NameJ R Hale
Retirement/Discharge DateFebuary 1983
Tour 1 DatesMay 1979 - Febuary 1983
Tour 1 Rank/RateSM2
Tour 1 DivisionOC
NATO Mixed Manned CrewNo
CommentMotor whaleboat signalman for downed pilot in eastern MED. His A-6 was in pieces and we found a lung. One MED / I.O. cruise (Iranian hostage crisis) underway 7 Nov 79 thru 28 Jan 80. Shellback (special case for calling Moby Dick a minnow and breaking an egg on XO's head on wogs revenge day). He chuckled and called me an s.o.b. on the ASROC deck. LOL Traveled as far as Karachi, Pak. Two NATO cruises. Bluenose. Traveled as far as Tromso, Nor. Up river to Bordeaux, Fran. Harborfest NYC 4 Jul 80 met love of my life then and there (still happily married 35 years later). It was an honor to served aboard a taut ship and squared away crew with some real class acts, some great guys, and some knuckleheads. You know who you are. LOL Hey to Mike Tuck, Mario Roberts, Happy Harry Burt

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The Crews of DDG-5
USS Biddle (5/5/62 - 7/28/64)
USS Claude V. Ricketts (7/28/64 - 10/31/89)

Below are the names of the men that, together, made up the crews of the USS Biddle and USS Claude V. Ricketts during her 27 year career.  The names below represent those who have registered on this site and do no comprise the whole of the men who served on board the DDG-5 during her career.  It is estimated that at least 4000 men served on board the DDG-5 during her lifetime.  If you were a crew member of either the Biddle or the Ricketts and you have not yet done so, you can register here.
(To edit your information or to email another shipmate, make sure you are logged in on The Big Nickel home page. Return here and click on your name to edit your informaiton or on the name of another shipmate to email him.  Note that some shipmate's email addresses are missing or not current and the email will "bounce" back to you with an indication that it was undeliverable.)