DOUGLAS M. WEBSTER 'He acted on his beliefs,' says stepbrother

WARREN -- The most tragic thing about the death of Lt. j.g. Douglas M. Webster, a Navy pilot killed in a training accident during the Vietnam War, is the loss of the man he would have become.
"Doug was a superlative guy, decisive and strong-willed, and he had just married a beautiful young woman. He had all the qualities to be top notch, a leader anywhere he went in any field," said his stepbrother Michael Rawl.
"Doug was real intense. He was a patriot with very strong beliefs and he acted on his beliefs," Rawl said.
Rawl, of Lewes, Del., nominated Webster for the In Memory Day honor, after two attempts to get his stepbrother's name inscribed on The Wall, the Vietnam War Memorial, failed.
Rawl and his wife, Mary, will read Webster's name at the In Memory Day ceremony.
Webster died Dec. 5, 1965, at age 24, when his A-4 Skyhawk fell off an elevator on the side of the USS Ticonderoga aircraft carrier into water three miles deep off the coast of Yokosuka, Japan. Webster, a native of Warren and a 1959 graduate of Warren G. Harding High School, was a member Navy Attack Squadron 56.
Eyewitness account
Rawl said the best account of what happened to his stepbrother is told by James Little in his book "Brotherhood of Doom: Memoirs of a Navy Nuclear Weaponsman." Little was on the Ticonderoga and witnessed the accident.
"It was Little's book that really brought closure and put to rest some of the rumors about what happened. It was painful, but it was the most reasonable account of what happened. Little was a keen, accurate observer," Rawl said.
Little dedicated his unpublished book to Webster, and to 42 shipmates who lost their lives serving their country.
Here is a summary of the section of Little's book that describes what happened to Webster:
"As Webster's loaded A-4E Skyhawk was being pushed out onto the aircraft elevator, located at the side of the ship out over the water, the ship began a roll, accelerating the rolling plane. Webster's head was down in the cockpit and he did not hear shouts telling him to apply his brakes. As the body of the plane slammed against the deck of the elevator, Webster looked up, and partially rose from the cockpit seat.
"I'll never forget the startled look on his face. He grasped the edges of the open cockpit, and appeared to attempt to stand up, but he was restrained in his seat by the seat harness. The plane's nose lifted, it rolled off the elevator and fell with the shocked pilot struggling to stand up. The plane flipped upside down, fell into the sea and disappeared."
It wasn't until May 1989 that the Pentagon confirmed a clandestine U.S. nuclear operation during the Vietnam War, and that when Webster's plane sank some 80 miles from a small Japanese island, it carried a nuclear bomb with it.
"It was just an unnecessary accident. Doug was the most disciplined and competent person I knew. He just didn't pay attention and didn't hit the brakes," Rawl said.
Family background
Webster's father, Morey, who was head of hourly personnel at Packard Electric Corp., married Jean Rawl, Rawl's mother, making Webster and Rawl stepbrothers.
Rawl and Webster never lived together. However, they became close after they were out of high school.
Webster's mother was Margaret Webster, longtime director of the Trumbull County Unit of the American Cancer Society.
Webster's wife of less than a year was the former Marcia L. Brazina of Easton, Pa., who later remarried. The couple had no children.
Webster, who grew up on Edgewood Street, graduated in 1959 from Harding, where he was vice president of his class and excelled in gymnastics. He spent much of his time at the Warren YMCA. He graduated in 1964 from Ohio State University, where he was co-captain of the gymnastics team.
Rawl grew up on Francis Street in Warren and was a 1964 graduate of Harding High School.
In previous Vindicator stories about Webster, his mother said her son "strongly believed in what he was doing and didn't understand the [Vietnam War] protesters."
"I think that Doug deserves to be remembered for the sacrifice he made, for the person he was, and the amazing person he would have been had he not died for his country," Rawl said.