In
Memory of U.S. Navy Aviation Electrician’s Mate Third Class
Died in Explosion aboard the Aircraft Carrier
Forrestal
in the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam
Le Roy Moser was born on August 27, 1944, to Simon and
Frances (Ackerman) Moser, Jr. at Mobridge, South Dakota. He was
the oldest; his siblings included Rodney, Mavis, Donald, and
David. He and his brothers and sister were raised on the
family’s farm just west of Pollock and graduated from Pollock
High School. Le Roy’s mother told us that Le Roy was “not afraid
of work” as he did many jobs on the farm: caring for the cattle,
doing the field work, and putting up hay for feed.
Le Roy entered active service in the Navy on March 15, 1965,
and after his training came home in 1966 and was stranded in a
bad snowstorm. Once the way was clear Le Roy returned to
Washington, DC, marking the last time his family saw him. AE3
Moser went overseas as an aviation electrician’s mate aboard the
Aircraft Carrier, USS Forrestal (CVA 59) in June of 1967.
According to the US Navy’s website, the Forrestal was the
first of the “supercarriers” and the first to be “built with an
angled flight deck, which allows simultaneous takeoffs and
landings.” The planes that AE3 Moser worked on were part of
Attack Carrier Air Wing 17 stationed aboard the Forrestal and
launched from her deck in the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of
Vietnam.
On July 29, 1967, prior to the “second launch on the fifth
day in combat,” while fighter jets awaited takeoff, including
one piloted by Lt. Commander (now Senator) John McCain, a
missile was accidentally launched on board. The denotation
caused a fire fueled by JP-5 jet fuel and aged onboard
explosives. The ship’s nearly 6,000 personnel raced to defuse
and throw bombs over the sides in the water. Fires raged both
above and below deck for hours. Saving the Forrestal has gone
down in history as a heroic story of men battling the fire and
trying to save each other.
According to a newspaper clipping, because “many men were
trapped below decks, and many had leaped overboard with the
possibility of being picked up by other vessels, the list of
missing was high at first,” so Navy personnel from Fargo, North
Dakota, originally came to the Moser farm to tell them that
their son and brother, Electrician’s Mate Third Class Le Roy
Moser, was missing in action. A couple days later, after the
fire had been contained and the dead and wounded largely
accounted for, the Navy returned to tell Le Roy’s family that he
was confirmed to have died in the explosions and fires aboard
the USS Forrestal.
In the end, 132 crewmen died, 62 were injured, and 2 were
missing, presumed dead. On October 2, 1967, about six weeks
after what would have been his 22nd birthday, the body of Le Roy
Moser and 17 other casualties from the Forrestal were buried
with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. His father,
Simon Moser, Jr., 53, died on September 7, 1967, prior to his
son’s burial.
His brother, Rodney, also a Vietnam veteran with a Purple
Heart, wrote a poem in memory of his beloved brother, Le Roy:
We grew up together, My best friend and I./ He
was a little older. A little shorter and shy./
We fought and we argued, Like most best friends do./ But a short
time later; We started anew./
We both got out of school, And went off to the war./ He joined
the Navy, and I joined the Corps./
We both served our country, Gave our best and much more./I
served on land, He served off shore./
He lost his life, In the Vietnam War./The last
time I saw him, Was about three years before./I love him and miss him, He was my best friend./ His name’s on
the wall, And in my mind to the end./
We shared the same values, The same mother and dad./ My best
friend was my brother, And that makes me glad./ His life still
goes on, In family and friend./The Memories of him, Never will
end.
In addition to his mother, Frances Hohenecker, of Aberdeen,
and brother, Rod (Sandy) of Mobridge, Le Roy Moser is survived
by his sister, Mavis (Jack) Heyd, and brothers, Donald (Debbie)
and David (Jean), all of Aberdeen. Le Roy is also survived by 10
nieces and nephews and 7 grand-nieces and nephews.
Left: USS Forrestal, circa 1957; Right: Gravesite and memorial
to 18 of the Forrestal victims, Arlington Nat’l Cemetery
This entry was respectfully submitted by Chantelle Janke, 9th
grade, Spearfish High School, Spearfish, South Dakota.
Information for this entry was provided by Mrs. Frances (Moser)
Hohenecker, mother; Mavis Heyd, sister; Rod Moser, brother; the
US Navy via the website
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv59-forrestal/cv59-forrestal.html
and
http://www.npr.org/programs/wesat/features/2002/aug/ussforrestal/
. (P/S/F/A 6/16/05)
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