Iraq's Attack on the USS Stark - May 17, 1987

On May 17, 1987, at approximately 9 pm, the USS Stark was attacked by an Iraqi F-1 Mirage fighter jet at an operating are known as RPS-South, just 50 miles from the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain, where the USS Coontz was moored.  Little was known about the attack at the time, only that USS Stark had suffered two missile hits on her port side.  That same night, USS Conyngham and USS Waddell steamed through intense fog to aid the crew of USS Stark in fighting the flooding and several fires which had broken out on the guided-missile frigate.  When they arrived, the fire parties from USS Conyngham and USS Waddell found melted bulkheads, warped decks and ruptured fire mains.  The Stark had a 15-degree list to port.  The next morning, USS LaSalle departed from Bahrain to assist the exhausted fire parties of Stark, Conyngham and Waddell, and to lend medical support.  A 43-man team from USS Coontz was flown to the scene on the Desert Duck helicopter.  The combined fire parties fought the fires and flooding aboard Stark for more than 18 hours.  Some of the men of USS Coontz were also tasked with removing the remains of deceased Stark crewmembers from various berthing and work compartments.  After the blaze was out, and the flooding was contained, the USS Conyngham towed USS Stark to Bahrain for extensive repairs.  On May 20, 1987, selected crewmembers from USS Coontz conducted a memorial service for fallen crewmembers of the USS Stark at the Bahrain International Airport.  The Coontz crewmembers served as crowd control and honor guard, and loaded the 37 flag-draped caskets of the deceased Stark sailors onto a cargo jet, which took the remains to West Germany for further identification.  

USS Stark Casualties

Doran Bolduc Lacy	Washington
Bradley Brown Calera	Alabama
Jeffrey Calkins	Rickfield Springs, N.Y.
Mark M. Caouette	Fitchburg, Mass.
John Ciletta *	Brigantine, N.J.
Brian Clinefelter	San Bernadino, Calif.
Antonio Daniels	Greenville, S.C.
Christopher DeAngelis *	Dumont, N.J.
James Dunlap	Osceola Mills, Pa.
Steven Erwin *	Troy, Mich.
Jerry Farr	Charleston, S.C.
Vernon Foster	Jacksonville, Fla.
Dexter Grissett	Macon, Ga.
William Hansen	Reading, Mass.
Daniel Homicki	Elizabeth, N.J.
Kenneth Janusik	Clearwater, Fla.
Steven Kendall	Honolulu, Hawaii
Stephen Kiser	Elkhart, Ind.
Ronnie Lockett	Bessemer, Ala.
Thomas MacMullen	Darby, Pa.
Charles Moller	Columbus, Ga.
Jeffrey Phelps	Locust Grove, Va.
Randy Pierce	Choctaw, Okla.
James Plonsky	Van Nuys, Calif.
Kelly Quick	Linden, Mich.
Earl Ryals *	Boca Raton, Fla.
Robert Shippee	Adams Center, N.Y.
Jeffrey Sibley	Metairie, La.
Lee Stephens	Pemberton, Ohio
James Stevens	Visalia, Calif.
Martin Supple	Jacksonville, Fla.
Gregory Tweady	Champaign, Ill.
Joseph Watson	Ferndale, Mich.
Wayne Weaver	New Bethlehem, Pa.
Terrance Weldon	Coram, N.Y.
Lloyd Wilson	Summerville, S.C.
Vincent Ulmer	Bay Minette, Ala
*Buried in Arlington National Cemetery