Veteran Status Left Out of Census Count
21 Jul 2020
The Associated Press | By MEGAN TOMASIC, Tribune-Review
PITTSBURGH — On the morning of July 29, 1967, Preston Gardner, a Navy senior chief petty officer, had just finished an overnight shift aboard the USS Forrestal, an aircraft carrier operating in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War.
A stray electrical signal ignited a rocket on board. It shot across the flight deck, hitting the fuel tank of a fully armed fighter jet. Seconds later, a 1,000-pound bomb fell from the plane and cracked, sending flames sweeping across the ship.
Gardner immediately positioned himself beneath the deck, spraying water to help thwart further damage. Twenty-four hours later, he was able to remove himself from his position. The flames claimed the lives of 134 sailors.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/07/21/veteran-status-left-out-of-census-count.html
