More than 50 years after the fatal collision of the USS Frank E. Evans, survivors and lawmakers say the sailors deserve recognition on a memorial wall.
More than fifty years after 74 U.S. Navy sailors died in one of the deadliest non-combat naval tragedies of the Vietnam War era, families, survivors and lawmakers continue to grapple push Add their name to Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On June 3, 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, the USS Frank E. Evans aircraft carrier collided with the Royal Australian Navy’s USS Melbourne aircraft carrier during a night training exercise in the South China Sea, resulting in the death of a sailor.
The much smaller destroyer was split in half in the collision, which killed 74 sailors from 28 states.
Since then, memorials to the victims have been erected across the country by the USS Frank E. Evans Association, which continues to advocate for recognition of Washington’s sailors.
Despite years of lobbying by survivors, veterans groups and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, the sailors’ names have not been added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., because the collision technically occurred outside the boundaries of a military-designated combat zone.
Bill Thibault, a 19-year-old survivor at the time of the collision, said the crew had been actively supporting combat operations off the coast of Vietnam before the training exercise.
“We’re in a war zone,” Tebow said. “The only reason those names didn’t appear on the wall in Washington is that, technically, we were about 100 miles from the war zone at the time [of the collision]. Although as soon as the exercise was over we were back on the gun front. We are at war. “
Supporters argue the sailors are participating in wartime operations and should receive the same recognition as other service members killed in conflicts.
The tragedy has been compared to the deaths of the five Sullivan brothers during World War II, when three Sage brothers from Nebraska were killed on the USS Evans.
“It’s very frustrating — we’ve come close to this multiple times,” Tebow said of the effort to add the names to the monument.
Lawmakers, including Chuck Schumer, have renewed a bipartisan effort in Congress to pressure the Pentagon to change theater eligibility rules and allow the 74 sailors to be commemorated on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
Supporters say the fight is about ensuring the sailors’ sacrifice is officially recognized along with others who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
