Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY
Date of Birth: 28 March 1942
Home City of Record: Miami FL
Date of Loss: 04 August 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205300N 1063100E (XJ577097)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 May
1990 from one or more of the following: raw data
from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK 1998.
REMARKS: DEAD - IR 6 918 5348 73
SYNOPSIS: The USS ORISKANY was a World War II-er
carrier on duty in Vietnam as early as 1964. The
ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number
144608) that Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous
Marine astronaut (and later Senator), flew in his
1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966
the ORISKANY endured a tragic fire which killed
44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In
1972, the ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which
resulted in the loss of one of its aircraft
elevators, and later lost a screw that put the
carrier into drydock in Yokosuka, Japan for major
repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the
late months of the war.
The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of
the most tragic deployments of the Vietnam
conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164
"Ghostriders" lost; four in the onboard fire, one
in an aerial refueling mishap, and another three
in the operational arena. However, the 1967
deployment, which began in June and ended on a
chilly January morning as the ORISKANY anchored
in San Francisco Bay, earned near legendary
status by virtue of extensive losses suffered in
the ship's squadrons, including among the
Ghostriders of VA 164, and Saints of VA 163. One
reason may have been that Navy aviators were, at
this time, still forbidden to strike surface-to-
air missile (SAM) sites which were increasing in
number in North Vietnam.
On July 18, 1967, LCDR Richard D. Hartman's
aircraft fell victim to anti-aircraft fire near
Phu Ly in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. Hartman,
from VA 164, ejected safely, but could not be
rescued due to the hostile threat in the area.
Others in the flight were in radio contact with
him and resupplied him for about three days. He
was on a karst hill in a difficult recovery area.
Eventually the North Vietnamese moved in a lot of
troops and AAA guns, making rescue almost
impossible.
One of the rescue helicopters attempting to
recover LCDR Hartman on the 19th was a Sikorsky
SH3A helicopter flown by Navy LT Dennis W.
Peterson. The crew onboard the aircraft included
ENS Donald P. Frye and AX2 William B. Jackson and
AX2 Donald P. McGrane. While attempting to rescue
LCDR Hartman, this aircraft was hit by enemy fire
and crashed killing all onboard. The remains of
all but the pilot, Peterson, were returned by the
Vietnamese on October 14, 1982. Peterson remains
missing.
The decision was made to leave Hartman before
more men were killed trying to rescue him. It was
not an easy decision, and one squadron mate said,
"To this day, I can remember his voice pleading,
'Please don't leave me.' We had to, and it was a
heartbreaker." Hartman was captured and news
returned home that he was in a POW camp. However,
he was not released in 1973. The Vietnamese
finally returned his remains on March 5, 1974.
Hartman had died in captivity from unknown causes.
In July 1967, LCDR Donald V. Davis was one of the
Saints of VA 163 onboard the ORISKANY. Davis was
an aggressive pilot. On the night of July 25,
1967, Davis was assigned a mission over North
Vietnam. The procedure for these night attacks
was to drop flares over a suspected target and
then fly beneath them to attack the target in the
light of the flares. Davis and another pilot were
conducting the mission about 10 miles south of
Ha Tinh when Davis radioed that he had spotted a
couple of trucks. He dropped the flares and went
in. On his strafing run, he drove his Skyhawk
straight into the ground and was killed
immediately. Davis is listed among the missing
because his remains were never recovered.
LTJG Ralph C. Bisz was also assigned to Attack
Squadron 163. On August 4, 1967, Bisz launched on
a strike mission against a petroleum storage area
near Haiphong. Approximately a minute and a half
from the target area, four surface-to-air
missiles (SAM) were observed lifting from the
area northeast of Haiphong. The flight maneuvered
to avoid the SAMs, however, Bisz' aircraft was
observed as it was hit by a SAM by a wingman.
Bisz' aircraft exploded, burst into flames, and
spun downward in a large ball of fire. Remnants
of the aircraft were observed falling down in the
large ball of fire until reaching an altitude
estimated to be 5,000 feet and then appeared to
almost completely burn out prior to reaching the
ground. No parachute or ejection was observed. No
emergency beeper or voice communications were
received. Bisz' aircraft went down in a heavily
populated area in Hai Duong Province, Vietnam.
Information from an indigenous source which
closely parallels his incident indicated that his
remains were recovered from the wreckage and
taken to Hanoi for burial. The U.S. Government
listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War with
certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his
fate. Bisz was placed in a casualty status of
Captured on August 4, 1967.
