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thedrifter
05-31-03, 06:55 AM
05-29-2003

Guest Column: A Carrier Pilot’s Remembrance



Editor’s Note: A mutual acquaintance forwarded this Memorial Day 2003 letter from retired Navy aviator Dick Schaffert to his late roommate on the USS Oriskany.



Brown Bear sends:



To: Lt. Cmdr. Norm Levy



‘Morning, Norm. It's Memorial Day, 07:29 Tonkin Gulf time. Haven’t talked with you in a while. Seems like a good day to make contact. It’s 36 years and 5 months to the day since I last saw you, sitting on the edge of your bunk in our room on the Oriskany.



You remember, it was the 26th of October 1966. We were on the midnight schedule. There was a solid wall of thunderstorms over the beach – with tops to 50K – but McNamara’s Pentagon planners kept sending us on “critical” missions all night. At 0400, they finally ran out of trucks to bomb – in that downpour – and we got a little sleep.



The phone rang at seven, you were scheduled for the Alert Five. I had bagged a little more rack time than you, so I said I'd take it. I went to shave in the head around the elevator pit, the one near the flare locker. The Ordies were busy putting away the flares. They'd been taking them out and putting them back all night.



I finished shaving and started back to our room when the guy on the 1MC said: “This is not a drill, this is not a drill, fire, fire, fire!” I smelled smoke and looked back at the door that separated the pilot’s quarters from the flare locker. Smoke was coming from underneath.



I ran the last few steps to our room and turned on the light. You sat up on the edge of your bunk. I shouted at you: “Norm, this is no drill. Let’s get the hell out of here!” I went down the passageway around the elevator pit, banging on the metal wall and shouting: “It's no drill. We’re on fire! We’re on fire!”



I had rounded the corner of that U-shaped passage when the flare locker exploded. There was a tremendous concussion effect that blew me out of the passageway and into the hangar deck. A huge ball of fire was rolling along the top of the hangar bay.



You and forty-five other guys, most of them Air Wing pilots, didn't make it, Norm. I’m sorry. Oh, God, I’m sorry!



But we went home together – Norm Levy, a Jewish boy from Miami, and Dick Schaffert, a Lutheran cornhusker from Nebraska.



I rode in the economy class of that Flying Tigers 707, along with the other surviving pilots. You were in a flag-draped box in the cargo compartment. The San Diego media had found out about the return of us “baby killers.” Lindberg Field was packed with scum enjoying the right to protest. The “right” you died for!



There was a bus, with our wives, waiting for us VF-111 Sundowners; there was a black hearse for you. The protestors threw things at the bus and your hearse,

not a policeman in sight. When we finally got off the airport, they chased us to Fort Rosecrans. They kept interrupting your graveside service, until your honor

guard of three brave young Marines with M-16s convinced them to stay back.



I watched the TV news with my children that night, Norm. Sorry, the only clips of our homecoming were the “baby killer” banners and the one of the burned girl, which they played nightly for eight years. It was tough to explain that to four pre-teenaged kids.



ou know how it went, Norm. The scum were the heroes – they went on to be CEOs, who stole from our companies – lawyers, who preyed off our misery – doctors, who we can't afford – and elected politicians, who broke the faith and the promises.



The only military recognized as “heroes” were the POWs. They finally came home, not because of some politician’s expertise; but because there were those of us who kept going back over Hanoi, again and again, dodging the SAMs and the flak, attacking day and night, keeping the pressure on – all by ourselves! Absolutely no support from anyone else!



Many of us didn't come home, Norm. You know, the guys who are up there with you now. But it was our “unmentioned” efforts that brought the POWs home. We kept the faith with them, and with you, Norm.



It never really ended. We seemed to go directly from combat into disabled retirement and poverty, ignored by those whose freedoms we insured by paying the very high premium. The only thing many of us have left is our memories, Norm. We hold those dear! We band together in groups like the Crusader Association.



Some might say that has to do with flying a peculiar aircraft, I say it has to do with a peculiar bunch of guys. We’ll all be joining you shortly, Norm. Put in a good word for us with the Man. Ask him to think of us as His peacemakers, as His children. Have a restful Memorial Day, Norm. You earned it.



Your Roomie, Brown Bear

Sempers,

Roger

TracGunny
06-04-04, 09:06 AM
Thursday, June 3, 2004 <br />
Story last updated at 12:45 p.m. on Thursday, June 3, 2004 <br />
<br />
Retired USS Oriskany to be sunk off Panhandle by September <br />
The Associated Press <br />
<br />
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The...

