In Loving Memory of .. LT. BERNARD FRANCIS RUPINSKI.
*** His father said: 'Well, a lot of people have a cemetery or a stone to go to pray for their dead sons and daughters. We have nothing. Now you're giving us something,'" talking about the Vietnam Memorial they were constructing.
*** On June 16, 1968, he was the radar interdiction officer of a McDonnell Douglas Phanton II Fighter (F-4J) over North Vietnam when his aircraft was shot down 25 miles northwest of Vinh, Nghe An Province. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in me, your brother, sisters and those who knew you and loved you. You will live on because we remember you!
BERNARD FRANCIS RUPINSKI - Navy - LT - O3
Age: 24
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Aug 20, 1943
From: EDWARDSVILLE, PA
Religion: ROMAN CATHOLIC
Marital Status: Married - Rupinski's wife, Reidun Rupinski, had come to America from Sweden when she was a young lady and that they married and had a baby girl, Michele. Rupinski was shot down when the child was less than a year old. Parents: Father, Frank J Rupinski (1914 - 1996) and Mother, Frances T Rupinski (1920 - 1995), both of Edwardsville, PA. Sisters: Alice Naylis, 71, of Edwardsville and Shirley Parsons (Deceased). Paternal Grandparents, Catherine Kmieciak Rupinski (Born April 30, 1893 - Died Dec. 19, 1988)FAG# 80924136 and Frank Rupinski (Birth - 1891 - Death: 1923) FAG# 80924092.
***** I searched the entire cemetery and could not find the grave. They also reported, specifically:
I found his parent's grave but there is no marker of any kind for him. He is listed as killed in action and no body was recovered.
FAG Volunteer
***** ( Picture ) In Loving Memory Of The F-4 Phantom Pilots Who Made The Supreme Sacrifice Over Vietnam
U.S.S. America CV-66
• Lt. Eric P. Brice, VF-33
• LCDR.Charles C. Parish, VF-102
• Lt. Bernard F. Rupinski, VF-102
Gratefully Donated by the Phantom Pilots who came home
Erected by the Phantom Pilots who came home.
Location. 32° 47.493′ N, 79° 54.502′ W. Marker is in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, in Charleston County. Marker is on Patriots Point Road. Aboard the USS Yorktown. Marker is at or near this postal address: 40 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant SC 29464, United States of America.
***** My uncle Bernard F. Rupinski was a back seater shot down 25 miles NW of Vinh in Jun 1968.
Thank you,
Charles R. Parsons
St. Hedwig's Polish Catholic Cemetery, 207 Zerbey Av, Kingston 18704, 570-287-5634
*** St Hedwigs Church has closed. It was combined with St. Ignatius. St. Ignatius has the cemetery info. There phone number is 570-288-6446.
*** I ran across this cemetery a few years ago when I left St. Vincents cemetery in Plymouth and turned left, just to see where the road went. It is on Wilson St. also known as Mountain Road. I think I ended up in Courtdale. St. Vladimer Cemetery was practically next door.
Eleanore
The Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola
(A ROMAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY INSPIRED BY THE TRADITION OF ST . IGNATIUS, ST. HEDWIG AND ST. MARY'S ANNUNCIATION PARISHES.)
Sanctuary Candles
Burn this week, June 12, 2012
In Memory of
Lieut Bernard Francis Rupinski
By—Family
LT - O3 - Navy - Reserve
Length of service 6 years
His tour began on Jun 16, 1968
Casualty was on Jun 16, 1968
In Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh, North Vietnam
PERSONAL DATA
Home: Edwardsville, Pennsylvania
DOB: Friday, 08/20/1943
Race: Caucasian
Married? Yes
Religion: Roman Catholic
MILITARY DATA
Service: United States Navy
Comp: Reserve
Grade: O3
Rank: Lieutenant
ID No: 159361564
MOS: 1325 - Unrestricted Line Officer (Naval Flight Officer)
LenSvc: Between 6 and 7 years
Unit: VF-102 aboard USS AMERICA (CV-66)
Note: Promoted to LT (O-3) while missing.
CASUALTY DATA
Casualty Date: Sunday, 06/16/1968
Age at Loss: 24
Remains: Body Not Recovered
Location: Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh, North Vietnam
Type: Hostile, Died While Missing
Reason: Air Loss, Crash - Land - Fixed Wing - Crew
Last Update: May 1973
Comment: Pilot, CDR Walter E. Wilber, USN, captured; later repatriated.
Hostile, died while missing, FIXED WING - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Panel 56W - Line 8
Other Personnel in Incident: Walter Wilber, returnee, injured
REMARKS: WILBER THINKS DIED IN CRASH - Never listed KIA/BNR
Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh
CACCF/CRASH/AIRCREW/6YRS UNITED STATES NAVY
On Jun 16 1968 the F-4J tail #155548 with Lt. Rupinski and pilot Walter E. Wilber was shot down In North Vietnam.
It is possible this was Rupinski's first mission. It was Wilber's 20th. Rupinski was part of the Diamond Backs stationed on the USS America.
The pilot was able to eject. He survived captivity, only to return to the U.S. to face mutiny charges filed by then Commander James Stockdale.
There is very little information available on this incident. No further information available at this time.
US Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Bernard Francis Rupinski from Edwardsville, Pennsylvania
Lt. Bernard Rupinski was the "backseater" of an McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II fighter and was assigned to VF-102 Diamondbacks aboard the USS America.
On 16 June 1968, Lt. Rupinski and Squadron Commander Walter E. Wilber were shot down over North Vietnam.
Wilber was able to eject and was taken captive by the NVA.
Wilber believed that Lt. Rupinski never made it out of the aircraft.
This was Lt. Rupinski's first and last combat mission!
Lt. "Bernie" Rupinski is listed as Killed in Action / Body Not Recovered
**********************************************
Bounded by war, Vietnam veteran pays tribute to fallen pilot
By James Halpin (Staff Writer)
They never met.
