05/14/2014
**10** Found and spoke with Army Sea Wolf James R. ELLIS, WO1, Pilot, 118th AHC, USS Tortuga (LSD-26), 5/5/1966, 8/1966. Found him in Fredericksburg, TX and may attend reunion. Jim was the co-pilot on BuNo 64-14089 that lost tail rotor control on takeoff from Tortuga and sank. Everyone got out, but Jim couldn’t inflate his vest. Turned out someone used safety wire instead of shear wire on the toggle!
He also gave me the names of two other pilots there at the same time that I didn’t have. 1LT John A. Clark, and WO1 Foote.
**11** I later found WO1 Neil Howard Foote DAT
Find A Grave Memorial~~~441 Seawolves still to be found, including 36 Plank Owners and Original Army Sea Wolves.
Dan
Locked
