10 Apr 2006 When he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night, and pay no worship to the garish sun. - William Shakespeare - My grandfather left behind three children, none of whom have, for a moment forgotten him, his sacrifice, or his spirit. He left behind a loving wife, my grandmother Julia Kott, now Julia Christy. Throughout my life I have heard stories of my grandfather, and judging from what I have heard, he is not only worthy of a memorial, but also an indivual whose life and presence demand one. sckott@wm.edu

 

Notes from The Virtual Wall On the night of 30/31 Oct 1967, A-6A BuNo 152601 launched from Danang as the number two aircraft in a flight of two targeted for a radar bombing strike against the Canal des Rapides Bridge southeast of Hanoi. The two aircraft were from Marine All-Weather Attack Squadron 242 (VMA(AW)-242), and 152601 was crewed by Captain Hugh M. Fanning, pilot, and Captain Stephen J. Kott, bombardier-navigator. The flight proceeded to the target without incident. The flight leader completed his run and Fanning indicated via radio that he was commencing his attack. Fanning's aircraft went down during or immediately after his attack run. Search and rescue efforts were impractical due to the high threat in the area and both men initially were classed as missing in action. Intelligence reports indicated that Captain Kott had been killed in the crash but there was a possibility Captain Fanning had been captured. Captain Kott eventually was reclassified as Killed in Action/Body not Recovered while Fanning was continued in MIA status. Both men had been promoted to Major while in MIA status. None of the POWs repatriated in Feb/Mar 1973 knew anything about the two men, and on 24 Sep 1976 the Secretary of the Navy approved a Presumptive Finding of Death for Major Fanning. On 17 July 1984 six boxes of human remains were repatriated. Within a month they had been identified as the remains of SFC Dominick Sansone, Brooklyn, NY    B Co, 1st SF Grp; C-123 crash (12/10/1964) LtCol Vincent J. Connolly, San Antonio, TX    20TH TRS, RF-101C 56-0093 (11/04/1966) Major Hugh M. Fanning, Fort Worth, TX    VMA(AW)-242 A-6A 152601 (10/31/1967) Major Stephen J. Kott, Greenville, SC    VMA(AW)-242 A-6A 152601 (10/31/1967) CDR Richard C. Nelson, Drexel Hill, PA    VA-75 A-6A 152922 (03/06/1968) LT Gary L. Shank, Prairie Village, KS    VA-56 A-7B 154531 (07/23/1972) The remains were returned to their families and in each case were given burial with full military honors.

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