On this day in 1967, one hundred and thirty-four men died and sixty-two were wounded in a fire on an aircraft carrier, the USS Forrestal. Among the planes waited to take off, a missile misfired and hit another plane, sparking a massive inferno.
As bombs and fuel exploded, Lt. Commander John McCain jumped out of his own plane and ran toward the flames — yes, toward the flames — attempting to rescue another pilot. An exploding bomb then injured McCain in the chest and legs…
Michael Zak at Grand Old Partisan has the rest of this amazing and heroic story.
In the live video of this horrible navy disaster you are actually able to see John McCain crawl from his plane and dive into the flames:
(1 minute 7 seconds)
Please remember the families of those 134 heroes who were lost in this disaster on the anniversary day.
I am not a historian and had never heard of this story.
John McCain’s character continues to impress.
It is an absolute shame that the media won’t be reporting this story on McCain today or any day.
