John McCain.
Is this a matter for the Presidential campaign? Well, it is an item on Senator McCain’s resume, and it says a lot about the man’s service to this nation, his heroism, professionalism, committment, and more. It’s worth mentioning in the campaign in the same way that one might point out that Senator Obama was a community organizer.
Think about it, and more importantly, remember the crew and aircrew of the Forrestal who fought and died that day.
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I heard about this before (last year), but the story was that it was McCain’s aircraft that fired the missle — in fact he’d lost more than one aircraft in his career (not including the mission which resulted in his becoming a POW). Anyone else hear that he was “Responsible” for the Forrestal accident?
Either way, what a powerful reminder of just how courageous our men and women in uniform are. God bless them all.
Yeah, I’ve seen the ‘McCain fired it’ story before. The video does a great job of explaining how it happened as do other videos. The incident was investigated BIGTIME because they almost lost the ship. It was not McCain’s plane, but the one next to it that fired it, and it fired-not because of a pilot, but because of a known electrical short problem and rockets leftover from WWII.
For years I worked with a guy who was on the Forrestal before, during, and after the fire. He’sa good man, and he made it clear that it was a lack of training due to a conscript force. He gave me other examples of that lack of training that the crew had. This lack of training also almost cost the ship too. They had guys spraying water on top of foam, and washing away the foam, then foaming it again. They had guys literally playing with bomb detonators that spun as if they were toys. They had guys screwing around, guys who didn’t know what to do, and in the middle of the fire-after the first 3 waves of firefighters were literally blown away, a few officers took it upon themselves to train fresh crewmen on how to fight the fire before sending them into it. Video of the fire is STILL used as the primary fire-fighting video on carriers. Now, every sailor gets firefighting training on a carrier (well, at least as late as 2001. I can’t speak to 2001-2008).
The point here is that this was a really REALLY bad fire, and it taught a lot of lessons that are still being taught and re-learned even today-I mean THIS day-somewhere on some carrier, some ship, and in some school…today, July 28…41yrs later.
btw, you can bet good money that the ‘McCain started the fire by screwing around’ story will get GREAT traction on Daily Kos etc.
Suggestion: read the book,
Sailors To The End
One of the best books I’ve ever EVER read.
Yes, every sailor in the US Navy knows about the USS Forestfire…. the mistakes made in fighting that fire were numerous but the flight deck was operational 12 hours after the fire started.
McCain’s aircraft did not start this fire. McCain exited his aircraft and he headed for safety. The fact he was wounded in this fire and the fact that it was a short time later that he was flying his ill-fated mission that resulted in his capture – proves he was there to serve his nation.
Why was McCain the only pilot transferred to the USS Oriskany a coupe of days after the fire if not to save him from the wrath of his shipmates on the Forestal?
Jerry, all the surviving pilots went someplace. McCain went to Oriskany, but it wasn’t like 2-3 days later. It was a bit longer than that.
Got any proof of a coverup besides allegations and leading questions?
What would the press coverage of this event be if it happened to Obama?
Of course this is something that should be talked about in the vein of a campaign. And I guess my head is in the sand too much because when were the rumors started that it was actually McCain that fired the missle? Why would the crew members specifically target McCain for their anger after this?
It is a testament of the brilliance of our military that we can strap thousands of tons of explosives on boats and in subs and then move that ordinance onboard daily as we travel all over the world for months on end and have this happen so infrequently.
I don’t believe for a second that there is anything to coverup. But since access to the records for this and all the other incidents is blocked, rumours will keep popping up.
I could post an article titled, “Obama Escapes Explosions”, link it to this piece, and we could compare the hits?
re: “What would the press coverage of this event be if it happened to Obama?”
Pretty huge, because everyone would have been wondering what a six-year-old was doing piloting an A4 Skyhawk off the deck of the Forrestal.
I had read of his “wet” light off with his aircraft prior to his having run for the presidential office. I can not recall if there was a film of the wet start that allegedly began the conflagration, but the article alleged that McCain’s aircraft was responsible for it’s initiation.