Harlan Dickson (DD 708) - Naval Cruise Book

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LCDR THOMAS F. FALLON F LC DR Fallon enlisted in the U.S. Navy in March 1949. After serving in many billets as airborne radar and airborne ASW instructor, he at- tended Officer's Candidate School and was commissioned an Ensign in August 1956. He first reported to the USS ANTIETAM QCVS-365 where he served as lst and 3rd Division Officers in the Weapons Department and as First Lieutenant for the Operations Department. He was then assigned to the Naval Ordnance Plant in York, Pennsylvania, he was assigned as Security Officer and later as Assistant to the Production Officer. This job included being Project Officer for the ASROC launcher which was being built by the Naval Ordnance Plant at that time. In June 1963, he reported aboard the USS LOOKOUT QAGR-21 as Executive Officer. In July 1965, he was assigned to the U.S. Naval Officer's Candidate School as Company Officer and Battalion Officer. In October 1965, LC DR Fallon was assigned to the U.S. Naval Support Activity, Saigon, Vietnam as Ad- ministrative Officer. He became Executive Officer of the USS HARLAN R. DICKSON QDD-7085 in November 1967. ' LCDR Fallon was born in Newton, Massachusetts but grew up in Watertown, Massachusetts. He graduated from St, Patrick's High School in that town. He is ,married to the former Monica R. MacEachern of Cape Bretonis, Nova Scotia, Canada. They have nine children. . 44

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Named after Lieutenant Commander Harlan R. Dickson, USN, a gallant Naval Officer who lost his life in World War II, she is the first ship of the fleet to bear the name. p Lieutenant Commander Harlan R. Dickson, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, per- formed as a carrier torpedo pilot in most of the Pacific areas of aerial c o mbat during the early days of World War II. Hewas twice decorated with the Navy Cross, the Navy's highest honor for heroism. and outstanding performance of duty. His career ended in February 1944, when he was killed on a training flight. The keel of the USS HARLAN R. DICKSONwas laid in Kearny, New Jersey, where she was commissioned on February 17, 1945. The ship was subsequently assigned to Newport, Rhode Island as home port. She is ageneral purpose destroyer, capable of performing the wide vari- ety of tasks assigned to this type vessel. Built too late to participate in World War II most of her life has been spent training, traveling, and more training. Whether it be carrying Reservists, tracking submarines on a wintry ocean, or cruising the Midshipmen across the Atlantic, training and preparation have been the keynotes of her history. From Operation Mainbrace to Operation Springboard , from the rugged North Atlantic to the balmy Caribbean, the emphasis has been the same: Be prepared ......... be ready! But interesting assignments have also been her lot. She was one of the units of the United States Armed Forces to be employed under the blue and white flag of the United Nations in Palestine in 1948 and 1949. Later the DICKSON participated in the rescue of survivors of the British Vessel SEISTAN which exploded in the ,Persian Gulf. The summer of 1959 found the ship on the Atlantic missile firing range where it took part in the recovery of the first test capsule designed to carry man into space. During the next several years she participated in a variety of scientific research projects and NATO exercises as well as aiding Otto Preminger and his movie crew in filming scenes from ADVICE ANDCONSENT. She made various deployments to the Mediterranean and several to the Caribbean. In 1964 she joined Destroyer Development Group Two and became a school ship for the U.S. Naval Destroyer School in Newport, Rhode Island, In this capacity she provides pierside and underway training opportunities for the student officers.

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DEPARTME T HEAD LT John B. Korte LT James O, Hubbard Weapons Operations LT Thomas C. Lynch LTIG John A. Goebel Engineering Supply