![]() "I hoped it will be in a museum someplace, but this is kind of unique, and it will certainly be something that will be recreational, to say the least. Then-Navy pilot John McCain was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 after taking off from the Oriskany and was held as a prisoner of war for five years. ![]() It was also among the ships used by President Kennedy in a show of force during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. The Oriskany (oh-RISK'-uh-nee), known by former crew members as the "Mighty O," was commissioned in 1950 and named after an American Revolutionary War battle. I didn't think it would light up like that," said Oriskany veteran Nick Eris, 68, of Perdido Key, who served on the Korean and Vietnam War-era ship as an aviation electrician in 1960. "I'm a little stunned, it's a little hard to take," said Quiter, of North Collins, N.Y., who wiped tears from his eyes after his former ship sank to become a home for fish and other marine life. Clouds of smoke and bright flashes were visible after more than 500 pounds of plastic explosives were detonated. Lloyd Quiter, 58, who served four tours in Vietnam aboard the aircraft carrier, played "Attention All Hands" on his boatswain's pipe as the ship plunged into the Gulf of Mexico 24 miles off Pensacola Beach. ![]() ![]() IN THE GULF OF MEXICO - As hundreds of veterans looked on solemnly, Navy divers blew holes in a retired aircraft carrier and sent the 888-foot USS Oriskany to the bottom of the sea Wednesday, forming the world's largest manmade reef. ![]()
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