DOB/DOD: September 23, 1926 (Helena, MT) – October 26, 1966; 40 years old
RELIGION: Roman Catholic
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
COLLEGE: Attended Carroll College in Helena, graduating in 1949, and St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado. Ordained on April 4, 1954.
ENLISTMENT: Served June 26, 1944, through September 29, 1950, in the Navy Reserves; service number 5548943. Entered active duty again on October 30, 1957, in Helena, Montana.
SERVICE NUMBER: 622943
NAVY RATE: 4100, Staff Corps – Chaplain
TOUR START DATE: May 1965; he was on his second 7-month tour of duty
SHIP ASSIGNED TO: USS Oriskany (CVA-34), TF 77, 7th Fleet
ON THE WALL: Panel 11E, Line 110
FAMILY: Born to William J. “Jack” Sr. [Army veteran] (1896-1985) and Marion L. Sillers Garrity (1900-1987). One brother, Matthew S. (1929-2017).
CIRCUMSTANCES: On October 26, 1966, there was an aircraft flare fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany operating in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam. Two sailors were re-stowing unexpended MK-24 Mod 3 Flares when one was accidentally dropped. The igniter had not been reset to “safe.” As it dropped, the safety lanyard was inadvertently pulled, actuating the flare. For reasons known only to him, one of the sailors picked up the armed flare, threw it into the magazine locker, and closed the door. Some 2.75-inch rocket warheads loaded with Composition B were stowed in the locker. Shortly after the flare ignited in the locker, the intense heat caused a 2.75 rocket warhead in the locker to detonate, sending fire and smoke into the hangar bay. This was followed by a second warhead explosion that spread fire throughout the entire hangar deck and in the forward portion of the ship. Finally, heat caused a liquid oxygen tank to explode. Before the fires were completely under control, 44 sailors had died (43 from asphyxiation and one from burns) and 156 had been injured. Besides the material damage to the ship, two helicopters and an A-4E aircraft were destroyed, and three A-4E aircraft were damaged. The estimated cost of the material damage was $11 million. The following officers and men of Oriskany died in or as a result of the fires: CDR Jack H. Harris, CDR Richard E. Donahue, CDR Harry W. Juntilla (DOW 10/31/66), LCDR William J. Garrity Jr., LCDR Walter F. Merrick, LCDR Omar R. Ford, LT Frank M. Gardner, LTJG Dewey L. Alexander, LTJG Ramon A. Copple, LTJG James B. Hudis, LTJG James A. Kelly Jr., LTJG Franklin M. Tunick, BM3 Donald W. Shanks, BM3 Alvin M. Shifflett Jr., SN Robert L. Dyke, SN James K. Gray, SN James A. Lee, FN William Walling, AA Greg E. Hart, CDR Rodney B. Carter, LT Lloyd P. Hyde, LTJG William R. Clements, CDR George K. Farris, LCDR James A. Smith, LT John F. Francis, CDR John J. Nussbaumer, AZAN David A. Liste, LCDR Clement J. Morisette, LT Clarence D. Miller, LTJG Thomas E. Spitzer, ENS Ronald E. Tardio, CDR Clyde R. Welch, LCDR Daniel L. Strong, LTJG James L. Brewer, LTJG William A. Johnson, LCDR Norman S. Levy, LTJG Cody A. Balisteri, LTJG William G. McWilliams III, ENS Charles W. Boggs, LT Josslyn F. Blakely Jr., LT Julian D. Hammond Jr., LTJG Gerald W. Siebe, LTJG James R. Welsh, and ENS Daniel O. Kern. [From insensitivemunitions.org and virtualwall.org]
Carroll College (Helena, Montana) 1948 and 1949 yearbook
From The Catholic Standard and Times on November 4, 1966
CHAPLAIN KILLED IN CARRIER BLAZE
WASHINGTON (NC) — Lieutenant Commander William J. Garrity, a Catholic chaplain in the U.S. Navy, lost his life on October 26 in the fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, which claimed the lives of 43 officers and enlisted men, the Department of the Navy announced here. He had served the Oriskany as the ship’s Catholic chaplain since May 1965. Father Garrity, 40, was born in Helena, Montana, where his parents still reside. He attended grade school and high school in Helena and graduated from Cathedral High School in 1944. He served as an enlisted man in the Navy from 1944 to 1946 and was a survivor of the USS YMS-275, which was lost in a typhoon off Okinawa on October 9, 1945. Ordained in 1954, Father Garrity began his studies for the priesthood in 1946. He attended Carroll College in Helena and St. Thomas Seminary in Denver and was ordained in 1954. Following his ordination, he served as assistant pastor at
Immaculate Conception parish in Butte and at Holy Rosary Church in Bozeman, Montana. He also taught at Holy Rosary High School in Bozeman. Father Garrity received a commission in the Chaplain Corps, U. S. Naval Reserve, in 1957, and went on active duty in 1962. His assignments included U.S. Naval Hospital, Great Lakes, Illinois; First Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, Camp Pendleton, California; and the USS Oriskany. He was one of several priests and ministers who cared for the injured on the Oriskany after it was damaged by fire in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Catholic chaplain on the USS Constellation, Father (Lieutenant Commander) Roch Larunzana of New York, and Father (Lt.) John Morley of New York, the Catholic chaplain on the carrier USS Roosevelt, along with Protestant chaplains, were rushed to the Oriskany by air.
The USS Oriskany (CV-34) Anchor Monument Plaque is at roughly 405 Utica Street, Oriskany, New York.
Buried in Resurrection Cemetery, 3685 N. Montana Avenue, Helena, Montana; St. Joseph Section, Grave 17.
END