Welcome to the new look of the USS KIRK site for 2010.
We hope you like it! Please be patient while we add features. The primary purpose of the site update is security. So we will start simple and grow as we can. WELCOME!
New Site
Next post: USS Kirk Stories on NPR
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi: I had the honor and privilege of being the Commanding Officer of the USS KIRK FF1087 from 1974 – 1976. Any Commanding Officer would be truly blessed to have such dedicated and professional officers and men that were stationed aboard KIRK. They knew their job and they did it well. The men of KIRK will always occupy a special space in my heart.
I am especially proud of the work of Ms. Sandra Bartlett and Joe Shapiro.
Paul H. Jacobs
Captain, USN Retired
Commanding Officer USS KIRK FF1087 {1974-1976}
Paul:
What a fascinating story of your work in the evacuation of the South Vietnamese Navy and all those refugees at the time of the fall of Saigon. It is great that you and the USS Kirk crew are finally getting the recognition you deserve.
It was great to hear about this, the work of my former commanding officer on the USS Meadowlark (MSC 196). I often have wondered what happened to the ship after my departure in the summer of 1965 in Guantanamo with orders to the military assistance program Mobile Transfer and Training Teams in Norfolk and to you and the crew, including John Heath and Ed Blackwell. Have you ever had any contact with them?
You will be interested to know that my mobile training and transfer team prepared for commissioning and transferred to the South Vietnamese navy, the Vietnamese Navy Ship, Noc Hoi, Nguyen Ba Trang, commanding officer in 1966 at Philadelphia Navy Yard. He was a wonderful individual. Do you have any memory whether or not that ship was part of the flotilla you led to Subic? The ship was the former World War II patrol craft, USS Brattleboro, which we refitted at Sun Shipyard in Chester, PA. for work in the Mekong delta. I have often wondered what happened to that ship and Capt. Trang.
I am now a retired history professor living with my wife, whom you met, Janet, in White Bear Lake, MN near her 96-year-year-old mother. I received my Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1974 and taught American diplomtic, military, and diplomatic history for 35 years at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, with visiting professorships at various times in Japan, Korea, and Kyrgyzstan. I remain active with writing–currently (interestingly), about U.S. intervention in Vietnam–and with a project having to do with making available the history of the World Wide Web. We have also been enjoying our first grandchild, a girl, living with her parents in Portland, Ore.
It would be great to hear from you.
Best wishes and congratulations for your fine humanitarian work, albeit unexpected, as commanding officer of the USS Kirk. My congratulations as well to its unsung crew, truly serving the interests of the nation in the American spirit of outreach and generosity toward people everywhere.
Bill
Mr. Pickett,
I was on the HQ 5 Tran Binh Trong on April 30, 1975. the Ngoc Hoi (HQ12) was part of the flotilla when we got to Subic bay, of all the ships stationed outside Con Son on the night of April 30, 1975, If I remember correctly, only three ships were scuttled. HQ 604 was stationed right next to the HQ 5 and was scutlled that night by the South Vietnamese navy personnel. the HQ 474 was pulling by HQ 5 on the way the Subic bay, but on the second or third day of the trip, the ship was scuttled after all personnel were transferred. the other one is HQ 402, I do not remember when and where the HQ 402 was scuttled.
Please PM me when you have a chance.
Dinh Nguyen
Mr. Nguyen,
I just finished a documentary, “The Lucky Few,” and am now writing a book about USS Kirk and its role in rescuing the remnants of the South Vietnamese navy in April-May 1975. I would like to talk to you about your recollections of the night of 30 April.
Jan Herman
Hi Ms. Herman,
Please contact me at my email address: dinh.nguyen56@gmail.com
and thank you for your interesting in the rescuing of the SVN navy.
Dinh Nguyen
From: Curtis E Tatum, I was a crew member on the USS Kirk. Seaman Recruit Tatum. Captain Jacobs was my was first CO. I can say that he was a good one. He and the XO made my career what it was when i finish my 24 years in the Navy. I retired as BMC, I want think you Captain Jacobs and XO McKenna for your leadership that showed me the way. CURTIS E TATUM BMC USN RET.
I just took some time to watch the documentary “The Lucky Few”, sure brought back a lot of memories from my time on the Kirk with HSL-33 in 75. The new page looks great, my only regret is I haven’t found the time to make a reunion.
Capt. Jacobs, Mr. Herman, and/or Mr. Christian,
Sorry I couldn’t make the reunion this summer. I’ve been trying to locate a copy of “The Lucky Few”. Can someone let me know where to get it or view it? Thanks!
Hello Mike,
“The Lucky Few” is now available on the main page of this web site. It is also available on the Navy’s own web site http://www.NavyTv.org. Click “ships” on the menue, then scroll down to USS KIRK. It is in 11 or 12 short “chapters,” which makes it convenient to start and stop, or to return to previous chapters. Good luck.
All the best,
Hugh Doyle (VP and Historian, US KIRK Association)
There is also a direct link to the movie here on our own site. Go to the post The Lucky Few, click on the link and you are there.
Parker Mundy (kirk1087.org webmaster)
Capt. Paul H. Jacobs.
Rich Dobre RM2, here, from Meadowlark (MSC196).
Bill Picket just emailed me about you and the Kirk. Wow! but, typical of you. Best leader of men I have ever had the pleasure of working under and I have worked under quite a few in the 45+ years since then.
My days on Meadowlark and the group of officers, J.C. Heath, Bill Pickett, Ed Blackwell, and Vernon Good under whom I serve are truly memorable.
Meadowlark’s Gold E was your doing.
I will make a point of reading the book and finding the documentary to learn about the Kirk. She seems to have been a vessel worthy of your command.
You and your crew on the Kirk exemplify what America is about. You and they are to be congratulated and finally recognized for the fantastic humanitarian work you did.
I would be extremely pleased to hear from you.
You can find me in the Chagrin Falls, Ohio phone book.
Hi, Caption Jacobs Glad to have had you as my CO. on the USS Esteem MSO 438 from 1967-1968. The Esteem was home to me for four years, Took the Wooden Ship to Vietnam 65 – 66. With LCDR Horne Jr. Then again in 67-68 under LCDR Jacobs Paul H. How many of your crew on the USS KIRK, Knew that you were an IRON MAN & WOODEN SHIP CO. ? I served as your 2 class damage controlman, Made 1th class on Esteem. I was real proud to serve on your command.Taking the Little Wooden Ship to Nam twice made you the Iron Man you had to be in 1975 on the Kirk for all the humanitrian work you & your crew had to do that day. I retire 1 July 1975 off the USS DEWEY DLG 45. I’d have been proud to have been your HTChief on board the USS KIRK FF 1087. Chief Arbogast USN Retired.
For Chief Donald Arbogast USN Retired. Just happened to be on this site and saw your name. I was on the Esteem MSO-438 from 3-1964/3-1968. If you get this, try contacting me at 509 901-8182 in Washington State.