Any Vietnam Era Navy Vets Here ??? - McCain: Johnny Wet-Start Gets A Pass from the Media - OpEdNews

[WillyT]

Just wondering what the scuttle-butt was back then.

<snip>

The plane struck by the missile was McCain’s A-4 Skyhawk, a fitting “quirk of fate” since it was McCain’s “wet start” that triggered the firing of the missile that hit his jet in the first place.



From the point of ignition of the missile in the conflagration on the Forrestal, McCain leapt from his jet and rolled out of the flames. No mention was ever made of McCain experiencing “wounds” from the incident in any of the accounts of those onboard the Forrestal in July, 1967 -- all lower in rank than McCain’s father who had rank over all officers in the Forrestal’s theater of operations.

According to established reports, McCain was the first person to be reassigned to the USS Oriskany, probably to protect him from the friends of the 134 killed and 161 injured on the USS Forrestal.What this all means is that John McCain and his campaign are “revising history,” using McCain’s father’s position within the Navy to hide and distort matters of historical fact.



All this fact-bending in order to spare the privileged son of a distinguished Naval officer the embarrassment of having to explain how he was responsible for the worst disaster on a naval aircraft carrier since World War II, and yet was honorably discharged and continues to receive a veteran’s pension.





<snip>

Link: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Johnny-Wet-Start-Gets-A-Pa-by-Richard-Volaar-080904-278.html

It would be great to get the story straight from somebody who was on the Forrestal.

:shrug:

[Captain Hilts]

1. The fire was not his fault.

Friend of mine flew A-7s off FORRESTAL on that cruise.

He's an egotistical, selfish 'nasal radiator' but that fire wasn't his fault by any means.

[WillyT]

3. So The "Wet Start" Story Is A Lie... Or

it didn't cause the chain of events?

Do you know which it is???

:shrug:

[Captain Hilts]

6. The fire has not been attributed to that in any reputable summary of the fire I've read.

And this was before McCain was a muckety muck in politics.

My parents knew McCain's parents and "Junior" was a great submarine commander for the very reasons the senator is a selfish shit.

[cherokeeprogressive]

9. The wetstart story is irrelevant.

Not to mention it's never been heard from the mouth of someone who can be proven to be on the flight deck that day.

[WillyT]

12. The Reason I'm Interested...

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzgV5QM5fi8

Seems he's using the tragedy to make himself the hero.

Others aren't so sure.

Was lookin for a tie-breaker.

:shrug:

[hedgehog]

2. According to this, the accident started when two groups independently

dropped safety procedures, thereby making it possible for a faulty switch to cause the missile to fire. Not as sexy a story as the rumor of McCain's horseplay, but there it is.

Sailors to the End by Gregory Freeman

[WillyT]

4. Yeah... I Saw That Too...

Sure makes out McCain to be a hero.

A couple of things I've seen though, make it seem as if McCain was transferred off the Forrestal for his own safety. If that is true, then it would seem his shipmates certainly blamed him for it at the time.

:shrug:

[cherokeeprogressive]

10. Pilots from the Forrestal were sent to other carriers because She wasn't going to need them any time

soon. Some went to other carriers, some even came back stateside.

[Lasher]

5. A Wiki article says the trigger was an electrical surge during the switch from external power

It seems to refute the 'wet start' theory. And check out this drawing:



McCain's plane is one of the two in the right hand circle. It doesn't appear that exhaust from his plane could have harmed any other because it would have been directed overboard. This is not the first time I've seen a theory about McCain being to blame for this incident and I remain skeptical.

Wikipedia article

[Captain Hilts]

7. There's no basis in fact for this 'wet start' theory to have such traction. nt

[cherokeeprogressive]

8. Fuck me, here we go again. Don't need to be a Forrestal Sailor or come from the VN era to know

that this story is absolute total bullshit and NEVER fails to make the OP look foolish.

Over a year and a half of flight deck experience here. Worked the flight decks of the USS America, USS Ranger, and USS Constellation. I wasn't there on the Forrestal, but worked with people who were. Let me be brief:

No Naval Aircraft is allowed to start its engine(s) if it's parked in such a way as to affect another aircraft with its exhaust. Furthermore, McCain's plane was parked TOW on the port side and the missile came from under the wing of an F-4 Phantom that was parked on the starboard side. Watch the film.

I'll go into more detail if necessary but this has been hashed and rehashed here on this board.

It's a NON-STARTER because it's patently and demonstrably false.

[WillyT]

11. Well... Ya Know...

Some of us aren't here for every discussion, and when we hear stuff, we want to verify it with those here who might be in the know. Like you for instance.

I'm not worried about looking silly, I just want to know what the real deal is.

Thank you.