USS Maddox radioman, looking for a climber

It was probably around 1990 when I met a gentleman at a campfire in Joshua Tree. Somehow our conversation wandered to the topic of the Vietnam War, specifically the Gulf of Tonkin incident. I was amazed when he told he was the radioman aboard the USS Maddox during this incident.

It’s a long shot but I am posting this here and on several other sites in the hope of contacting this fellow. He’s a climber so there is a reasonable chance he, or someone who knows him, sees these threads.

I was at a family dinner recently and one of the people at the table is an old navy man. It turns out that he was on duty in the code room on the flagship of the seventh fleet, USS Oklahoma City, during the Tonkin incident (making her the Admiral’s ship in command of the Maddox). I mentioned the radioman I had met and he expressed a strong desire to be in touch with him.

If you are - or know this guy - please PM me.

I was assigned to the Uss Maddox in mid 1966 and I remember two radiomen that were aboard during the attack both were Rm2 as I recall. The only name I can recall is "Bomgardner". Time does cloud the mind. If you can find a J.P. Lear or Good they might remember more. I served aboard the Maddox and Turner Joy as a radioman from 1966 thru 1969. Hope this helps.