NameLeRoy E Kidd
Retirement/Discharge DateJuly 2002
Tour 1 DatesMay 1983 - July 1986
Tour 1 Rank/RateBT3
Tour 1 DivisionB, fwd fireroom
NATO Mixed Manned CrewNo
Comment I remember being off the coast of Beirut. We shelled the beach on Valentines Day '84. 53 5" 54's @ 20,000 yds we were getting direct hits on tanks. They wouldn't allow the New Jersey to shoot unless targets were out of our range. We were in so close at night we could watch street lights change at the airport where the marines here holed up. The Tatenell caught fire and we tied up outboard and went across to fight the fire. We went to GQ for real, not a drill at like 0200.
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.)