"Memorial Day salute to a lost aircraft" Topic

On 2 Oct. 1969, a twin-engine Grummond C-2A Greyhound (serial no. 152796) crashed into the Tonkin Gulf while on approach to the USS Constellation from Cubi Point NAS in the Philippines. The plane went down with 27 aboard; none were recovered. Twenty days later, the ship I served on, the USS Greenlet (ASR-10), a Submarine Rescue Ship with heavy-lift facilities and Navy divers, arrived at the crash site to begin salvage operations. For a month we tried in vain to locate the wreck and any remains, but there was zero underwater visibility and a current that swept the hard-hat divers off the diving stage. It was deep enough that the divers had to recover from the "bends" in she ship's recompression chamber. Finally, with a typhoon setting in, the operation was cancelled on 19 Nov. and we weighed anchor for Japan.

I've looked on the list of names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall for 2 Oct. 1969 losses, and there they all are, all 27 names, still missing at sea. I'm sorry boys. We tried our best, but you all still live in my memory.

RM2 William W. Fannin
USS Greenlet (ASR-10)

With a current like that, you didn't have a chance…

You did the best that you could do.

That's a rough one. Thank you for serving, and may the lost RIP.

May they all RIP …

Thank you all for your sentiments.