But Jake Piatt, a retired U.S. Navy commander who grew up in Wilkes-Barre, wants to keep alive the memory of a man killed long ago - a man to whom he's bounded by service in the Vietnam War.
Navy Lt. Bernard Francis Rupinski, of Edwardsville, was co-piloting a fighter jet that was shot down over North Vietnam nearly 45 years ago. He was 24.
A local veteran, Neno Sartini - a retired Air Force master sergeant who served in Korea and Vietnam - helped bring the men together.
Sartini said he knew about Rupinski's case from when he and a group of about 14 other veterans built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Luzerne County Courthouse in February 1988.
The men tried to do most of the work themselves, and they found themselves working in a hole where they planned to pour cement for a footing when an elderly man dressed in a suit walked past several times over the course of a few days, he said.
One Saturday, Sartini said, he approached the man and asked if he could help. The man told him he was Rupinski's father.
"He said, 'Well, a lot of people have a cemetery or a stone to go to pray for their dead sons and daughters. We have nothing. Now you're giving us something,'" Sartini said. "While he was saying that, the tears were coming down his face and down mine and my people in the hole, down their faces. They always said that memorial was built out of cement, steel and tears."
After 20 years of service, Piatt retired from the Navy in 1985 and settled down in Jacksonville, Fla. But he would come back to South Wilkes-Barre, his hometown, to visit his mother once or twice a year.
During the trips, he would go on casual runs to stay in shape. After the wall was built, he recognized two names on it: Pfc. George Ayers, who had lived next to Piatt at Parrish and Brown streets and Rupinski, whom he did not know.
But a boyhood friend of Piatt's, Dr. George Volpetti, would frequently ask if he knew Rupinski whenever Piatt came back to visit, Piatt said.
"The name stuck with me," said Piatt, who is now 70 and lives in Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Curiosity took hold and Piatt decided to find out what happened to Rupinski.
"The whole thing really was my intense curiosity and my ability to go on the Internet," Piatt said. "It was kind of reuniting with someone who wasn't here."
Piatt searched online, finding sketchy details about Rupinski's disappearance and presumptive death.
Rupinski was aboard a McDonnell-Douglas Phantom II fighter that was shot down over North Vietnam on June 16, 1968. The pilot in the two-seat jet, Walter E. Wilber, ejected and was captured by the North Vietnamese Army, Piatt said.
Rupinski, however, was never heard from again.
"The plane was engulfed in flames and my brother never was able to eject from the plane because of the intensity of the heat and fire, from what we understand," said Rupinski's sister, Alice Naylis, 71, of Edwardsville. "He obviously went down with the plane."
Searching online, Piatt also found an article written in Vietnamese that had the name Rupinski in English. He paid a company $160 to translate it. He found out that the pilot of the MiG-21 that shot Rupinski's plane down had taken down several other planes as well, he said.
Piatt tracked down Naylis in Edwardsville and spoke to her to learn more about her brother.
He learned Rupinski's wife had come to America from Sweden when she was a young lady and that they married and had a baby girl. Rupinski was shot down when the child was less than a year old.
Piatt said he decided to write about Rupinski to reinforce the meaning and intent of Memorial Day.
Through the years, Rupinski's family has attended memorial services for him and kept him in their hearts. The news that someone wanted to do something to help preserve his memory was touching, Naylis said.
"He (Piatt) called me out of the clear blue. I was blind-sided when he called," Naylis said. "It actually will be 45 years this year that my brother was shot down, and how would you even comprehend somebody calling you 45 years later? As far as I'm concerned, it seems like yesterday and certainly the heartache is still very fresh. But for someone to call you 45 years later and tell you that he would like to do a story on your brother was pretty shocking and yet I was very touched by it."
********************************************
A tribute to Lt. Bernie Rupinski, U.S. Navy - a Wyoming Valley warrior, a Vietnam hero
Editor's note: The following is a memorial letter from Jake Piatt in honor of Lt. Bernard Rupinski.
Guys like Bernie don't come along very often in life. He grew up in Wyoming Valley in times when those who were the ruffians had an effect on him to make him know how to defend himself. He grew up in times when those who were the great scholar athletes in high school had an effect on him to motivate him to be the best in academics, sports, and especially basketball. He grew up in times where he recognized that he had to go to college to succeed and make his mark in life. He grew up in times when the Valley fathers like his went to war fighting the Germans and Japanese invasions against peaceful countries. He grew up in times when America was intensively involved in the Cold War fighting communism worldwide against the likes of the Russians and the Chinese. And like many others he volunteered to become a warrior.
After college, Bernie became a Naval Aviator and flew as a Navy Flight Intercept Officer on the prestigious F-4 Phantom jet which was our Navy's stalwart fighter in the Vietnam War. To get to that highly sought-after achievement - "A Navy Flight Officer" he had to excel in Swimming, Running Obstacle Courses, being a Leader, and becoming the Best in Naval Aviation. Oh, he was also very smart, that was Bernie.
Bernie served in the prestigious VF-102 Diamondbacks fighter squadron on the decks of the USS America during the intense Tet Offensive era of the war in 1968.
Not many of you know the feeling of an F-4 Phantom in full afterburner, but Bernie did. Not many of you know about a night carrier landing in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of North Vietnam, but Bernie did. Not many of you were ever engaged in a Dogfight with one of North Vietnam's top aces, but Bernie did.
Many of our best and brightest Navy and Air Force fighter pilots didn't make it back from their combat mission. Sadly, Bernie didn't either. In a dogfight against a MIG 21 on June 16, 1968, Bernie's F-4 was hit by the MiGs Atoll air-to-air missile, and while the front seater of their Phantom ejected and became a POW for many years, Bernie was never recovered.
Dear friend, I salute you and know you are in God's good hands.
So old pal, I honor you for your ultimate sacrifice for the benefit of our country.
From an old Cossack toast, I lift my glass to you.
"Posely nas, ni hoodet nas!" After us, there will be no more of us.
Jake Piatt - Commander U.S. Navy (Retired)
An A-7 attack pilot aboard the USS Kitty Hawk 1968-69
*********************
.