The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz
ejecting was slim. If he had ejected, his capture
would have taken place in a matter of seconds due
to the heavy population concentration in the area
and that due to the lack of additional
information it is believed that Bisz did not
eject from his aircraft and that he was killed on
impact of the SAM.
Classified information on Bisz' case was
presented to the Vietnamese by General Vessey in
the fall of 1987 in hopes that the Vietnamese
would be able to resolve the mystery of Bisz'
fate. His case is one of what are called
"discrepancy" cases, which should be readily
resolved. The Vietnamese have not been
forthcoming with information on Ralph Bisz.
On August 31, three pilots from the ORISKANY were
shot down on a particularly wild raid over
Haiphong. The Air Wing had been conducting
strikes on Haiphong for two consecutive days. On
this, the third day, ten aircraft launched in
three flights; four from VA 164 (call sign
Ghostrider), four from VA 163 (call sign Old Salt)
and two from VA 163. As the flight turned to go
into Haiphong, one of the section leaders spotted
two SAMs lifting off from north of Haiphong. They
were headed towards the Saints section leader and
the Ghostrider section leader, LCDR Richard C.
Perry. The Saints section leader and his wingman
pitched up and to the right, while Old Salt 3
(LCDR Hugh A. Stafford) turned down, his wingman,
LTJG David J. Carey close behind him. Carey, an
Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first
operational mission. The missile detonated right
in front of them and aircraft pieces went
everywhere. The other SAM headed towards Perry's
section, and he had frozen in the cockpit. All
three planes in the division pulled away, and he
continued straight and level. His helpless
flightmates watched as the missile came right up
and hit the aircraft. The aircraft was generally
whole and heading for open water.
Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and
Carey, had by that time ejected from their ruined
planes and were heading towards the ground. Both
were okay, but Stafford had landed in a tree near
a village, making rescue impossible. Stafford and
Carey were captured and held in various prisoner
of war camps until their release in Operation
Homecoming on March 14, 1973. Richard Perry had
also ejected and was over open water. But as
Perry entered the water, his parachute went flat
and he did not come up. A helicopter was on scene
within minutes, and a crewman went into the water
after Perry. He had suffered massive chest wounds,
either in the aircraft or during descent in his
parachute and was dead. To recover his body was
too dangerous because the North Vietnamese were
mortaring the helicopter. The helicopter left the
area. Richard Perry's remains were recovered by
the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at
which time they were returned to U.S. control.
Flight members were outraged that they had lost
three pilots to SAMs that they were forbidden to
attack. Policy was soon changed to allow the
pilots to strike the sites, although never to the
extent that they were disabled completely.
On October 7, 1967, VA 164 pilot LT David L.
Hodges was killed when his Skyhawk was hit by a
SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi. His
remains were never recovered and he is listed
among those missing in Vietnam.
On October 18, 1967, VA 164 pilot LCDR John F.
Barr was killed when his Skyhawk was hit by enemy
fire and slammed into the ground while on a
strike mission at Haiphong. Barr's remains were
not recovered.
On November 2, 1967, VA 164 pilot LTJG Frederic
Knapp launched as the lead of a flight of two
aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over
North Vietnam. The wingman reported that during
an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have been
hit by anti-aircraft fire. The wingman saw Knapp's
aircraft impact the ground and did not see the
canopy separate from the aircraft. There was no
parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard.
The aircraft crashed about 9 kilometers west-
southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe
An Province.
A source later reported that people from his
village had removed the remains of a dead pilot
from his aircraft and buried the remains nearby.
These remains are believed to be those of Knapp.
On October 14, 1982, Vietnamese officials turned
over to U.S. authorities a Geneva Convention card
belonging to Ltjg. Knapp. To date, no remains
have been repatriated.
Six of the thirteen pilots and crewmen lost in
1967 off the decks of the ORISKANY remain
prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for
in Vietnam. Disturbing testimony was given to
Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese "stockpiled"
the remains of Americans to return at politically
advantageous times. Could any of these six be in
a casket, awaiting just such a moment?
Even more disturbing are the nearly 10,000
reports received by the U.S. relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many
authorities who have examined this information
(largely classified), have reluctantly come to
the conclusion that many Americans are still
alive in Southeast Asia. Could any of these six
be among them?
Perhaps the most compelling questions when
remains are returned are, "Is it really who they
say it is?", and "How -- and when -- did he die?"
As long as reports continue to be received which
indicate Americans are still alive in Indochina,
we can only regard the return of remains as a
politically expedient way to show "progress" on
accounting for American POW/MIAs. As long as
reports continue to be received, we must wonder
how many are alive.
As long as even one American remains alive, held
against his will, we must do everything possible
to bring him home -- alive.
