I served as a RM on Whipple (III) during 1974 & '75, while commanded by R.D. Milligan. During July of 2001, while on a business layover en route to Guam, I went out to Pearl Harbor to visit the USS Missouri. During conversation with the tour guide, my past service aboard Whipple was mentioned, and the tour guide said the 1062 was still at Pearl, and had in fact been used in the movie "Pearl Harbor". - I was shocked, as I was under the impression she had gone into the lend-lease program years ago.
It turns out that at least at that time,
Whipple was in fact "mothballed" there. She had been towed to the filming area, and is posed in several of the battle scenes during the movie. - So when I returned home we promptly rented the movie. It was a thrill to pick out my former home on film!
I pointed out to my wife that it wasn't the ship's first time on camera, that prior to my serving on
Whipple, the ship was in an episode of "Hawaii Five-O". Of course I had to tell her about our playing the TV show's theme song during unrep's, etc.
Anyway, after the tour I drove around to the north side of the harbor, and sure enough there she was, still looking dignified in the company of other former warriors. The Engineering Excellence "E" first painted on the mac while I was on board, was still visible along with a hashmark for a subsequent award. I really enjoyed seeing her in person, even though I couldn't get aboard. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that unlike many of her Knox class sister ships, she was still around. That's been almost two years ago, and I have no idea whether 1062 still survives......I hope so.
--Paul Walker (boghots@bigfoot.com), Springfield, Oregon, USS
WHIPPLE, 1974-75