 A calm moonlit night struck tragedy around 3 a.m. on June 3, 1969 in the South China Sea when the Melbourne collided with the USS Frank Evans. The Evans was a destroyer that had previously served in World War II, the Korean war and the Vietnam War before a grave mistake lead it to be sunk. According to historians, the Melbourne was a light aircraft carrier of the Royal Australian Navy and had signaled the Evans to prepare to take the position of plane guard. This was not the first time the Evans had tried to carry out this maneuver, in fact it was the fifth time that night that the Evans was asked to take plane guard. The Evans turned the wrong way, directly into the path of the Melbourne, which sliced the Evans in two. The bow quickly began sinking taking 74 lives with it. The small town of Niobrara felt the pain from halfway around the world. Radarman 3rd Class Gregory Sage and Seaman Recruits Gary Sage and Kelly Sage died together that night. The Sage brothers grew up on a farm near Niobrara and joined the Navy. They wanted to serve together, and eventually obtained special permission to sail on the same ship. Survivors of the accident said Gary, the oldest at age 21, jumped from the stern to join his brothers in the bow shortly after collision. All three perished in the black night at sea. The 199 sailors on the stern survived. As if the brothers’ loss wasn’t enough to bear, the Department of Defense refused to consider the Evans sailors as casualties of the Vietnam War. DOD officials determined that the accident happened outside the combat zone. Consequently, the names were not included on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. After many efforts for the last 50 years, the DOD still fails to see that none of the men on that ship would have been in the South China Sea that fateful night if they had not laid down their lives to serve their country. Niobrara decided to dedicate their own memorial to the 74 sailors which includes all of their names, photos and the history behind the incident. This year, a special ceremony was held at the Niobrara Sage Brothers Memorial. On June 2, at 3 p.m. friends and family gathered there to remember the incident exactly 50 years after the event occured, which would be June 3, 3 a.m. where the incident took place between Vietnam and the Spratly Islands. A special guest, Darwin Sietsema, a Navy veteran from Ruthton, Minn. spoke at the ceremony. Sietsema remembers the tragic night vividly as he wasn’t too far from the collision serving on the James E. Kyes. In fact, the Kyes was sent to the collision to help in rescue efforts. He recalled the event, “right away we launched our small boats, but we felt helpless,” he said. “There was nothing you could do. It was over with.” Historians say that it took less than five minutes for the bow to sink taking 73 men with it, one body was also recovered from the water. Sietsema asked the small crowd if they remembered where they were when JFK was shot, when the terrorists attacked the twin towers. He stated how he will never forget where he was in the South China Sea when the Melbourne struck the Evans. He also pleaded with the crowd to keep up the efforts on getting the 74 sailors names on the Vietnam wall. The ceremony also included the reading of the 74 sailor’s names followed by the traditional ringing of the bell. All of