THE WALL OF FACES

Semper Fortis

AN Robert W. Haakenson Jr. is buried in Brooklawn Section, Lot 319, Space 1 of the Westlawn-Hillcrest Memorial Park in Omaha, NE.

On the remembrance of your 67th birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Non sibi sed patriae.

Dear An Robert Haakenson,
Thank you for your service as an Airman on the U.S.S. MIDWAY. It has been too long, and it's about time for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

On October 24, 1972, the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVA-41) was conducting flight operations in the Gulf of Tonkin. At 7:50 PM, a U.S. Navy Grumman A-6A Intruder from Attack Squadron 115 (VA-115) was returning to the Midway following a single-plane “seeding mission” in North Vietnam. As the Intruder landed aboard the carrier, a landing gear failure caused the aircraft to swerve sharply right into Navy personnel and other aircraft parked on the bow flight deck. The wayward aircraft came to a rest among the parked airplanes and burst into flames. There were mass casualties as a result of the crash. Fatally injured in the incident were AO2 Clayton M. Blankenship, AMSAN Daniel P. Cherry, AN Robert W. Haakenson Jr., and AA Robert A. Yankoski. LTJG Michael S. Bixel, the bombardier/navigator aboard the Intruder, either ejected himself or his seat fired during the crash landing, sending him over the side of the ship. An immediate air and surface search was started with three vessels and one helicopter to recover LTJG Bixel. No distress signals were heard, nor was he sighted at any time during the search. It was believed that Bixel did not pull free from his ejection seat and went down with the seat since no survival equipment (flotation gear, strobe light, pyrotechnic flares, or signal pistol) were detected. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]