*** His father said: 'Well, a lot of people have a cemetery or a stone to go to pray for their dead sons and daughters. We have nothing. Now you're giving us something,'" talking about the Vietnam Memorial they were constructing.
*** On June 16, 1968, he was the radar interdiction officer of a McDonnell Douglas Phanton II Fighter (F-4J) over North Vietnam when his aircraft was shot down 25 miles northwest of Vinh, Nghe An Province. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in me, your brother, sisters and those who knew you and loved you. You will live on because we remember you!
BERNARD FRANCIS RUPINSKI - Navy - LT - O3
Age: 24
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Aug 20, 1943
From: EDWARDSVILLE, PA
Religion: ROMAN CATHOLIC
Marital Status: Married - Rupinski's wife, Reidun Rupinski, had come to America from Sweden when she was a young lady and that they married and had a baby girl, Michele. Rupinski was shot down when the child was less than a year old. Parents: Father, Frank J Rupinski (1914 - 1996) and Mother, Frances T Rupinski (1920 - 1995), both of Edwardsville, PA. Sisters: Alice Naylis, 71, of Edwardsville and Shirley Parsons (Deceased). Paternal Grandparents, Catherine Kmieciak Rupinski (Born April 30, 1893 - Died Dec. 19, 1988)FAG# 80924136 and Frank Rupinski (Birth - 1891 - Death: 1923) FAG# 80924092.
***** I searched the entire cemetery and could not find the grave. They also reported, specifically:
I found his parent's grave but there is no marker of any kind for him. He is listed as killed in action and no body was recovered.
FAG Volunteer
***** ( Picture ) In Loving Memory Of The F-4 Phantom Pilots Who Made The Supreme Sacrifice Over Vietnam
U.S.S. America CV-66
• Lt. Eric P. Brice, VF-33
• LCDR.Charles C. Parish, VF-102
• Lt. Bernard F. Rupinski, VF-102
Gratefully Donated by the Phantom Pilots who came home
Erected by the Phantom Pilots who came home.
Location. 32° 47.493′ N, 79° 54.502′ W. Marker is in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, in Charleston County. Marker is on Patriots Point Road. Aboard the USS Yorktown. Marker is at or near this postal address: 40 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant SC 29464, United States of America.
***** My uncle Bernard F. Rupinski was a back seater shot down 25 miles NW of Vinh in Jun 1968.
Thank you,
Charles R. Parsons
St. Hedwig's Polish Catholic Cemetery, 207 Zerbey Av, Kingston 18704, 570-287-5634
*** St Hedwigs Church has closed. It was combined with St. Ignatius. St. Ignatius has the cemetery info. There phone number is 570-288-6446.
*** I ran across this cemetery a few years ago when I left St. Vincents cemetery in Plymouth and turned left, just to see where the road went. It is on Wilson St. also known as Mountain Road. I think I ended up in Courtdale. St. Vladimer Cemetery was practically next door.
Eleanore
The Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola
(A ROMAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY INSPIRED BY THE TRADITION OF ST . IGNATIUS, ST. HEDWIG AND ST. MARY'S ANNUNCIATION PARISHES.)
Sanctuary Candles
Burn this week, June 12, 2012
In Memory of
Lieut Bernard Francis Rupinski
By—Family
LT - O3 - Navy - Reserve
Length of service 6 years
His tour began on Jun 16, 1968
Casualty was on Jun 16, 1968
In Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh, North Vietnam
PERSONAL DATA
Home: Edwardsville, Pennsylvania
DOB: Friday, 08/20/1943
Race: Caucasian
Married? Yes
Religion: Roman Catholic
MILITARY DATA
Service: United States Navy
Comp: Reserve
Grade: O3
Rank: Lieutenant
ID No: 159361564
MOS: 1325 - Unrestricted Line Officer (Naval Flight Officer)
LenSvc: Between 6 and 7 years
Unit: VF-102 aboard USS AMERICA (CV-66)
Note: Promoted to LT (O-3) while missing.
CASUALTY DATA
Casualty Date: Sunday, 06/16/1968
Age at Loss: 24
Remains: Body Not Recovered
Location: Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh, North Vietnam
Type: Hostile, Died While Missing
Reason: Air Loss, Crash - Land - Fixed Wing - Crew
Last Update: May 1973
Comment: Pilot, CDR Walter E. Wilber, USN, captured; later repatriated.
Hostile, died while missing, FIXED WING - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Panel 56W - Line 8
Other Personnel in Incident: Walter Wilber, returnee, injured
REMARKS: WILBER THINKS DIED IN CRASH - Never listed KIA/BNR
Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh
CACCF/CRASH/AIRCREW/6YRS UNITED STATES NAVY
On Jun 16 1968 the F-4J tail #155548 with Lt. Rupinski and pilot Walter E. Wilber was shot down In North Vietnam.
It is possible this was Rupinski's first mission. It was Wilber's 20th. Rupinski was part of the Diamond Backs stationed on the USS America.
The pilot was able to eject. He survived captivity, only to return to the U.S. to face mutiny charges filed by then Commander James Stockdale.
There is very little information available on this incident. No further information available at this time.
US Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Bernard Francis Rupinski from Edwardsville, Pennsylvania
Lt. Bernard Rupinski was the "backseater" of an McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II fighter and was assigned to VF-102 Diamondbacks aboard the USS America.
On 16 June 1968, Lt. Rupinski and Squadron Commander Walter E. Wilber were shot down over North Vietnam.
Wilber was able to eject and was taken captive by the NVA.
Wilber believed that Lt. Rupinski never made it out of the aircraft.
This was Lt. Rupinski's first and last combat mission!
Lt. "Bernie" Rupinski is listed as Killed in Action / Body Not Recovered
**********************************************
Bounded by war, Vietnam veteran pays tribute to fallen pilot
By James Halpin (Staff Writer)
They never met.
But Jake Piatt, a retired U.S. Navy commander who grew up in Wilkes-Barre, wants to keep alive the memory of a man killed long ago - a man to whom he's bounded by service in the Vietnam War.
