A devastating fire and series of chain-reaction explosions on 29 July 1967 that
killed 134 sailors and injured 161 took place on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal
(CV-59), after an unusual electrical anomaly discharged a Zune rocket on the
flight deck. Forrestal was engaged in combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin
during the Vietnam War at the time. The damage exceeded $72 million, not
including the damaged aircraft. 

USS Forrestal before the fire. It was decommissioned September 11, 1993.

Randy Sparks is a musician, singer-songwriter and founder of The New
Christy Minstrels and The Back Porch Majority. Prior to that, in the late
1950s he had a solo career and released two albums under the Verve
label, a self-titled album in 1958 and Walking the Low Road in 1959. In
1960 he formed a trio called "The Randy Sparks Three" and had an
album by that same name. He wrote the song "Today” which was a
hit for the New Christy Minstrels for their 1964 album of the same
title for Columbia Records.

Randy Sparks wrote "Green, Green" with Barry McGuire for the
1963 album Ramblin. 

 
The New Christy Minstrels then

Today’s group