Dennis was at work and was in the hangar bay area. It was just the beginning of another normal twelve-hour day on an aircraft carrier. Suddenly he heard some men remark about a destroyer blowing up. He knew something was dreadfully wrong. He could tell by looking off the side of the ship that the carrier was really moving through the water and had picked up speed. Dennis just could not imagine what was going on. Then he heard the message on the ship's public address system. "All repair parties man your stations at once!". Then someone told him that it was not a destroyer, but the USS Forrestal CVA-59 that was in trouble.

The other carriers going to the aid of the Forrestal were the USS Intrepid and the USS Bon Homme Richard. All the rescue efforts and operations were centered from his ship, the Oriskany.  　

The USS Oriskany carried the fleet admiral. This person commands the whole Pacific fleet combat operations. He was a five star admiral and his name was Rear Admiral George S. Morrison. He was a short, slim, unassuming man who had marine escorts follow him everywhere he walked around the ship. Many people would hear of his son. His son was Jim Morrison of The Doors, who was a legend of rock 'n roll. He died the same year as Janice Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, 1971. All were twenty-seven years of age.

The USS Oriskany, USS Intrepid, and USS Bon Homme Richard circled the USS Forrestal along with eight or more destroyers. It was an unreal situation. Men could be seen jumping overboard in the sea from the Forrestal. Helicopters from all three carriers were picking up men as they could. Clouds of thick black smoke billowed into the air from the Forrestal.

Accounts at the time put the loss of life at over one hundred dead and dozens were injured. The injured were transported to the hospital ship USS Repose as well to all three carriers medical departments. Almost two-thirds of the aircraft on the flight deck were destroyed. Somehow, a bomb went off on the flight deck as the ship was preparing for a launch. Consequently, all the aircraft were positioned at the back end of the ship. In the resulting blast, jet fuel explosions and intense heat triggered more explosions. The heat from the explosions literally melted holes in the flight deck. Unfortunately there were sleeping compartments immediately under a couple of areas where the explosions occurred. This tragedy on the Forrestal surpassed the damage and number of lives lost on the USS Oriskany a year earlier. Dennis realized one more time how dangerous a carrier is.

July 30, 1967

Dennis wrote his parents today that as of this date the Oriskany had lost thirteen aircraft in combat and six fighter pilots. Two of the aircraft and one pilot were from his own squadron VA-163.