Navy Lt. Bernard Francis Rupinski, of Edwardsville, was co-piloting a fighter jet that was shot down over North Vietnam nearly 45 years ago. He was 24.
A local veteran, Neno Sartini - a retired Air Force master sergeant who served in Korea and Vietnam - helped bring the men together.
Sartini said he knew about Rupinski's case from when he and a group of about 14 other veterans built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Luzerne County Courthouse in February 1988.
The men tried to do most of the work themselves, and they found themselves working in a hole where they planned to pour cement for a footing when an elderly man dressed in a suit walked past several times over the course of a few days, he said.
One Saturday, Sartini said, he approached the man and asked if he could help. The man told him he was Rupinski's father.
"He said, 'Well, a lot of people have a cemetery or a stone to go to pray for their dead sons and daughters. We have nothing. Now you're giving us something,'" Sartini said. "While he was saying that, the tears were coming down his face and down mine and my people in the hole, down their faces. They always said that memorial was built out of cement, steel and tears."
After 20 years of service, Piatt retired from the Navy in 1985 and settled down in Jacksonville, Fla. But he would come back to South Wilkes-Barre, his hometown, to visit his mother once or twice a year.
During the trips, he would go on casual runs to stay in shape. After the wall was built, he recognized two names on it: Pfc. George Ayers, who had lived next to Piatt at Parrish and Brown streets and Rupinski, whom he did not know.
But a boyhood friend of Piatt's, Dr. George Volpetti, would frequently ask if he knew Rupinski whenever Piatt came back to visit, Piatt said.
"The name stuck with me," said Piatt, who is now 70 and lives in Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Curiosity took hold and Piatt decided to find out what happened to Rupinski.
"The whole thing really was my intense curiosity and my ability to go on the Internet," Piatt said. "It was kind of reuniting with someone who wasn't here."
Piatt searched online, finding sketchy details about Rupinski's disappearance and presumptive death.
Rupinski was aboard a McDonnell-Douglas Phantom II fighter that was shot down over North Vietnam on June 16, 1968. The pilot in the two-seat jet, Walter E. Wilber, ejected and was captured by the North Vietnamese Army, Piatt said.
Rupinski, however, was never heard from again.
"The plane was engulfed in flames and my brother never was able to eject from the plane because of the intensity of the heat and fire, from what we understand," said Rupinski's sister, Alice Naylis, 71, of Edwardsville. "He obviously went down with the plane."
Searching online, Piatt also found an article written in Vietnamese that had the name Rupinski in English. He paid a company $160 to translate it. He found out that the pilot of the MiG-21 that shot Rupinski's plane down had taken down several other planes as well, he said.
Piatt tracked down Naylis in Edwardsville and spoke to her to learn more about her brother.
He learned Rupinski's wife had come to America from Sweden when she was a young lady and that they married and had a baby girl. Rupinski was shot down when the child was less than a year old.
Piatt said he decided to write about Rupinski to reinforce the meaning and intent of Memorial Day.
Through the years, Rupinski's family has attended memorial services for him and kept him in their hearts. The news that someone wanted to do something to help preserve his memory was touching, Naylis said.
"He (Piatt) called me out of the clear blue. I was blind-sided when he called," Naylis said. "It actually will be 45 years this year that my brother was shot down, and how would you even comprehend somebody calling you 45 years later? As far as I'm concerned, it seems like yesterday and certainly the heartache is still very fresh. But for someone to call you 45 years later and tell you that he would like to do a story on your brother was pretty shocking and yet I was very touched by it."
********************************************
A tribute to Lt. Bernie Rupinski, U.S. Navy - a Wyoming Valley warrior, a Vietnam hero
Editor's note: The following is a memorial letter from Jake Piatt in honor of Lt. Bernard Rupinski.
Guys like Bernie don't come along very often in life. He grew up in Wyoming Valley in times when those who were the ruffians had an effect on him to make him know how to defend himself. He grew up in times when those who were the great scholar athletes in high school had an effect on him to motivate him to be the best in academics, sports, and especially basketball. He grew up in times where he recognized that he had to go to college to succeed and make his mark in life. He grew up in times when the Valley fathers like his went to war fighting the Germans and Japanese invasions against peaceful countries. He grew up in times when America was intensively involved in the Cold War fighting communism worldwide against the likes of the Russians and the Chinese. And like many others he volunteered to become a warrior.
After college, Bernie became a Naval Aviator and flew as a Navy Flight Intercept Officer on the prestigious F-4 Phantom jet which was our Navy's stalwart fighter in the Vietnam War. To get to that highly sought-after achievement - "A Navy Flight Officer" he had to excel in Swimming, Running Obstacle Courses, being a Leader, and becoming the Best in Naval Aviation. Oh, he was also very smart, that was Bernie.
Bernie served in the prestigious VF-102 Diamondbacks fighter squadron on the decks of the USS America during the intense Tet Offensive era of the war in 1968.
Not many of you know the feeling of an F-4 Phantom in full afterburner, but Bernie did. Not many of you know about a night carrier landing in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of North Vietnam, but Bernie did. Not many of you were ever engaged in a Dogfight with one of North Vietnam's top aces, but Bernie did.
Many of our best and brightest Navy and Air Force fighter pilots didn't make it back from their combat mission. Sadly, Bernie didn't either. In a dogfight against a MIG 21 on June 16, 1968, Bernie's F-4 was hit by the MiGs Atoll air-to-air missile, and while the front seater of their Phantom ejected and became a POW for many years, Bernie was never recovered.
Dear friend, I salute you and know you are in God's good hands.
So old pal, I honor you for your ultimate sacrifice for the benefit of our country.
From an old Cossack toast, I lift my glass to you.
"Posely nas, ni hoodet nas!" After us, there will be no more of us.
Jake Piatt - Commander U.S. Navy (Retired)
An A-7 attack pilot aboard the USS Kitty Hawk 1968-69
*********************
.
In Loving Memory of .. LT. BERNARD FRANCIS RUPINSKI.
