Bill Thibeault is a singer/songwriter/musician, and a producer, director, and actor, currently producing films and music videos in CT and RI. He’s also a Vietnam Veteran and survivor of one of the worst naval disasters of the Vietnam War. He lost 74 of his shipmates on June 3, 1969 when his ship USS Frank E. Evans collided with the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne . Even though they were in the Vietnam War, the 74 names are not on the Vietnam Wall because the collision happened outside the combat zone. In 2018 Congress passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to get the names on the wall but it did not pass in the Senate.
Hearing this news frustrated Bill and being a singer/songwriter, he wrote a song in July 2018 called “Recognition” about the Evans and the lost 74. It was released it on an album of the same name in January, 2019.