THE WALL OF FACES

Warren was a year ahead of me at MHS. He lived about a quarter of a mile down the street on the Neck. We rode the same bus to school each day.
I was serving in the Air Force in our Airborne Command Post in January 1968 when he was lost.
Men like Warren gave us what we have today.
Thanks, Warren.

DEAR LIEUTENANT JG BOLES,
THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN UNRESTRICTED LINE OFFICER - PILOT - FROM THE U. S. S. KITTY HAWK. YOU ARE STILL MIA.
PLEASE COME HOME.
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. YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS. IT WAS JUST EASTER - GOD'S BLESSINGS ON YOU.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Warren William Boles, Served wit Fighter Squadron 114 (VF-114), Carrier Air Wing 11 (CVW-11), USS Kitty Hawk, Task Force 77 (TF-77), 7th Fleet.

Warren name is listed on his family marker in Marblehead,MA.

LTJG Warren W. Boles was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 114 onboard the aircraft carrier USS KITTY HAWK. On January 18, 1968, he and his radar intercept officer (RIO), LTJG Ron Roehrich launched in their F-4B Phantom fighter aircraft as the second plane of a two-plane section. Their assigned mission was as Barrier Combat Air Patrol Mission to protect friendly air and surface units in the Gulf of Tonkin. The two aircraft were launched independently and proceeded to their assigned station separately. Enroute to the station, Boles established radio contact with his airborne controller and was immediately vectored to investigate an unidentified surface contact in a threatening position in the Gulf. Boles descended through a low overcast and positively identified the contact as a non-hostile, cargo-type ship. Seconds later, radio and radar contact were lost with Bole's aircraft. Search and rescue helicopters were immediately sent to the scene and confirmed, by a fuel slick and debris, that the aircraft had crashed at sea. Although an exhaustive search was conducted, no survivors were found. The weather at the scene was about 700 feet overcast with low visibility and it was very dark. Final analysis of the accident concluded that Boles apparently became disoriented while visually tring to identify the surface contact and flying on instruments and inadvertently collided with the water. The Commanding Officer believed that Boles had no warning of his impending crash and that his death was instantaneous. [Narrative taken from pownetwork.org; image from wikipedia.com]