San Diego
The officers and crew of the Vincennes, the U.S. warship that mistakenly blew an Iranian airliner out of the sky in the Persian Gulf, will return home to a hero’s welcome complete with a Navy band Monday at the 32nd Street Naval Station.
The Navy has arranged a homecoming ceremony that will feature speeches by politicians including Councilman Ron Roberts, Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego) and William Rose, mayor of Vincennes, Ind., the city for which the ship is named. Relatives of the ship’s 400 officers and crew will be permitted on the base for the return.
Capt. Will C. Rogers, skipper of the Vincennes, will face the press Monday for the first time since the July 3 incident, in which all 290 people aboard Iran Air Flight 655 were killed.
In a report released Aug. 19, the Pentagon said the crew of the Vincennes made crucial errors that led to the decision to shoot down the airliner, but that it cannot be held responsible because Iran’s behavior in the incident was “unconscionable.” The Iranian plane failed to respond to 12 radioed warnings from the Vincennes, the report said.
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