Kemp, Clayton Charles Jr.
Navy Petty officer 3rd class

Clayton Charles Kemp Jr., age 19, from Colorado, Jefferson county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Thursday, January 12, 1967

Death details: On January 12, 1967, an SH-3A Sea King (bureau number 149909) with a crew of six was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Bennington (CVS-20) in the Gulf of Tonkin when it crashed for unknown reasons approximately 2,000 yards from the ship. Search and rescue efforts were launched immediately and continued over the next twenty-four hours; searchers succeeded in recovering four survivors but the last two crew members could not be found, and none of the survivors reported seeing them after the crash.

Aviation Antisubmarine Warfare Technician Third Class Clayton Charles Kemp Jr., who entered the U.S. Navy from Colorado, was a crew member on this Sea King at the time of its loss and could not be recovered. He remains unaccounted for. Today, Aviation Antisubmarine Warfare Technician Third Class Kemp is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency