Use Data to Improve Medical Care at Sea
By Captain Frederick Foote, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy (Retired)
On 25 July 1967, the carrier USS Forrestal (CVA-59) began air operations against North Vietnam. In the days before she arrived on Yankee Station, several accidents had occurred on her flight deck, including the unintended ignition of a large flare and the maiming of a Sailor run over by a plane. On 28 July another Sailor was lost overboard; a day later, the accidental firing of a Zuni rocket ignited the catastrophe that killed 134 and nearly destroyed the ship. 1 Before the war ended, other major aviation accidents and fires would occur on board the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), Hancock (CV-19), and Oriskany (CV-34). 2