*** His father said: 'Well, a lot of people have a cemetery or a stone to go to pray for their dead sons and daughters. We have nothing. Now you're giving us something,'" talking about the Vietnam Memorial they were constructing.
*** On June 16, 1968, he was the radar interdiction officer of a McDonnell Douglas Phanton II Fighter (F-4J) over North Vietnam when his aircraft was shot down 25 miles northwest of Vinh, Nghe An Province. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in me, your brother, sisters and those who knew you and loved you. You will live on because we remember you!
BERNARD FRANCIS RUPINSKI - Navy - LT - O3
Age: 24
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Aug 20, 1943
From: EDWARDSVILLE, PA
Religion: ROMAN CATHOLIC
Marital Status: Married - Rupinski's wife, Reidun Rupinski, had come to America from Sweden when she was a young lady and that they married and had a baby girl, Michele. Rupinski was shot down when the child was less than a year old. Parents: Father, Frank J Rupinski (1914 - 1996) and Mother, Frances T Rupinski (1920 - 1995), both of Edwardsville, PA. Sisters: Alice Naylis, 71, of Edwardsville and Shirley Parsons (Deceased). Paternal Grandparents, Catherine Kmieciak Rupinski (Born April 30, 1893 - Died Dec. 19, 1988)FAG# 80924136 and Frank Rupinski (Birth - 1891 - Death: 1923) FAG# 80924092.
***** I searched the entire cemetery and could not find the grave. They also reported, specifically:
I found his parent's grave but there is no marker of any kind for him. He is listed as killed in action and no body was recovered.
FAG Volunteer
***** ( Picture ) In Loving Memory Of The F-4 Phantom Pilots Who Made The Supreme Sacrifice Over Vietnam
U.S.S. America CV-66
• Lt. Eric P. Brice, VF-33
• LCDR.Charles C. Parish, VF-102
• Lt. Bernard F. Rupinski, VF-102
Gratefully Donated by the Phantom Pilots who came home
Erected by the Phantom Pilots who came home.
Location. 32° 47.493′ N, 79° 54.502′ W. Marker is in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, in Charleston County. Marker is on Patriots Point Road. Aboard the USS Yorktown. Marker is at or near this postal address: 40 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant SC 29464, United States of America.
***** My uncle Bernard F. Rupinski was a back seater shot down 25 miles NW of Vinh in Jun 1968.
Thank you,
Charles R. Parsons
St. Hedwig's Polish Catholic Cemetery, 207 Zerbey Av, Kingston 18704, 570-287-5634
*** St Hedwigs Church has closed. It was combined with St. Ignatius. St. Ignatius has the cemetery info. There phone number is 570-288-6446.
*** I ran across this cemetery a few years ago when I left St. Vincents cemetery in Plymouth and turned left, just to see where the road went. It is on Wilson St. also known as Mountain Road. I think I ended up in Courtdale. St. Vladimer Cemetery was practically next door.
Eleanore
The Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola
(A ROMAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY INSPIRED BY THE TRADITION OF ST . IGNATIUS, ST. HEDWIG AND ST. MARY'S ANNUNCIATION PARISHES.)
Sanctuary Candles
Burn this week, June 12, 2012
In Memory of
Lieut Bernard Francis Rupinski
By—Family
LT - O3 - Navy - Reserve
Length of service 6 years
His tour began on Jun 16, 1968
Casualty was on Jun 16, 1968
In Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh, North Vietnam
PERSONAL DATA
Home: Edwardsville, Pennsylvania
DOB: Friday, 08/20/1943
Race: Caucasian
Married? Yes
Religion: Roman Catholic
MILITARY DATA
Service: United States Navy
Comp: Reserve
Grade: O3
Rank: Lieutenant
ID No: 159361564
MOS: 1325 - Unrestricted Line Officer (Naval Flight Officer)
LenSvc: Between 6 and 7 years
Unit: VF-102 aboard USS AMERICA (CV-66)
Note: Promoted to LT (O-3) while missing.
CASUALTY DATA
Casualty Date: Sunday, 06/16/1968
Age at Loss: 24
Remains: Body Not Recovered
Location: Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh, North Vietnam
Type: Hostile, Died While Missing
Reason: Air Loss, Crash - Land - Fixed Wing - Crew
Last Update: May 1973
Comment: Pilot, CDR Walter E. Wilber, USN, captured; later repatriated.
Hostile, died while missing, FIXED WING - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Panel 56W - Line 8
Other Personnel in Incident: Walter Wilber, returnee, injured
REMARKS: WILBER THINKS DIED IN CRASH - Never listed KIA/BNR
Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh
CACCF/CRASH/AIRCREW/6YRS UNITED STATES NAVY
On Jun 16 1968 the F-4J tail #155548 with Lt. Rupinski and pilot Walter E. Wilber was shot down In North Vietnam.
It is possible this was Rupinski's first mission. It was Wilber's 20th. Rupinski was part of the Diamond Backs stationed on the USS America.
The pilot was able to eject. He survived captivity, only to return to the U.S. to face mutiny charges filed by then Commander James Stockdale.
There is very little information available on this incident. No further information available at this time.
US Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Bernard Francis Rupinski from Edwardsville, Pennsylvania
Lt. Bernard Rupinski was the "backseater" of an McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II fighter and was assigned to VF-102 Diamondbacks aboard the USS America.
On 16 June 1968, Lt. Rupinski and Squadron Commander Walter E. Wilber were shot down over North Vietnam.
Wilber was able to eject and was taken captive by the NVA.
Wilber believed that Lt. Rupinski never made it out of the aircraft.
This was Lt. Rupinski's first and last combat mission!
Lt. "Bernie" Rupinski is listed as Killed in Action / Body Not Recovered
**********************************************
Bounded by war, Vietnam veteran pays tribute to fallen pilot
By James Halpin (Staff Writer)
They never met.
But Jake Piatt, a retired U.S. Navy commander who grew up in Wilkes-Barre, wants to keep alive the memory of a man killed long ago - a man to whom he's bounded by service in the Vietnam War.
