John Miller

USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754) was an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer of the United States Navy, commissioned in 1944. She served with distinction in World War II, providing fire support and screening for carrier task forces in the Pacific Theater. The ship later saw action during the Korean War, engaging in shore bombardments and patrol duties, and also participated in operations during the Vietnam War. Tragically, on June 3, 1969, USS Frank E. Evans was cut in half and sunk after a collision with the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne in the South China Sea, resulting in the loss of 74 crew members.

USS Vance (DER-387) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort commissioned by the United States Navy during World War II. Originally commissioned in 1943, she served primarily as a convoy escort in the Atlantic, protecting merchant ships from German U-boats. After the war, Vance was decommissioned but later recommissioned and converted to a radar picket ship (DER) during the Cold War, serving as part of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line in the Pacific. The USS Vance also participated in Operation Market Time during the Vietnam War, conducting coastal surveillance and interdiction patrols before her final decommissioning in 1970.