Dewman wrote:
I can very vividly remember 24-hour flight ops. Our berthing quarters was beneath the flight deck near the fantail. Imagine jet planes landing on your roof all night long while you're trying to sleep! 12 on, 12 off, 7 days a week. Longest was 109 days at sea. Then, 10 days of R&R (????) in Subic Bay. Can you say, "Tombstone, 1870?"
IIRC, Arizona Senator John McCain had a dubious part in the mess aboard the Forrestal.
Yes, I've heard some theories about what happened there. The official story was something about a maverick radio signal causing a missile to fly. It did fly off of John McCain's aircraft as I understand. Interesting times, the younger generation has little awareness of the situation there in South China, and how our country was rocked by controversy, and all kinds of things going on. I would suggest we are about to enter another rocky time in our history.