MacDill John: One of the Originals

MacDill John Hadden December 1960- December 2020. USAF (Ret) FWC/FWRI/FIM (Ret).

Prior to 9/11 MacDill John Hadden phoned in MacDill flats fishing reports to Capt. Mel Berman’s radio show. Later MacDill John was a repeat radio guest during the holidays.

MacDill John Hadden also fished with Capt. Mel on his famous skiff, “The Front Porch”.

On the capmel.com forum MacDill John always answered questions, welcomed anglers to share the flat and wave from a distance. 

Retired from his first career as a Medic in the USAF, John began a second career as a Marine Scientist at FWC/FWRI. In 2007 he moved to Matlacha, transfering to FWRI’s field laboratory in Port Charlotte. There he continued working in Fisheries Independent Monitoring and the Endangered Species Smalltooth Sawfish project.

April of 2020 John was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. He lost the fight December this same year.

John is survived by his wife Chrystal, who was introduced to him by none other than Capt. Mel.