Patrick Lawrence Ness

Vietnam War
UnitFighter Squadron 142
RankEnsign U.S. Navy
Entered Service FromMinneapolis Minnesota
Date of DeathAugust 23 1967
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
B
Notes
Ensign Ness, U.S. Naval Reserve, was a member of Fighter Squadron 142, Carrier Air Wing 14 aboard the Aircraft Carrier USS CONSTELLATION (CVA-64). On August 23, 1967, he was the radar intercept officer of a McDonnell Douglas Phantom II Fighter (F-4B) on a strike mission against a railroad yard 10 mile east of Hanoi, North Vietnam. During the aircraft's initial strike it was hit by a surface to air missile, burst into flames and crashed. His remains were recovered on April 10, 1986 and identified on October 14, 1986. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
rosetta medal
When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall/Tablet/Court of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite.