On Saturday, July 24, at 1 p.m., the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation will present   “Fire on the Forrestal: July 29, 1967,” featuring the documentary film, “Situation Critical: The USS Forrestal,” and a discussion by Vietnam Veteran Walt Stinner, a 1967 flight deck crewman aboard the USS Forrestal.  This program will be held at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel, N.J.

      On July 29, 1967, explosions and a raging fire on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal claimed the lives of 134 crewmembers and air wing personnel, including two sailors from New Jersey (22-year-old Francis Campeau of Bergenfield and 21-year-old Richard Vallone of Bridgewater).   The Forrestal was conducting combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin, 60 miles off the coast of North Vietnam, when the accidental launching of a missile on board the carrier caused an inferno.   To commemorate the anniversary of that tragedy, the Foundation will show the documentary with live film footage of the event and interviews with survivors, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), then a young Navy pilot whose plane was in the center of the turmoil.

      Walt Stinner, of Bayville, was an aircraft ordinance technician aboard the Forrestal at the time.   He was only yards away from McCain's burning aircraft.   Stinner will personalize the film presentation by sharing his own experience and by inviting fellow Forrestal veterans in the audience to join the discussion.   A temporary exhibit on the USS Forrestal is now on display in the Educational Center lobby.