July 29th there was a disastrous fire on the Forrestal

I was a plane captain assigned to Fighter Squadron 74 (VF-74). I was a member of Carrier Air Group 17 aboard the USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin. On July 29th there was a disastrous fire on the Forrestal resulting in the death of 134 crew members.

Two of the crew that I am aware of that died in the fire were from western PA — Larry Gilbert from Pittsburgh and Robert Leonberg from Mars. There are others as myself from western PA that I am aware of that are survivors of the disaster and willing to offer more detailed information concerning the ordeal.