JOSSLYN F BLAKELY JR
JOSSLYN F BLAKELY JR
11E/107
REMEMBRANCES
The Tragic Fire on the USS Oriskany
The fire started when a magnesium flare ignited in a ready ammo locker near frame 44 in the forward section of the ship. Shipboard fires are not uncommon, and ORISKANY's crew responded promptly and properly to this one. However, the primary firefighting tool available in the magazine area was an inexhaustable supply of salt water - but water alone cannot extinguish magnesium fires. The heat of the flare ignited other ordnance, including 5' ZUNI rocket warheads. Heavy, incapacitating smoke was rapidly drawn into the ship's ventilation system, while fireballs from exploding ordnance ignited secondary fires among fully fueled aircraft in Hangar Bay 1. The combination of toxic smoke and scattered secondary fires blocked passageways and caused numerous casualties. The Air Wing's officers were particularly vulnerable, since many of them occupied quarters in the immediate vicinity of the fires and were unable to escape to the hangar bays or flight deck. For some, the only escape route was downward into the lowest decks of the ship - but they found that the unending stream of salt water being sprayed above them drained downwards with them. In one instance, a ship's company officer who was a qualified diver donned scuba gear and swam down a vertical trunk to rescue a seaman trapped in a 7th-deck pump room. By the time the fires were controlled and extinguished, dozens of ORISKANY's Air Wing and crew were dead and hundreds more injured. Killed in HELICOPTER SUPPORT SQUADRON 1 (HC-1) were LT Josslyn F. Blakely, Jr.; LT Julian D. Hammond, Jr.; LTJG Gerald W. Siebe; LTJG James R. Welsh; and ENS Daniel O. Kern [Taken from vhpa.org]
On Your Angel Day
It is a privilege to be able to honor you for standing up for what was right and for the courage that you demonstrated.
I know that there are many who say that the loss of your life was in vain and that the Vietnam War was a senseless war, but for this American that is not true. What you did for the freedom of others was not in vain but has always been and will always be an example of good and honor today and for generations to come.
You will never be forgotten by me, or by those you loved, or by those you served with.
In honor of your Angel Day I leave this poem for you:
“Some people come into our lives and quickly go.
Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts.
And we are never, ever the same.” ~ Unknown
PS - I'm so happy that your and your sweetheart are together again. God bless you both!
On behalf of my friend and his wife, Shannon
NATIVE AMERICAN PRAYER
NATIVE AMERICAN PRAYER
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush of
quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.