Vietnam War Pilots Bid Farewell To Carrier

BREMERTON - A group of Vietnam Navy pilots gathered to share remembrances, mourn fellow pilots lost during the war and bid farewell to the ship that bound them together through the war: aircraft carrier Oriskany.

About 200 pilots and their families toured the rusting hallways and long-quiet decks of the carrier, which was mothballed in 1972 and is to be scrapped later this year.

Many of the pilots were renewing friendships and recounting old stories while the memory of their comrades who were lost during the war hung heavily in their minds.

``It's nice to be one of the ones to be here,'' said Fred Guenzel, who flew A-1 attack planes off the Oriskany.

Guenzel was joined at the memorial service for the ship by Burt Watson, also a pilot aboard the Oriskany.

The experience of flight training and service together formed a bond that has lasted.

The two last saw each other at a reunion of their former squadron two years ago in Virginia.

Watson, an attorney in Virginia, said he was sorry to see the Oriskany going to the scrap yard.

Watson and Guenzel, now an airline pilot living in San Francisco, were a bit reluctant to let the ship go forever. They had envisioned it becoming a fixed memorial somewhere, always there to visit and remember.

But they accepted the Oriskany's fate in high spirits, both joking about the aged condition of their former superior officers.

``A lot of them have gotten older,'' Guenzel said, nudging Watson. ``Not like some of us.''

One of the memories most of the pilots shared is the memory of a 1966 fire that killed 44 crew members.

The fire started in a flare locker and heavily damaged the ship, which was returning from its first cruise in Vietnam.

One former commanding officer, retired Capt. John Iarrobino, who was in command at the time of the fire, chose yesterday to clear the record on the blaze and to remove the stigma it had placed on the Oriskany and the crew.

Iarrobino said the Navy Board of Investigation, in its haste to find a cause for the fire, prematurely blamed it on two crew members who were later court-martialed for mishandling the flares and starting the fire. Several other crew members and officers, Iarrobino said, received letters of reprimand.

Iarrobino chastised the Navy for its haste and for not doing a thorough investigation. He said the board should have acted ``without the desire to serve someone's head on a silver platter.''

He said an investigation of the flares' manufacturer later revealed the true cause of the fire was a defect in one of the flares that caused it to trigger the blaze.

All court-martials were repealed and letters of reprimand rescinded, he said.

A group of A-6 Intruders from the Naval Air Station at Whidbey Island passed over the Oriskany in the ``missing man'' formation, a salute to the pilots and crew who died while serving on the carrier.

Emotions were pushed to the surface as the names were read of the 89 pilots and crew members who died while serving on the ship.

Larry Duthie, who helped organize the memorial service, said the memories of the pilots pulling together, many times in life or death situations, go deep within each pilot.

``It tugs the heart,'' Duthie said. ``It's not the boat, it's the camaraderie. We formed bonds that are incredibly strong.''

Duthie left to shake some hands, remember stories and wander the darkened hallways of the Oriskany for the last time.