| The Incident
Ship Fitter Petty Officer James
D. Roark and Seaman Petty Officer John D. Cayce were assigned to
the USS WILLIAM V. PRATT (DLG 13). On 12 November 1967, they were
performing their duties as part of a helicopter detail onboard
the ship in the Gulf of Tonkin. The ship was rolling in heavy
seas when a 20-foot wave swept over the main deck and carried
three men overboard.
The USS PRATT immediately
turned to recover the men at the same time requested a helicopter
from another ship to assist. One man was quickly spotted and
rescued. Five additional ships and two helicopters joined the
search for the remaining men. An extensive search failed to
locate either Cayce or Roark.
During the period of July
through September 1973, an over water/at sea Casualty Resolution
Operation was conducted to determine the feasibility of expanding
search operations to be used in cases such as the loss of Roark
and Cayce. Based on the lack of any positive results whatsoever,
the at-sea operations were terminated. It was decided that
personnel lost at sea could not be recovered.
Roark and Cayce died an
unfortunate accidental death. The fact that they died an
accidental death in the midst of war is tragically ironic. They
are listed among the missing with honor, because no body was
never found to be returned to the country they served.
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