Airman 3/C Robert Zwerlein Sends a High-Spirited Letter to a Friend Back in the States Only Days Before the Fatal USS Forrestal Fire

Just after 11:00 A.M. on July 29, 1967, a sudden electrical charge launched a six-foot Zuni missile from a stationary fighter jet on the deck of the USS Forrestal. The missile struck the fuel tank of a nearby plane and exploded (the plane’s thirty-one-year-old pilot, John McCain, miraculously survived the blast), setting off a chain reaction across the flight deck. Bombs weighing a thousand pounds detonated. Chunks of flying metal ripped enormous holes in the carrier’s sides as burning fuel consumed men frantically trying to extinguish the spreading flames. Four days before the fire, twenty-one-year-old Airman 3/C Robert Zwerlein—who happened to be John McCain’s plane captain—wrote to an old friend from Port Washington, New York, to say that, despite whatever grumblings she might be hearing on the homefront, morale was still high. (The last page of the letter is missing.)

July 25

Hi Sue,

This letter comes to you LIVE from Yankee Station, Gulf of Tonkin. Today we finally started flying missions against North Viet Nam and in about an hour we’ll stop flying for 12 hours. So far we’ve lost no aircraft or even had one damaged. But, this is just the first day. Two pilots from my squadron were the first to drop bombs on N.V.N. from this carrier and they blew up a bridge. Beginners luck I guess! My “bird” didn’t fly at all today though, as they were installing a camera in it. I hope it goes up tomorrow. If you want I’ll dedicate a bomb to you and Terri. You should see some of the things the guys write on the bombs. Its really funny. Here’s a few that I can think of. FROM THE V.C. FOR LUNCH BUNCH; NO DEPOSIT NO RETURN; IF YOU CAN READ ENGLISH CHARLIE HAHA!!; ITS WHATS UP FRONT THAT COUNTS; MAKEWAR, NOT LOVE; CHARLIE KILLER; MERRY CHRISTMAS HO; TO HO WITH LOVE; DO NOT DROP ON THE FLIGHT DECK; then there are always a few with, THIS ONE’S FOR MOM or FROM SIS; of course there are a few I can’t print.

I got all my mail in the Philippines but I can’t answer your letters because I can’t find them. I’ve got so much mail my lockers getting crowded. Right now I’m working on 12 hour shifts so I’ll be able to write more than I thought I would. Guess what, I came within a few miles of Bill MacCarthy’s ship yesterday. I also saw Viet Nam yesterday and could see two shell bursts along the shore. Wasn’t anywhere near us though but that suits me fine. Just think, the next time I touch land it will be almost September and our schedual says we start for home January fifth ’68. That’s not too long. I finally wrote to Hank last nite. It wasn’t long but at least it was something.

Ya know Sue, the night before we pulled out of the Philippines to leave for Yankee Station some guys and I went to the club for a couple (80 or 90) drinks. Well, as you probably know there are guys from all over the USA and as it always happens the band would play DIXIE and all the guys from the south would start singing and yelling and cursing the Yankees from the north and the same thing would happen when the band would play Yankee Doodle only we got up. But as soon as that band started to play God Bless America, everyone, no matter where they were from, just stood up and started to sing. It was really great. It made me feel real good. I wish the people back home could have seen it.

I imagine a lot of them would just say it was a bunch of drunken sailors that didn’t even know what they were singing. But it wasn’t that at all. It was a bunch of guys that are proud of their country and will fight and die if necessary for it. That’s a lot more than I can say for some people in our country. Now, it may seem like I copied this out of books or something but I didn’t and its just as it really happened and that’s how I feel. That’s probably how your brother feels too.

Did you know that your little brother has been writing to me, keeping me up to date on the Rangers. He’s sent me about five little letters, one was even typed. Have you been home lately? Would you believe my little, six foot three inch, brother is starting to drive! He’ll be almost old enough for me to get him loaded when I get back. Have you ever

One hundred and thirty-four young men were killed in the Forrestal fire, including Robert Zwerlein. After being engulfed in the blaze, Zwerlein was transferred to the hospital ship Repose with burns on over 80 percent of his body. He died on August 1, 1961.