Pilot From John McCain’s Navy Squadron Missing In ‘Nam I.D.’d
Welcome home Sir.
June 21, 2008
A lost fighter pilot from John McCain’s Navy squadron was finally identified yesterday, 41 years after both men were shot down over Vietnam.
The Pentagon said remains of Navy Lt. Cmdr. Ralph Bisz of Miami, Fla., were confirmed to be his after two decades of DNA testing. Vietnam turned over a group of remains in 1988, but they weren’t identified until recent advances in DNA technology made it possible.
Bisz and the future Arizona senator/presumed GOP presidential nominee, served in the VA-163 “Saints†aboard the Navy aircraft carrier Oriskany in 1967, though not at the same time.
Retired Navy Capt. George Lundy was once a roommate of Bisz’s and fondly remembers his buddy as “a real good kid.â€
“He has remained in my thoughts all these many years. It is good to hopefully put this to rest,†Lundy told The Mouth.
McCain certainly knew of the fellow “Saint,†a more junior officer, who was listed as a prisoner of war for decades. The Pentagon said on Friday he didn’t survive the crash of his jet.
“Even if John didn’t know Bisz, you feel a kinship with him,†said McCain friend and fellow ex-POW Paul Galanti.
Bisz was bombing North Vietnam’s Haiphong Harbor when a surface-to-air missile blasted his A-4 Skyhawk into a fireball in August 1967.
McCain survived a catastrophic fire on the carrier Forrestal and then transferred to the flattop Oriskany in September to replace lost pilots like Bisz. In October, he was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese, but survived five years of torture.
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