HONORED ON PANEL 12W, LINE 3 OF THE WALL
WILLIAM PETE BLETSCH
WALL NAME
WILLIAM P BLETSCH
PANEL / LINE
12W/3
DATE OF BIRTH
CASUALTY PROVINCE
DATE OF CASUALTY
HOME OF RECORD
COUNTY OF RECORD
STATE
BRANCH OF SERVICE
RANK
REMEMBRANCES
LEFT FOR WILLIAM PETE BLETSCH
POSTED ON 11.30.2020
POSTED BY: Jury Washington
Thank You For Your Valiant Service Sailor.
We can never truly repay the great debt we owe our fallen heroes. Rest in peace AMS2. Bletsch, I salute your brave soul. My heart goes out to you and your family.
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POSTED ON 4.8.2017
POSTED BY: Lucy Conte Micik
Remembered
DEAR PETTY OFFICER BLETSCH,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN AVIATION STRUCTURAL MECHANIC (STRUCTURES) 2ND CLASS. IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG FOR ALL OF YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WE APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND YOUR SACRIFICE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE.. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE. MANY OF US HAVE BEGUN OUR JOURNEY TO EASTER. AND YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN AVIATION STRUCTURAL MECHANIC (STRUCTURES) 2ND CLASS. IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG FOR ALL OF YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WE APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND YOUR SACRIFICE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE.. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE. MANY OF US HAVE BEGUN OUR JOURNEY TO EASTER. AND YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS.
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POSTED ON 11.30.2016
POSTED BY: Dennis Wriston
I'm proud of our Vietnam Veterans
Petty Officer Second Class William Pete Bletsch, Served with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (VQ-1), 7th Fleet.
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POSTED ON 6.8.2016
POSTED BY: [email protected]
Final Mission of AMS2 William P. Bletsch
On March 16, 1970, a U.S. Navy EC-121K Warning Star (#145927) spy plane from Fleet Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) with 31 crewmen aboard suffered a mechanical failure during a landing approach at a Da Nang airbase at the end of a ferry flight from Taiwan. One of the airplane's four engines had been shut down enroute due to a generator overheat problem. Furthermore, the first one thousand feet of Da Nang's runway was closed for repairs. The combination of the two factors dictated an out-of-the-ordinary approach. At 11:25 as the Warning Star was on short final, another aircraft taxied onto the active runway, forcing the EC-121 to attempt an aborted landing. The pilot banked while flying over a concrete revetment and caught the tip of the left wing on a shelter. The EC-121 immediately cartwheeled, striking another revetment containing an RF-4C and exploded. The remaining eight crewmen and two U.S. Air Force personnel on the ground were injured. The aircraft crashed 300 yards east of the runway near a busy road leading to a large American mess hall. The aircraft broke into three pieces: the cockpit and fuselage forward of the wing slid into revetment wall and burned; the center section crashed upside down into a street and burned; and the tail section landed on a softball field, ripping into a backstop (the field was deserted). One of these flying sections hit a tar truck, knocking it into two power poles. The poles were severed and live power lines were strewn over the area. Only the white tail section and part of the fuselage were distinguishable amid the scattered wreckage. The RF-4C inside the hanger was also destroyed. One man from the tail section walked away unscathed, meanwhile the four other survivors from the center section were gravely injured. Although ground personnel made heroic efforts to rescue the men aboard the EC-121, braving gasoline and jet fuel fires and the risk of electrocution, 23 men were either dead or fatally injured including pilot LCDR Harvey C. K. Aiau, LCDR Harry C. Martin, navigator LT James M. Masters Jr., co-pilot LT George L. Morningstar, co-pilot LT Robin A. Pearce, co-pilot LTJG Charles E. Pressler, navigator LTJG Jean P. Souzon, ADRC William J. Risse, AT1 Larry O. Marchbank, ATR1 Arthur D. Simmons, ATR1 Donald W. Wilson, AE2 Floyd E. Andrus III, ADR2 Stuart J. Scruggs Jr., AMS2 William P. Bletsch, ATN2 John M. Birch, ATN2 Guy T. Denton, ATN2 John S. Schaefer, ATN2 Barry M. Searby, ATR2 Joseph S. Saukaitis, ADR3 Gregory J. Asbeck, ATN3 Thurle E. Case Jr., ATN3 Ben A. Hughes Jr., and ATN3 Ralph S. Purdum. [Taken from vspa.com, aviation-safety.net, and virtualwall.org]
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POSTED ON 3.17.2014
POSTED BY: Curt Carter [email protected]
Remembering An American Hero
Dear AMS2 William Pete Bletsch, sir
As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.
With respect, Sir
Curt Carter
As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.
With respect, Sir
Curt Carter
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