John "Tony" Anthony Winkler is a United States sailor who went missing while stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA 31) in the South China Sea on November 23, 1965.
Case[]
Tony Winkler was born to Mary Helen Hall and Anthony Paul Winkler on August 22, 1943 in Alexandria Virginia. Raised as a Roman Catholic, Winkler was remembered by his friends as being a great piano player. His family has a military history, with his father being the Commandant at the Coast Guard Radio Station in Alexandria. In 1965, Winkler enlisted in the United States Navy from his hometown. He served as a crewmember of the USS Bon Homme Richard. At the time of his disappearance and presumed death, he was a Seaman Apprentice.
The USS Bon Homme Richard was stationed at the South China Sea. Winkler was last seen by his fellow sailors on the evening of November 22, 1965 in the mess cook berthing compartment. When he failed to report at the morning muster the next day, he was reported missing. A thorough search was conducted, but he could not be located. It is believed he fell overboard and drowned.
After his death, Winkley was memorialized at the Courts of Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii and on Panel 3e, Line 109 of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he has a cenotaph at Mount Comfort Cemetery in Fairfax County, Virginia.
John "Tony" Anthony Winkley remains among the over 1,500 Americans who remain unaccounted for in the Vietnam War. The DPAA has listed his case as being under Non-recoverable.