Erwin B Templin

Lieutenant Commander
VS-35, CVSG-57, USS HORNET
United States Navy
24 December 1940 - 10 May 1973
Houston, Texas
Panel 04E Line 083

USS HORNET S-2F VS-35
Naval Aviator

Purple Heart, Air Medal, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign

The database page for Erwin B Templin

18 Jun 1998

REMEMBERED

Perry
perrylc@hempseed.com
26 Apr 2005

The U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1963 honors Skip Templin and the other twelve fallen classmates on the Wall at its website . Please visit "Last Call".

From a friend and classmate at USNA,
Stephen Coester
USNA63 Webmaster
scoester@cfl.rr.com

A Note from The Virtual Wall

During the early morning hours of 22 January 1966, an S-2F anti-submarine warfare aircraft (BuNo 149252) from VS-35 launched on a night visual surveillance mission along the coast of North Vietnam in support of the SAR destroyers stationed off the coast. There were four men aboard the aircraft: At about 6 AM, toward the end of the mission, the aircraft disappeared from the destroyers' radar scopes. That wasn't unusual; if the aircraft descended to low altitude to investigate a contact, it would frequently go below the ships' radar horizons. However, when radio contact could not be made with the S-2F, search and rescue efforts were begun. Eventually, after some days, a life raft - inflated, undamaged, and apparently unused - was found, as was LTJG Templin's helmet.

North Vietnam never claimed these men as captured or killed, although within a few hours of the disappearance Radio Hanoi reported that an aircraft had been shot down near Bach Long Vi Island, North Vietnam. The four crewmen had simply disappeared. Since there was no proof of their deaths, they were classed as Missing in Action.

When the American POWs were released in February 1973, none of them had any knowledge of Forman or his crew. On 10 May 1973, the Secretary of the Navy approved Presumptive Findings of Death for the four men, changing their status to Died while Missing/Body not Recovered.

Additional information is available on the
POWNet.org,
Task Force Omega,
and shipmate
Bob Cruze's
sites.



A relative reported to The Virtual Wall that he was married with a daughter born 4 April 1966.




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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Last updated 08/10/2009