Whereas, in 1967, the ongoing naval bombing campaign against North Vietnam from Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin was the most intense and sustained air attack operation in the history of the United States Navy; Whereas, in June 1967, USS Forrestal and Carrier Air Wing Seventeen departed Norfolk, Virginia, for duty in the Gulf of Tonkin; Whereas, on July 28, 1967, during an underway replenishment, the crew of USS Forrestal reluctantly onloaded volatile bombs that were not intended for carrier use in order to meet the combat requirements for strikes the next day; Whereas, despite safety precautions taken by the crew, a devastating fire erupted on USS Forrestal after— (1) an electrical surge in a parked aircraft caused the aircraft to fire a Zuni rocket that ruptured a fuel tank on another aircraft; and (2) the burning fuel ignited a chain reaction of 9 bomb explosions on the flight deck; Whereas the explosions destroyed multiple aircraft and tore massive holes in the armored flight deck of USS Forrestal, and burning fuel dripped into the living quarters of the crew and the below-decks aircraft hangar; Whereas, for 18 hours, Sailors and Marines on USS Forrestal, assisted by others from accompanying destroyers, fought to bring the fire under control while hospital corpsmen navigated the mangled flight deck and tended to the wounded; and Whereas, the fire onboard USS Forrestal ultimately— (1) left 134 men dead and 161 men severely injured; (2) destroyed more than 21 aircraft; and (3) caused USS Forrestal to terminate its support to the fight in Vietnam and return to Norfolk, Virginia, for repairs: Now, therefore, be it