James Edward Newkirk
Airman Apprentice
VF-11, CVW-17, USS FORRESTAL, TF 77, 7TH FLEET
United States Navy
Pensacola, Florida
September 26, 1948 to July 29, 1967
JAMES E NEWKIRK is on the Wall at Panel 24E, Line 37

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James E Newkirk
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13 Aug 2007

A school friend that I didn't know was on board until the cruise book came out. I wish that we could have found each other before the fire.

From a friend,
Charlie O'Bryan
charquicklube@aol.com


 

A Note from The Virtual Wall

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.

More information and a list of the dead are on The Virtual Wall's
USS FORRESTAL Memorial


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