WESTWOOD, NORMAN PHILIP JR.

Name: Norman Philip Westwood Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Fighter Squadron 161, USS CORAL SEA (CVA 43)
Date of Birth: 08 August 1944
Home City of Record: West Hartford CT
Date of Loss: 17 May 1970
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 182758N 1073700E (YF763436)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 May 1990 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The USS CORAL SEA participated in combat action against the Communists
as early as August 1964. Aircraft from her squadrons flew in the first U.S. Navy
strikes in the Rolling Thunder Program against targets in North Vietnam in early
1965 and participated in Flaming Dart I strikes. The next year, reconnaissance
aircraft from her decks returned with the first photography of Surface-to-Air
Missile (SAM) sites in North Vietnam. The A1 Skyraider fighter aircraft was
retired from the USS CORAL SEA in 1968. The CORAL SEA participated in Operation
Eagle Pull in 1975, evacuating American personnel from beleaguered Saigon, and
remained on station to assist the crew of the MAYAGUEZ, which was captured by
Cambodian forces in 1975. The attack carriers USS CORAL SEA, USS HANCOCK and USS
RANGER formed Task Force 77, the carrier striking force of the U.S. Seventh
Fleet in the Western Pacific.

One of the aircraft launched from the decks of the CORAL SEA was the F4 Phantom.
The Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served a multitude of
functions including fighter-bomber and interceptor, photo and electronic
surveillance. The two man aircraft was extremely fast (Mach 2), and had a long
range (900 - 2300 miles, depending on stores and mission type). The F4 was also
extremely maneuverable and handled well at low and high altitudes. The F4 was
selected for a number of state-of-the-art electronics conversions, which
improved radar intercept and computer bombing capabilities enormously. Most
pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

LT Norman P. Westwood Jr. was an F4B pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 161
onboard the USS CORAL SEA. On May 17, 1970, LT Westwood and his Radar Intercept
Officer (RIO) LT Kane were briefed for a night bombing mission. During their
catapult launch sequence, their F4B developed a fire on the right side. The
master ejection system was initiated. The aircraft was airborne only 4-6 seconds
prior to water impact. Only one ejecton seat was observed leaving the aircraft,
with LT Kane immediately rescued by the standby helicopter.

An extensive search by the destroyer USS GEORGE K. MACKENZIE and other
helicopters failed to locate LT Westwood. Westwood is listed among the Americans
prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia because his remains were
never found.

For Norman P. Westwood, Jr., death is a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000
reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge
that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at
the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were
in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to
have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?


