Sometimes the stories I encounter in this job leave me stunned. To wit, I recently spoke with Aviation Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class Anthony O’Malley, who served aboard the USS Forrestal during a deadly disaster in 1967. 

Graduating high school in 1963, O’Malley was inspired by his sailor uncle to enlist in the Navy in ’64. Interested in work as an electrician, he opted for a Navy career in aviation electronics. He was proud to be aboard the supercarrier Forrestal, commissioned as the lead ship of her class only 12 years earlier.