Title
Recognizing the work of Philadelphia's own Louise Esola and her book "American Boys: The True Story of the Lost 74 of the Vietnam War". Which brings to light the story of the 74 sailors that perished on the USS Frank E. Evans during the Vietnam War.
Body
WHEREAS, On March 29, 1969, the officers and men of the USS Frank E. Evans departed Long Beach, California for the Western Pacific Deployment with the United States Navy to carry out the operational orders of their Commander in Chief during a time of war in Vietnam; and
WHEREAS, On June 3, 1969, the USS Frank E. Evans, while on an allied naval exercise during the Vietnam War, collided with the Australian aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne in the South China Sea, near the coast of Vietnam; and
WHEREAS, The collision severed the ship into two sections, with the forward section sinking in less than three minutes, taking the lives of 74 American sailors; and
WHEREAS, A Philadelphia boy, Patrick M. Corcoran, was on the ship. Patrick Corcoran, remembered as a typical "Irish Catholic Philly kid," graduated from Father Judge High School in 1968. Urged by the threat of the United States Army draft and a harrowing death toll in Vietnam, Corcoran joined the Navy; and
WHEREAS, Corcoran served for several months aboard the USS Frank E. Evans, which had already collected four battle stars for actions during Vietnam. Within a year of his high school graduation, Patrick Corcoran was dead, a casualty among 74 killed in the disaster at sea; and
WHEREAS, Members of the United States armed forces who died during the Vietnam War have been memorialized by engraving names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Defense, despite the favorable endorsement of the Department of the Navy that the names be added to "The Wall" in Washington, continues to falsely maintains that the men who died as a result on the USS Frank E. Evans do not meet the criteria for inclusio...
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