My father, Anthony J. Frangione, was in the Navy and served in Vietnam. He served aboard the USS Kitty Hawk in the late sixties for several years. He just recently passed away on April 15th. I remember him telling me a story about there being a fire on the ship on how he saved several people from dying. He received several medals. I was wondering if any members of this organization served with or knew my father.
I'm sorry to hear about your father. Do you know what division he was in? I was in V-2 and if it's the fire I'm thinking about it happened in the Phillipines. We were due to leave for "the line" the next day and some nit wit decided he didn't want to go. He set a tire locker on fire just aft of the waist catapults steam receivers. The burning rubber and magnesium wheels created quite a situation. I remember how glad I was that I had spent that week at fire fighting school in Philadelphia. The heat was unbelievable. My rack was on the O-3 level (one level below the flight deck) so when they sounded General Quarters at around 11:00pm I was on the flight deck in a hurry. I remember that I was bare foot so when they called for nozzlemen on the fire hose I had to borrow a pair of shoes from some guy who was quick to give them up rather than go down the light trap himself. I must have pulled out at least five guys whose OBA's (oxygen breathing apparatus)expired while they were down below. They forgot to give themselves time to get out when they set their timers so when they went off...they were out of air. Pretty hairy stuff.
I'm sorry I don't remember your dad. It was my first Westpac and I had only been on The Hawk since October and this happened in December. There were a number of guys who really stepped up that night. I wasn't aware that any had been singled out and recognized. Congratulations to your Dad. Sorry I couldn't be more help.