TracGunny
08-03-04, 09:09 PM
Tuesday, August 3, 2004
Story last updated at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 3, 2004

Sinking of USS Oriskany off Pensacola delayed for EPA permitting

By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press Writer

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Plans to sink the retired aircraft carrier USS Oriskany off the Florida Panhandle as an artificial reef have been delayed by a month and could be scrapped if an environmental permit is denied, a Navy spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The 888-foot ship, which would be the largest vessel ever purposely sunk as a reef, now is scheduled to be towed here in early September from Corpus Christi, Texas, where fuel, oil, asbestos and other contaminants are being removed, said Pat Dolan, deputy director of congressional and public affairs for the Naval Sea Systems Command.

The Oriskany, a combat veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, had been expected to arrive in Pensacola by Aug. 10. No sinking date has yet been set because once here more time would be needed for final preparations, including cutting holes in interior walls, called bulkheads, and installing explosives, Dolan said.

The Environmental Protection Agency has been asked for a risk-based disposal permit that would let the Navy sink the ship in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles southeast of Pensacola Pass without removing all materials containing solid polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.

The material has been linked to cancer and other illnesses. It is found in insulation for electrical cables and bulkheads, paint, caulking and rubber products aboard the Oriskany.

"In order to get them out you have to take the ship totally apart," Dolan said.

That would defeat the purpose of sinking it, she said. The Oriskany is the first in a series of retired warships the Navy wants to sink for artificial reefs as a cost-saving alternative to scrapping them.

Dolan noted that leaving solid PCBs aboard would be consistent with a draft of best management practices for artificial reef vessels the EPA publish Monday in the Federal Register.

The EPA's Atlanta regional office is still reviewing a draft human risk assessment and postponed a public comment period for the PCB permit, she said.

"Give me some factual evidence that it hurts fish, that it hurts people," said retired Vice Adm. Jack Fetterman, a leading advocate of sinking the Oriskany off Pensacola.

Fetterman, who is president and CEO of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation here, said he remained optimistic that Navy and EPA officials will resolve the issue at a meeting next week.

In the meantime, he has written Gov. Jeb Bush's office, expressing frustration over the permitting issue and noting that the height of the hurricane season is fast approaching, which could make it too dangerous to tow the ship to Pensacola.

"They could have solved this three months ago," Fetterman said in an interview.

EPA spokeswoman Dawn Harris-Young denied the agency was dragging its feet. She said the matter simply remains under review and there's no timetable for getting it resolved.

The Navy selected Pensacola for the sinking over sites proposed by Texas, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina in part because of Pensacola's close ties to naval aviation. The Pensacola Naval Air Station is the Navy's first such installation and has trained thousands of aviators over 90 years.

Copyright Associated Press.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/080304/D8480TK83.shtml

I post these 'cause someone who served aboard the Oriskany may be interested in her fate - TG

TracGunny
08-18-04, 10:56 AM
Tuesday, August 17, 2004 Story last updated at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Deck being removed, carrier sinking off Pensacola still on hold

By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press Writer

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The USS Oriskany's wooden flight deck is being removed because of PCB contamination, but other issues involving the toxic material must yet be resolved before the retired aircraft carrier can be sunk as an artificial reef, a Navy spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The Navy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state officials met last week in Atlanta to begin that process.

The 888-foot ship would be the largest vessel ever purposely sunk as a reef.

Questions raised by EPA officials have indefinitely delayed plans to sink the carrier in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles off Pensacola Pass, said Pat Dolan of the Naval Sea Systems Command.

"We're committed to working with them," Dolan said. "There's a commitment on the part of both parties to work together."

The Oriskany, a combat veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, had been scheduled to arrive in Pensacola by Aug. 10 to begin final preparations for sinking, but it remains in Corpus Christi, Texas, where potential environmental hazards are being removed.

The flight deck was added to that list when a tar-like coating was stripped off and tests disclosed a higher level of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, than expected underneath, Dolan said. The substance has been linked to cancer and other illnesses.

The EPA has been asked for a risk-based disposal permit that would let the Navy sink the ship without removing all solid PCBs, which are found in insulation for electrical cables and bulkheads, paint, caulking and rubber products aboard the Orkisany.

A Navy study indicates solid PCBs aboard the USS Vermillion, a Navy cargo ship sunk as a reef off South Carolina in 1988, have caused no harm to people or sea life, but EPA has questioned those findings. The Navy is developing a response, Dolan said.

Retired Vice Adm. Jack Fetterman, an Oriskany reef booster in Pensacola, said he is confident the issue can be resolved in a matter of weeks. Even so, the sinking may have to be delayed until November or later because of the hurricane threat, said Fetterman, president and CEO of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation.

"Is that earthshaking?" Fetterman said. "No, it isn't as long as we get the ship to put down."

The Navy selected Pensacola over sites proposed by Texas, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina in part because Pensacola Naval Air Station has played a key role in naval flight history.

Copyright Associated Press.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/081704/D84H7U4G0.shtml