THE WALL OF FACES

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Welcome Home.

Lieutenant Commander Roger Gene Emrich, Served with Fighter Squadron 161 (VF-161), Carrier Air Wing 2 (CVW-2), USS Corral Sea, Task Force 77 (TF-77), 7th Fleet.

I am the Curator of the POW/MIA Bracelet Display in the Vietnam Hangar of the Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, California where we now have over two thousand bracelets and would be honored to include your bracelet in our Display. If you are an immediate family member (spouse, fiancé, sibling, son, daughter or grandchild) I can order one for the Display in your name.
Here is a link to a relevant POW/MIA Families article:
https://www.audacy.com/connectingvets/articles/history-pow-mia-bracelets-national-league-families
Dr. Dave Thompson
Palm Springs Air Museum
POW/MIA Bracelet Display Curator
Lt. Commander U.S. Navy 1964-1970
10-103 Lakeview Dr. Rancho Mirage, Ca 92270
760-328-0859 [email protected]

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. I am heartened you returned home though I wish it had been under very different circumstances. May you rest in eternal peace.

On November 17, 1967, pilot CDR William D. McGrath and radar intercept officer LT Roger G. Emrich were flying a U.S. Navy McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II (#151488) from Fighter Squadron 161 (VF-161), Carrier Air Wing 15 (CVW-15), aboard the USS Coral Sea (CV-43), on a target combat air patrol mission over North Vietnam. As the flight crossed the coast, CDR McGrath and his wingman were detached to accelerate to check the target weather. The two aircraft were about six miles ahead of the main strike force when they encountered about thirty surface-to-air (SAM) missiles. McGrath began evasive maneuvers as the volume of SAMs increased. While in a hard turn, the wingman was forced to look away momentarily to check oncoming SAMs. When he looked back, McGrath was spinning to the left. There was no flak in the area, and McGrath’s Phantom appeared undamaged; however, there was heavy small arms and automatic weapons fire. The wingman radioed, “Bail out!” right before McGrath’s jet struck the ground. No parachutes were observed, and no radio transmissions heard. The wingman was about one-half to three-quarters of a mile from McGrath’s aircraft when he saw it in the final spin. He believed he saw both canopies still in place but was not certain due to the distance and the attention he was giving to the SAMs. McGrath’s remains were repatriated in December 1985 and positively identified in March 1986. In a second excavation at a crash site in Hung Yen Province, SRV, the remains of LT Emrich were located and repatriated in April 1995. They were positively identified in February 1997. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]