17 November 2000 I remember Bill as a very quiet and thoughtful person. He is sadly missed by his shipmates. AT2 Quay M. Cullison mikey948@aol.com

 

2 Apr 2005 I can never forget that day. You were going home on emergency leave. I spoke to you just before you boarded that C-2 to Danang. Rest in Peace, my brother. I left you a Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon at the Wall in 2003 because you were killed before you received yours. It was a moment of healing, a cathartic event for me. I'll never forget your kindness and concern for your fellow man. I think of you in every prayer or moment of silence during a VVA meeting. From a shipmate, Gary Feikert AT3, VA-113, 1968-1971 Santa Rosa, Ca 95405 modrock@sonic.net

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall Fleet Composite Squadron 50 (VRC-50) based at Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan, operated a variety of aircraft in support of fleet operations throughout the Western Pacific. The C-2A Greyhound was a carrier on-board delivery (COD) aircraft designed to carry passengers and freight between the carriers and airfields ashore; the C-2As were not carrier-based and rarely stayed aboard ship overnight. On 15 Dec 1970 C-2A BuNo 152793 flew from NAS Cubi Point, Philippines, to the USS RANGER on Yankee Station. After off-loading her pax and freight, the aircraft was reloaded for the return flight. There were four crewmen and two passengers aboard when the aircraft taxied onto the catapult. According to the POW Network, the C-2A went into the water a few seconds after catapult launch. Rescue efforts by RANGER's helicopters and her destroyer escorts recovered two bodies, AQF2 William S. Stewart and AMS3 John F. Szlapa. The six dead were VRC-50 aircrew, C-2A 152793: LT Meril O. McCoy, North Sacramento, CA, pilot LTJG Anthony J. Piersanti, Pennsauken, NJ, copilot ADJ3 Clyde C. Owen, Elkland, MO, aircrewman AMS3 John F. Szlapa, Mount Clemens, MI, aircrewman Passengers: BTCM Carroll J. Deuso, Richford, VT, MSU Det B, TG 73.1 AQF2 William S. Stewart, Topeka, KS, VA-113, USS RANGER Chris Hobson's normally very reliable Vietnam Air Losses contains errors regarding this loss; he says It happened on 12 December rather than 15 December; There were only the four aircrewmen aboard; The aircraft "disappeared during a logistics flight"; and The names of the men who died are not the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. All six men are named on Panel 06W, lines 122, 123, or 124.

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