Navy Lt. Bernard Francis Rupinski, of Edwardsville, was co-piloting a fighter jet that was shot down over North Vietnam nearly 45 years ago. He was 24.
A local veteran, Neno Sartini - a retired Air Force master sergeant who served in Korea and Vietnam - helped bring the men together.
Sartini said he knew about Rupinski's case from when he and a group of about 14 other veterans built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Luzerne County Courthouse in February 1988.
The men tried to do most of the work themselves, and they found themselves working in a hole where they planned to pour cement for a footing when an elderly man dressed in a suit walked past several times over the course of a few days, he said.
One Saturday, Sartini said, he approached the man and asked if he could help. The man told him he was Rupinski's father.
"He said, 'Well, a lot of people have a cemetery or a stone to go to pray for their dead sons and daughters. We have nothing. Now you're giving us something,'" Sartini said. "While he was saying that, the tears were coming down his face and down mine and my people in the hole, down their faces. They always said that memorial was built out of cement, steel and tears."
After 20 years of service, Piatt retired from the Navy in 1985 and settled down in Jacksonville, Fla. But he would come back to South Wilkes-Barre, his hometown, to visit his mother once or twice a year.
During the trips, he would go on casual runs to stay in shape. After the wall was built, he recognized two names on it: Pfc. George Ayers, who had lived next to Piatt at Parrish and Brown streets and Rupinski, whom he did not know.
But a boyhood friend of Piatt's, Dr. George Volpetti, would frequently ask if he knew Rupinski whenever Piatt came back to visit, Piatt said.
"The name stuck with me," said Piatt, who is now 70 and lives in Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Curiosity took hold and Piatt decided to find out what happened to Rupinski.
"The whole thing really was my intense curiosity and my ability to go on the Internet," Piatt said. "It was kind of reuniting with someone who wasn't here."
Piatt searched online, finding sketchy details about Rupinski's disappearance and presumptive death.
Rupinski was aboard a McDonnell-Douglas Phantom II fighter that was shot down over North Vietnam on June 16, 1968. The pilot in the two-seat jet, Walter E. Wilber, ejected and was captured by the North Vietnamese Army, Piatt said.
Rupinski, however, was never heard from again.
"The plane was engulfed in flames and my brother never was able to eject from the plane because of the intensity of the heat and fire, from what we understand," said Rupinski's sister, Alice Naylis, 71, of Edwardsville. "He obviously went down with the plane."
Searching online, Piatt also found an article written in Vietnamese that had the name Rupinski in English. He paid a company $160 to translate it. He found out that the pilot of the MiG-21 that shot Rupinski's plane down had taken down several other planes as well, he said.
Piatt tracked down Naylis in Edwardsville and spoke to her to learn more about her brother.
He learned Rupinski's wife had come to America from Sweden when she was a young lady and that they married and had a baby girl. Rupinski was shot down when the child was less than a year old.
Piatt said he decided to write about Rupinski to reinforce the meaning and intent of Memorial Day.
Through the years, Rupinski's family has attended memorial services for him and kept him in their hearts. The news that someone wanted to do something to help preserve his memory was touching, Naylis said.
"He (Piatt) called me out of the clear blue. I was blind-sided when he called," Naylis said. "It actually will be 45 years this year that my brother was shot down, and how would you even comprehend somebody calling you 45 years later? As far as I'm concerned, it seems like yesterday and certainly the heartache is still very fresh. But for someone to call you 45 years later and tell you that he would like to do a story on your brother was pretty shocking and yet I was very touched by it."
********************************************
A tribute to Lt. Bernie Rupinski, U.S. Navy - a Wyoming Valley warrior, a Vietnam hero
Editor's note: The following is a memorial letter from Jake Piatt in honor of Lt. Bernard Rupinski.
Guys like Bernie don't come along very often in life. He grew up in Wyoming Valley in times when those who were the ruffians had an effect on him to make him know how to defend himself. He grew up in times when those who were the great scholar athletes in high school had an effect on him to motivate him to be the best in academics, sports, and especially basketball. He grew up in times where he recognized that he had to go to college to succeed and make his mark in life. He grew up in times when the Valley fathers like his went to war fighting the Germans and Japanese invasions against peaceful countries. He grew up in times when America was intensively involved in the Cold War fighting communism worldwide against the likes of the Russians and the Chinese. And like many others he volunteered to become a warrior.
After college, Bernie became a Naval Aviator and flew as a Navy Flight Intercept Officer on the prestigious F-4 Phantom jet which was our Navy's stalwart fighter in the Vietnam War. To get to that highly sought-after achievement - "A Navy Flight Officer" he had to excel in Swimming, Running Obstacle Courses, being a Leader, and becoming the Best in Naval Aviation. Oh, he was also very smart, that was Bernie.
Bernie served in the prestigious VF-102 Diamondbacks fighter squadron on the decks of the USS America during the intense Tet Offensive era of the war in 1968.
Not many of you know the feeling of an F-4 Phantom in full afterburner, but Bernie did. Not many of you know about a night carrier landing in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of North Vietnam, but Bernie did. Not many of you were ever engaged in a Dogfight with one of North Vietnam's top aces, but Bernie did.
Many of our best and brightest Navy and Air Force fighter pilots didn't make it back from their combat mission. Sadly, Bernie didn't either. In a dogfight against a MIG 21 on June 16, 1968, Bernie's F-4 was hit by the MiGs Atoll air-to-air missile, and while the front seater of their Phantom ejected and became a POW for many years, Bernie was never recovered.
Dear friend, I salute you and know you are in God's good hands.
So old pal, I honor you for your ultimate sacrifice for the benefit of our country.
From an old Cossack toast, I lift my glass to you.
"Posely nas, ni hoodet nas!" After us, there will be no more of us.
Jake Piatt - Commander U.S. Navy (Retired)
An A-7 attack pilot aboard the USS Kitty Hawk 1968-69
*********************
.