the lost sailors names, photos and brief summary of each sailor can be found at www.ussfee.org/the74.html Names of the 74 include: ENSIGN ALAN HERBERT ARMSTRONG SEAMAN JAMES ROBERT BAKER YEOMAN THIRD CLASS ANDREW JAMES BOTTO RADARMAN THIRD CLASS THOMAS BELUE BOX ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN THIRD CLASS JAMES FRANKLIN BRADLEY ENSIGN ROBERT GEORGE BRANDON SEAMAN APPRENTICE HARRIS MELVIN BROWN BOILER TECHNICIAN SECOND CLASS WILLIAM DANIEL BROWN II CHIEF HOSPITAL CORPSMAN CHARLES WILLIAM CANNINGTON RADARMAN SECOND CLASS CHRISTOPHER JOHN CARLSON SEAMAN MICHAEL KALE CLAWSON SEAMAN DANNY VICTOR CLUTE YEOMAN THIRD CLASS JAMES RICHARD CMEYLA ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN THIRD CLASS LARRY WAYNE COOL SEAMAN PATRICK MICHAEL CORCORAN SEAMAN APPRENTICE JOE EDDIE CRAIG ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN (RADAR) THIRD CLASS JAMES WILBURN DAVIS SEAMAN APPRENTICE LEON LARRY DEAL SEAMAN JAMES FRED DYKES III SEAMAN APPRENTICE RAYMOND JOSEPH EARLEY GUNNERS MATE THIRD CLASS STEVEN FRANK ESPINOSA SEAMAN APPRENTICE STEPHEN DONALD FAGAN SEAMAN APPRENTICE WILLIAM DONALD FIELDS SEAMAN APPRENTICE ALAN CARL FLUMMER SEAMAN APPRENTICE HENRY KENNETH FRYE SEAMAN FRANCIS JOSEPH GARCIA SONAR TECHNICIAN (SURFACE) THIRD CLASS MELVIN HOLLMAN GARDNER SEAMAN APPRENTICE DONALD EUGENE GEARHART BOATSWAINS MATE THIRD CLASS PATRICK GENE GLENNON SEAMAN APPRENTICE KENNETH WAYNE GLINES SEAMAN APPRENTICE JOE LUIS GONZALES SONAR TECHNICIAN (SURFACE) THIRD CLASS LARRY ALLAN GRACELY SEAMAN APPRENTICE DEVERE RAY GRISSOM, JR. SEAMAN APPRENTICE STEVEN ALLEN GUYER RADARMAN THIRD CLASS TERRY LEE HENDERSON CHIEF ELECTRICIANS MATE EDWARD PHILIP HESS RADARMAN SECOND CLASS GARRY BRADBURY HODGSON SEAMAN APPRENTICE DENNIS RALPH JOHNSTON SEAMAN APPRENTICE JAMES WILLIAM KERR CHIEF BOATSWAINS MATE WILLIE LEE KING CHIEF RADARMAN GEORGE JOSEPH LA LIBERTE' RADIOMAN SECOND CLASS RAYMOND PATRICK LEBRUN RADARMAN FIRST CLASS EUGENE FRANCIS LEHMAN SEAMAN APPRENTICE ISAAC LYONS, JR. SEAMAN APPRENTICE DOUGLAS ROY MEISTER SEAMAN APPRENTICE ANDREW MARTIN MELENDREZ SEAMAN FREDERIC CONRAD MESSIER SEAMAN APPRENTICE TIMOTHY LYNN MILLER ENSIGN JOHN TOWNSEND NORTON, JR. ENSIGN GREGORY KOICHI OGAWA SEAMAN APPRENTICE MICHAEL ANTHONY ORLIKOWSKI INTERIOR COMMUNICATIONS ELECTRICIAN SECOND CLASS LINDEN RUSSELL ORPURT LIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADE DWIGHT SCOTT PATTEE SEAMAN APPRENTICE CRAIG ALLEN PENNELL SEAMAN APPRENTICE JEROME PICKETT YEOMAN SECOND CLASS EARL FREDERICK PRESTON, JR. BOILER TECHNICIAN THIRD CLASS LAWRENCE JOHN REILLY, JR. RADARMAN SECOND CLASS VICTOR THOMAS RIKAL BOATSWAINS MATE SECOND CLASS GARY LOREN SAGE RADARMAN THIRD CLASS GREGORY ALLAN SAGE SEAMAN APPRENTICE KELLY JO SAGE SEAMAN APPRENTICE JOHN ALAN SAUVEY BOILER TECHNICIAN FIREMAN APPRENTICE ROBERT JAMES SEARLE FIREMAN APPRENTICE GERALD WAYNE SMITH SEAMAN THURSTON PERRY SMITH, JR. SONAR TECHNICIAN SECOND CLASS JOHN RAYMOND SPRAY LIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADE JON KENNETH STEVER SEAMAN APPRENTICE THOMAS FRED TALLON RADARMAN SECOND CLASS RONALD ARTHUR THIBODEAU RADARMAN THIRD CLASS JON WAYNE THOMAS SEAMAN APPRENTICE JOHN THOMAS TOLAR QUARTERMASTER THIRD CLASS GARY JOSEPH VIGUE RADARMAN THIRD CLASS CON WESLEY WARNOCK SEAMAN APPRENTICE HENRY DENNIS WEST III |
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