THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from your college friend John Berninghausen is touching. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us....

Charlie Boggs and I were classmates at the University of Minnesota and we both graduated in the early summer of 1965. He was the life of the party, always cracking jokes, at our lunch table in the YMCA across from Folwell Hall. As I seem to recall, he joined the Navy after graduating hoping to avoid being drafted and sent to fight in the rice paddies. It shook us all up when we learned of his death in the fire on the Oriskany, so many good men died in that terrible fire. Hell of a good guy! We still remember you, Charlie, and grieve for the adult life you never got to live.

Ensign Charles Wilson Boggs, Served with Fighter Squadron 162 (VF-162), Carrier Air Wing 16 (CVW-16), USS Oriskany, Task Force 77 (TF-77), 7th Fleet.

You were one of the brave that answered the call. You honored us by your service and sacrifice. We now honor you each time we stand and sing the words “THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE”. Rest in Peace and Honor Charles.

On October 26, 1966, there was a flare fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany operating in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam. Two sailors were re-stowing unexpended MK-24 Mod 3 flares when one was accidentally dropped. The igniter had not been reset to SAFE. As it fell, the safety lanyard was inadvertently pulled, actuating the flare. For reasons known only to him, one of the sailors picked up the armed flare, threw it into the magazine locker, and closed the door. Some 2.75-inch rocket warheads loaded with Composition B were stowed in the locker. Shortly after the flare ignited in the locker, the intense heat caused a 2.75 rocket warhead in the locker to detonate, sending fire and smoke into the hangar bay. This was followed by a second warhead explosion that spread fire throughout the entire hangar deck and in the forward portion of the ship. Finally, heat caused a liquid oxygen tank to explode. Before the fires were completely under control, 44 sailors had died (43 from asphyxiation and one from burns) and 156 had been injured. Beside the material damage to the ship, two helicopters and an A-4E aircraft were destroyed and three A-4E aircraft were damaged. The estimated cost of the material damage was $11 million. The following officers and men of Oriskany died in or as a result of the fires: CDR Jack H. Harris, CDR Richard E. Donahue, CDR Harry W. Juntilla (DOW 10/31/66), LCDR William J. Garrity Jr., LCDR Walter F. Merrick, LCDR Omar R. Ford, LT Frank M. Gardner, LTJG Dewey L. Alexander, LTJG Ramon A. Copple, LTJG James B. Hudis, LTJG James A. Kelly Jr., LTJG Franklin M. Tunick, BM3 Donald W. Shanks, BM3 Alvin M. Shifflett Jr., SN Robert L. Dyke, SN James K. Gray, SN James A. Lee, FN William Walling, AA Greg E. Hart, CDR Rodney B. Carter, LT Lloyd P. Hyde, LTJG William R. Clements, CDR George K. Farris, LCDR James A. Smith, LT John F. Francis, CDR John J. Nussbaumer, AZAN David A. Liste, LCDR Clement J. Morisette, LT Clarence D. Miller, LTJG Thomas E. Spitzer, ENS Ronald E. Tardio, CDR Clyde R. Welch, LCDR Daniel L. Strong, LTJG James L. Brewer, LTJG William A. Johnson, LCDR Norman S. Levy, LTJG Cody A. Balisteri, LTJG William G. McWilliams III, ENS Charles W. Boggs, 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 insensitivemunitions.org and virtualwall.org]