This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Daniel L Arnes, CMDCM
to remember
Hatcliff, Earl Richard, PO1.
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Last Address Coupeville, Washington
Date of Passing Oct 11, 2010
Location of Interment Maple Leaf Cemetery - Oak Harbor, Washington
Earl Richard Hatcliff
December 6, 1936 - October 11, 2010
Born: December 6, 1936
Place of Birth: Independence, Kansas
Death: October 11, 2010
Place of Death: Coupeville, Washington
Earl Richard Hatcliff, 73, went home to be with the Lord on October 11, 2010 after a short illness. He was born to Ralph and Hattie (Bruch) Hatcliff in Independence, Kansas, and was raised in the community of Big Cove, Cherokee, North Carolina. After high school, Earl enlisted in the US Navy where he served as an aircraft mechanic. He was awarded a Gallantry Cross with Palm and a Presidential Unit Citation for his service in Vietnam. Earl Retired from the US Navy after 20 years of service and then worked as the night supervisor at the Norwester Club on NAS Whidbey Island.
Earl loved the Navy and his country. He regularly attended the HA(L) 3 Seawolf Association reunions. He loved many things: fishing, crabbing, camping, wild life, talking to people and reading westerns. Earl loved his family, his friends and God. He always enjoyed bringing a smile to people. He will be missed by all who loved him and knew him.
Earl is survived by his wife Lydia and daughter, Trisha, son, E. Richard Hatcliff II, one brother, Winston Hatcliff, and six stepdaughters. There are many grandchildren, two great grand children and nieces and nephews.
Funeral Services were held on Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 2PM at Burley Funeral Chapel. Burial with Military honors followed at Maple Leaf Cemetery.
Other Comments:
Earl did four (4) consecutive tours with HA)L)-3 in Vietnam and was on the last flights out of Binh Thuy when HA(L)-3 was disestablished on 16 March 1972.
Vietnam War/Consolidation II Campaign (71-72)
From Month/Year
December / 1971
To Month/Year
March / 1972
Description This Campaign was from 1 December 1971 to 29 March 1972. The allies completed the last major phase of the ACTOVLOG program in early 1972 when the Vietnamese Navy took over the former centers of American naval power in South Vietnam, the Logistic Support Bases at Nha Be, Binh Thuy, Cam Ranh Bay, and Danang. The Navy's other Vietnamization projects lasted until the total withdrawal of American forces from South Vietnam in March 1973. Construction and turnover of the last of 16 coastal radar sites (one on board a station ship) was completed in August 1972. Further, COMNAVFORV erected over 4,500 shelters for Vietnamese Navy personnel and their families. American planners hoped these better living conditions would strengthen the morale of Vietnamese sailors. U.S. personnel completely restructured and streamlined the allied navy's supply system, with special attention devoted to the Naval Supply Center at Saigon. After an intensive $8 million effort with the help of American civilians, the Naval Advisory Group improved management procedures, developed a skilled work force, and modernized the industrial plant at the Saigon Naval Shipyard. By early 1972, the Vietnamese facility had finished building 58 ferrocement junks, reconditioned hundreds of newly acquired river craft, and achieved the ability to overhaul all of the Vietnamese Navy's seagoing ships in-country, a major goal of the advisory program.