On the morning of July 29, 1967, Preston Gardner, a Navy
senior chief petty officer, had just finished an overnight shift aboard the USS
Forrestal, an aircraft carrier operating in the Gulf of Tonkin during the
Vietnam War.
A stray electrical signal ignited a rocket on board. It shot
across the flight deck, hitting the fuel tank of a fully armed fighter jet.
Seconds later, a 1,000-pound bomb fell from the plane and cracked, sending
flames sweeping across the ship.
Gardner immediately positioned himself beneath the deck,
spraying water to help thwart further damage. Twenty-four hours later, he was
able to remove himself from his position. The flames claimed the lives of 134
sailors.
Gardner knew he would never forget the smell of burnt flesh.
The odor lingered as he and surviving crew mates spent 23 days sailing back to
the United States.
“It is something I’ll remember the rest of my life,” said
Gardner, now 75, of Cheswick.
He is one of hundreds of thousands of Americans alive today
who can describe the horrors of the Vietnam War firsthand. Their status as war
veterans is central to their identity. Yet when they fill out the 2020 census,
they will be unable to designate themselves as such. The census does not
collect that information.
It’s not just a point of pride for those who have served.
Data generated by the census determines state and federal funding, as
government services are allocated according to demographics. Without such a
designation, organizations that focus on helping veterans find jobs and housing
may not receive enough funding to support the people they serve.
No comments:
Post a Comment