[Unwillyn]

Missing from the accounts of this accident was the fact that ships in this task group that night were refueling from the USS Taluga (AO-62). I was aboard the Taluga when the accident occured, and still have a color Polaroid photo of the Evans after sunrise. It was my impression at the time, that the additional manuvering and repositioning of ships as they took turns refueling, contributed greatly to the confusion that lead to this accident.
A bad day for both Navies....
Paul D. Owens

[gmg1usn]

I was a Gunner’s Mate on the USS Noa DD841 at that time. Earlier that day the Evans was operating close off the coast of Viet Nam on the “Gun Line”. We came in on her last pass down the coast and relieved her . After she shot her last salvo with her stern gun mount we fell in line and began firing missions with our forward mounts. I saw her at Subic Bay later. I actually went aboard the remaining stern half sitting there in Subic. Even though there had been a lot of scavenging of parts from the remains you still could see the devastation of the collision. Most of us aboard ships at sea over there never really saw a picture of what that war was like especially for the infantry and artillery on land. We destroyer sailors only got to see the aircraft coming back to the carriers when we were plane guarding. The aircraft flew directly over us on their approach. We could tell when one was all shot up and damaged. We could hear the alarms on the carriers. We could see the lights frantically flashing. We could see the pilots eject and see the crippled F-4’s and A-6's hit the round down on the back of the flight deck and make that fiery plunge to the sea in front of us. Most of us were really young and because of the fact that we were not being fired upon and hit we did not sense the war. However seeing the stern of the Evans there at Subic put cold shivers down my spine. I am appalled that the names of those 74 men are not written on The Wall.