Dale Ray Ross

Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class
VF-11, CVW-17, USS FORRESTAL, USS FORRESTAL
United States Navy
23 April 1947 - 29 July 1967
Wentzville, Missouri
Panel 24E Line 042

USS FORRESTAL

VF-11
National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign

The database page for Dale Ray Ross

24 Jul 2007

We are blessed to have been loved by a man who fought in a war and lost his life defending his country.

From his daughter,
Kim Ross Ijames
kacee1966@yahoo.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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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 24 Jul 2007
Last updated 08/10/2009