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Your home page "Remembering the Oriskany" is wonderful. I also found my brother’s name, Charles Preston Stone (ABH3) on the memorial page. He died at the age of 22 on September 10, 1966. My main purpose for writing this letter is to get information, so I can have his name placed on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall. My friend and daughter have visited the Wall in D.C. and asked why his name wasn't on the Wall. As a result, I called D.C. to request information. After a research was conducted, an official said that my brother’s name wasn’t on the wall because he didn’t die in a war zone. Let me give you a brief history leading up to my brother's death.
My last letter from Charles while on the Oriskany in the Gulf of Tonkin was dated August 31, 1966. He says, "We have been at sea now for 30 days and still have ten more to go." Several days later, Sept. 10, my brother died in the Subic Bay. His obituary reads, "Charles passed away at Subic Bay in the Republic of the Philippines. The circumstances leading to his death are not known but his parents were notified on September 10th by the U.S. Navy that he was missing and on September 14th they were notified that his body had been recovered from Subic Bay."
I was 11 when Charles died and to this day, I do not know the truth about his death. It was a closed coffin ceremony and my father said that the Navy didn't want him to open the coffin. Of course, my dad was a World War II Veteran and he was taught not to question the military/government. I sometimes wonder if my brother was really in that coffin. At the time of his death, I wish I had been older with more sense to demand answers to many questions that puzzle me today. He is now buried at the Santa Fe National Cemetery in New Mexico and I still miss him very much.
With respect to the death of Peter Chan in 1972, I read an article on one of the Oriskany websites about him being blown off the Oriskany when a plane was started up. His name is on the Wall, I guess, because he was in a war zone (the Gulf of Tonkin), when his accidental death occurred. My point is, my brother's name should also be on the Wall. After all, he served in the Navy for six years and was on a more than 30 days assignment in the Gulf of Tonkin several days before his death.
My father died October 1998 and is buried next to Charles. My mother is 81 and seems to have misplaced my brother's military records. Presently, I am filling out a form to request his military records. I am also going to contact the Veteran's Administration in Santa Fe for their assistance.
In 35 years, I still think about my brother everyday. Writing this brings back a great deal of sadness. However, getting his name on the Wall might take awhile, but his death and service to our country is worth honoring.
After all this, might you remember Charles and do you have any suggestions on getting his name on the Wall? I have attached a picture of my brother.
Thank you, Bernadette Sanders
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