*** His father said: 'Well, a lot of people have a cemetery or a stone to go to pray for their dead sons and daughters. We have nothing. Now you're giving us something,'" talking about the Vietnam Memorial they were constructing.
*** On June 16, 1968, he was the radar interdiction officer of a McDonnell Douglas Phanton II Fighter (F-4J) over North Vietnam when his aircraft was shot down 25 miles northwest of Vinh, Nghe An Province. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
You may be gone, no longer living on this earth; but you will live on - in the memories of your family and friends. There will always be a part of you living in me, your brother, sisters and those who knew you and loved you. You will live on because we remember you!
BERNARD FRANCIS RUPINSKI - Navy - LT - O3
Age: 24
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth Aug 20, 1943
From: EDWARDSVILLE, PA
Religion: ROMAN CATHOLIC
Marital Status: Married - Rupinski's wife, Reidun Rupinski, had come to America from Sweden when she was a young lady and that they married and had a baby girl, Michele. Rupinski was shot down when the child was less than a year old. Parents: Father, Frank J Rupinski (1914 - 1996) and Mother, Frances T Rupinski (1920 - 1995), both of Edwardsville, PA. Sisters: Alice Naylis, 71, of Edwardsville and Shirley Parsons (Deceased). Paternal Grandparents, Catherine Kmieciak Rupinski (Born April 30, 1893 - Died Dec. 19, 1988)FAG# 80924136 and Frank Rupinski (Birth - 1891 - Death: 1923) FAG# 80924092.
***** I searched the entire cemetery and could not find the grave. They also reported, specifically:
I found his parent's grave but there is no marker of any kind for him. He is listed as killed in action and no body was recovered.
FAG Volunteer
***** ( Picture ) In Loving Memory Of The F-4 Phantom Pilots Who Made The Supreme Sacrifice Over Vietnam
U.S.S. America CV-66
• Lt. Eric P. Brice, VF-33
• LCDR.Charles C. Parish, VF-102
• Lt. Bernard F. Rupinski, VF-102
Gratefully Donated by the Phantom Pilots who came home
Erected by the Phantom Pilots who came home.
Location. 32° 47.493′ N, 79° 54.502′ W. Marker is in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, in Charleston County. Marker is on Patriots Point Road. Aboard the USS Yorktown. Marker is at or near this postal address: 40 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant SC 29464, United States of America.
***** My uncle Bernard F. Rupinski was a back seater shot down 25 miles NW of Vinh in Jun 1968.
Thank you,
Charles R. Parsons
St. Hedwig's Polish Catholic Cemetery, 207 Zerbey Av, Kingston 18704, 570-287-5634
*** St Hedwigs Church has closed. It was combined with St. Ignatius. St. Ignatius has the cemetery info. There phone number is 570-288-6446.
*** I ran across this cemetery a few years ago when I left St. Vincents cemetery in Plymouth and turned left, just to see where the road went. It is on Wilson St. also known as Mountain Road. I think I ended up in Courtdale. St. Vladimer Cemetery was practically next door.
Eleanore
The Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola
(A ROMAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY INSPIRED BY THE TRADITION OF ST . IGNATIUS, ST. HEDWIG AND ST. MARY'S ANNUNCIATION PARISHES.)
Sanctuary Candles
Burn this week, June 12, 2012
In Memory of
Lieut Bernard Francis Rupinski
By—Family
LT - O3 - Navy - Reserve
Length of service 6 years
His tour began on Jun 16, 1968
Casualty was on Jun 16, 1968
In Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh, North Vietnam
PERSONAL DATA
Home: Edwardsville, Pennsylvania
DOB: Friday, 08/20/1943
Race: Caucasian
Married? Yes
Religion: Roman Catholic
MILITARY DATA
Service: United States Navy
Comp: Reserve
Grade: O3
Rank: Lieutenant
ID No: 159361564
MOS: 1325 - Unrestricted Line Officer (Naval Flight Officer)
LenSvc: Between 6 and 7 years
Unit: VF-102 aboard USS AMERICA (CV-66)
Note: Promoted to LT (O-3) while missing.
CASUALTY DATA
Casualty Date: Sunday, 06/16/1968
Age at Loss: 24
Remains: Body Not Recovered
Location: Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh, North Vietnam
Type: Hostile, Died While Missing
Reason: Air Loss, Crash - Land - Fixed Wing - Crew
Last Update: May 1973
Comment: Pilot, CDR Walter E. Wilber, USN, captured; later repatriated.
Hostile, died while missing, FIXED WING - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Panel 56W - Line 8
Other Personnel in Incident: Walter Wilber, returnee, injured
REMARKS: WILBER THINKS DIED IN CRASH - Never listed KIA/BNR
Nghe An, 25 miles NW of Vinh
CACCF/CRASH/AIRCREW/6YRS UNITED STATES NAVY
On Jun 16 1968 the F-4J tail #155548 with Lt. Rupinski and pilot Walter E. Wilber was shot down In North Vietnam.
It is possible this was Rupinski's first mission. It was Wilber's 20th. Rupinski was part of the Diamond Backs stationed on the USS America.
The pilot was able to eject. He survived captivity, only to return to the U.S. to face mutiny charges filed by then Commander James Stockdale.
There is very little information available on this incident. No further information available at this time.
US Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Bernard Francis Rupinski from Edwardsville, Pennsylvania
Lt. Bernard Rupinski was the "backseater" of an McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II fighter and was assigned to VF-102 Diamondbacks aboard the USS America.
On 16 June 1968, Lt. Rupinski and Squadron Commander Walter E. Wilber were shot down over North Vietnam.
Wilber was able to eject and was taken captive by the NVA.
Wilber believed that Lt. Rupinski never made it out of the aircraft.
This was Lt. Rupinski's first and last combat mission!
Lt. "Bernie" Rupinski is listed as Killed in Action / Body Not Recovered
**********************************************
Bounded by war, Vietnam veteran pays tribute to fallen pilot
By James Halpin (Staff Writer)
They never met.
