THE WALL OF FACES

Remember to save for them a place inside of you, and save one backward glance when you are leaving, for the places they can no longer go...

Information about former POW/MIA Captain Ernest Albert Stamm, U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1954, from the POW Network website is at this link:

https://pownetwork.org/bios/s/s113.htm

Dear Capt Ernest Stamm, Thank you for your service as an Unrestricted Line Officer - Pilot on the USS CONSTELLATION, and for graduating from Annapolis. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Happy Spring. Time moves quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

On November 25, 1968, pilot CDR Ernest A. Stamm and Reconnaissance Attack Navigator (RAN) LTJG Richard C. Thum comprised the crew of a U.S. Navy North American RA-5C Vigilante (#149293) from Heavy Reconnaissance Squadron RVAH-5, “Savage Sons,” Carrier Air Wing 14 (CVW-14), aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CVA-64). They were on a reconnaissance mission near Van Tap, 20 miles northwest of Vinh, in North Vietnam, when they were tracked by radar-guided surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). The Vigilante jinked wildly to avoid the barrage until it was hit, exploding into four parts. Two parachutes were seen, but it is unlikely either crewmen survived the explosion caused by a possible direct SAM hit. One report suggests that Stamm may have been captured alive, but died before making it to a POW camp. Stamm’s remains were repatriated March 13, 1974, and positively identified on April 17, 1974. He was promoted to Captain during the time he was missing. Thum’s remains were repatriated September 30, 1977, and identified October 25, 1977. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and the books “RA-5C Vigilante Units in Combat” by Robert R Powell and “U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft Damaged or Destroyed During the Vietnam War” by Douglas E. Campbell]

Ernest is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Collinsville,IL.