But Jake Piatt, a retired U.S. Navy commander who grew up in Wilkes-Barre, wants to keep alive the memory of a man killed long ago - a man to whom he's bounded by service in the Vietnam War.
Navy Lt. Bernard Francis Rupinski, of Edwardsville, was co-piloting a fighter jet that was shot down over North Vietnam nearly 45 years ago. He was 24.
A local veteran, Neno Sartini - a retired Air Force master sergeant who served in Korea and Vietnam - helped bring the men together.
Sartini said he knew about Rupinski's case from when he and a group of about 14 other veterans built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Luzerne County Courthouse in February 1988.
The men tried to do most of the work themselves, and they found themselves working in a hole where they planned to pour cement for a footing when an elderly man dressed in a suit walked past several times over the course of a few days, he said.
One Saturday, Sartini said, he approached the man and asked if he could help. The man told him he was Rupinski's father.
"He said, 'Well, a lot of people have a cemetery or a stone to go to pray for their dead sons and daughters. We have nothing. Now you're giving us something,'" Sartini said. "While he was saying that, the tears were coming down his face and down mine and my people in the hole, down their faces. They always said that memorial was built out of cement, steel and tears."
After 20 years of service, Piatt retired from the Navy in 1985 and settled down in Jacksonville, Fla. But he would come back to South Wilkes-Barre, his hometown, to visit his mother once or twice a year.
During the trips, he would go on casual runs to stay in shape. After the wall was built, he recognized two names on it: Pfc. George Ayers, who had lived next to Piatt at Parrish and Brown streets and Rupinski, whom he did not know.
But a boyhood friend of Piatt's, Dr. George Volpetti, would frequently ask if he knew Rupinski whenever Piatt came back to visit, Piatt said.
"The name stuck with me," said Piatt, who is now 70 and lives in Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Curiosity took hold and Piatt decided to find out what happened to Rupinski.
"The whole thing really was my intense curiosity and my ability to go on the Internet," Piatt said. "It was kind of reuniting with someone who wasn't here."
Piatt searched online, finding sketchy details about Rupinski's disappearance and presumptive death.
Rupinski was aboard a McDonnell-Douglas Phantom II fighter that was shot down over North Vietnam on June 16, 1968. The pilot in the two-seat jet, Walter E. Wilber, ejected and was captured by the North Vietnamese Army, Piatt said.
Rupinski, however, was never heard from again.
"The plane was engulfed in flames and my brother never was able to eject from the plane because of the intensity of the heat and fire, from what we understand," said Rupinski's sister, Alice Naylis, 71, of Edwardsville. "He obviously went down with the plane."
Searching online, Piatt also found an article written in Vietnamese that had the name Rupinski in English. He paid a company $160 to translate it. He found out that the pilot of the MiG-21 that shot Rupinski's plane down had taken down several other planes as well, he said.
Piatt tracked down Naylis in Edwardsville and spoke to her to learn more about her brother.
He learned Rupinski's wife had come to America from Sweden when she was a young lady and that they married and had a baby girl. Rupinski was shot down when the child was less than a year old.
Piatt said he decided to write about Rupinski to reinforce the meaning and intent of Memorial Day.
Through the years, Rupinski's family has attended memorial services for him and kept him in their hearts. The news that someone wanted to do something to help preserve his memory was touching, Naylis said.
"He (Piatt) called me out of the clear blue. I was blind-sided when he called," Naylis said. "It actually will be 45 years this year that my brother was shot down, and how would you even comprehend somebody calling you 45 years later? As far as I'm concerned, it seems like yesterday and certainly the heartache is still very fresh. But for someone to call you 45 years later and tell you that he would like to do a story on your brother was pretty shocking and yet I was very touched by it."
********************************************
A tribute to Lt. Bernie Rupinski, U.S. Navy - a Wyoming Valley warrior, a Vietnam hero
Editor's note: The following is a memorial letter from Jake Piatt in honor of Lt. Bernard Rupinski.
Guys like Bernie don't come along very often in life. He grew up in Wyoming Valley in times when those who were the ruffians had an effect on him to make him know how to defend himself. He grew up in times when those who were the great scholar athletes in high school had an effect on him to motivate him to be the best in academics, sports, and especially basketball. He grew up in times where he recognized that he had to go to college to succeed and make his mark in life. He grew up in times when the Valley fathers like his went to war fighting the Germans and Japanese invasions against peaceful countries. He grew up in times when America was intensively involved in the Cold War fighting communism worldwide against the likes of the Russians and the Chinese. And like many others he volunteered to become a warrior.
After college, Bernie became a Naval Aviator and flew as a Navy Flight Intercept Officer on the prestigious F-4 Phantom jet which was our Navy's stalwart fighter in the Vietnam War. To get to that highly sought-after achievement - "A Navy Flight Officer" he had to excel in Swimming, Running Obstacle Courses, being a Leader, and becoming the Best in Naval Aviation. Oh, he was also very smart, that was Bernie.
Bernie served in the prestigious VF-102 Diamondbacks fighter squadron on the decks of the USS America during the intense Tet Offensive era of the war in 1968.
Not many of you know the feeling of an F-4 Phantom in full afterburner, but Bernie did. Not many of you know about a night carrier landing in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of North Vietnam, but Bernie did. Not many of you were ever engaged in a Dogfight with one of North Vietnam's top aces, but Bernie did.
Many of our best and brightest Navy and Air Force fighter pilots didn't make it back from their combat mission. Sadly, Bernie didn't either. In a dogfight against a MIG 21 on June 16, 1968, Bernie's F-4 was hit by the MiGs Atoll air-to-air missile, and while the front seater of their Phantom ejected and became a POW for many years, Bernie was never recovered.
Dear friend, I salute you and know you are in God's good hands.
So old pal, I honor you for your ultimate sacrifice for the benefit of our country.
From an old Cossack toast, I lift my glass to you.
"Posely nas, ni hoodet nas!" After us, there will be no more of us.
Jake Piatt - Commander U.S. Navy (Retired)
An A-7 attack pilot aboard the USS Kitty Hawk 1968-69
*********************
.
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