les.b this post is for you.

I'm old, I was born during WWII into a military family. We finally got a TV when I was 13. A really ugly Zenith black and white. Everything was black and white in those days. I was eat up on everything military, I watched all those old post WWII movies and documentaries. Remember the Prudential series, "You are there" with Walter Cronkite or The Victory at Sea series. Many of my favorites were about the Silent Service, I was fascinated by submarine duty.

When I went through bootcamp in San Diego, those of us who were selected as "Honorman" from each company in the battalion, were taken on a tour of a WWII "pigboat" still in operation. It was the USS Redfish (SS395). I got to thinking that maybe being in subs wasn't so neat. anyway, my Navy career didn't take that route. Later in my Naval experience, I went aboard the USS Alabama(SSBN 731), Ohio Class Ballistic Missile Nuclear submarine. This re-affirmed my lack of enthusiasm for being underwater.

While assigned to Pearl Harbor on my last tour, I had the opportunity to visit the Submarine Service Museum. For a career Navyman and history buff this was exciting stuff.

Photos:
1. View of the USS Arizona from the fantail of the USS Bowfin.

2. Memorial to 52 submarines lost during WWII, Bowfin in background.

3. Another view of memorial.

4. Sub's deck in memorial to Silent Service.

5. Another view of same.

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The Submarine Service Museum is dedicated to those brave men of the Silent Service. 52 subs lost, 375 officers and 3131 enlisted men.

Photos:

1. Inside museum.

2. Display of MOH recipients.

3. Nuke boats at dock in Pearl.

4. USS Alabama.

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Master Chief I am really enjoying all of these posts about WWII and your Navy experiences. Lot of interesting history and remembrances about important places and a crucial time in our history. It's especially nice from someone with your experience and patriotism.

Thank you sir!

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Real men love cats!

I have nothing but respect and gratitude for the Submariners.
It's clearly a Military speciality that I would have difficulty doing.
A while back, I had a Retired USN Captain neighbor.
Actually had two, this one was the aviator.
He had been head of NROTC here at the university of NM.
When he attended the how to teach ROTC school, all they talked about recruiting and graduating Submariners.
Especially nuc engineers.
Flying? So you want to blow 2-3 Mil of the taxpayer's money doing something that is so much fun you should be embarrassed to get paid for it?
Get on the end of that long line!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I recall seeing a documentary on the German wolfpacks of WWII. I don't recall the exact numbers, but something like 36,000 out of 45,000 German submariners perished during the war. Not the kind of odds most of us would like to have in our respective careers.....

Great photos as always. Isnt the USS Bowfin our highest scoring sub of WWII?

3 out of 4 WWII German submariners--were killed in action. Or 30,000 out of 40,000 didnt make it. Ive met about 100 of the survivors through tha last 20 years-friends with many--and was given honorary titles of: Honorary Crewman of U 181 (Wolfgang Luth's boat then Kapitan zur See Kurt Freiwalds boat. I was guest of honor at the U 181 reunion in Bad Camberg-on Sept 15-16-2000-and made an honorary member of the Kriegsmarine.

Inspite of what SOME very small-minded people say and think--the Kriegsmarine had no nazis serving in it-Gross Admiral Raeder made it so-and Donitz continued it so. Im proud to be the only American to hold the honor of being an honorary crewmember of U 181--and one of very few who has the other. Im also an honorary member of the French Foreign Legions all German Battalion. These cant buy you a cup of Joe--but are neat things to be associated with.

For what it's worth, im also an honorary memeber of Merrill's Marauders--two of them made me one--both now gone. :-(

Iirc Donitz' son was lost in a u-boat.

I have long had a fascination with WW11 era subs and assumed if I was drafted I would sign with the Navy and volunteer for submarine duty. I have toured a couple and looked in awe at what was accomplished with bare minimum tooling.
A friend who served there talked about the realities of crawling into a bunk that someone just left with your own "fart sack" and the tight quarters that dampened my enthusiasm some. Still one of the last great corsairs to get in, get out and get gone. Pre radar subs put fear into enemies hearts that is difficult to repeat.

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Front sight and squeeze

Chief:

Thanks so much for starting this thread!!!

On July 20th, 1942, the USS Scamp, hull number 277 was launched, one of the the latest and most impressive of the United States most technologically advanced Naval vessels of the time:

My Uncle Gene was ordered to the USS Scamp on September 18th, 1942.



On board the USS Scamp 277, November 26th, 1943, awards are being conferred on the crew by Commodore J. Fife. Here is one of Gene's fellow officers, Lieutenant P. A. Bethany receiving a Silver Star. Uncle Gene is among the Officers and Men present, but you can barely see him to the starboard in the photo about third officer forward. I have another photo from the same ceremony where 1 st Class Petty Officer W. W. Mumm is receiving the Navy Cross. You can get a feel for the size of the vessels from this photo:



Scamp spent her seventh war patrol searching the shipping lanes between New Guinea, Palau, and Mindanao in the Philippines. She exited Milne Bay on 3 March 1944 and, after uneventful patrolling, put in at Langemak Bay, from 29 March to 31 March, for repairs to her torpedo data computer. Following her resumption of patrol, she battle surfaced on 4 April and set fire to a 200-ton trawler, but broke off the action when her deck gun failed.

Three days later, south of Davao Gulf, she encountered six cruisers escorted by destroyers and planes. She dived and the destroyers passed overhead without noticing her presence a scant 100 feet (30 m) below the surface. She returned to the surface at 1405 but was forced down by a plane. A little later, she tried to surface again but was attacked by a diving float plane. As she crash dived to escape the enemy plane, an aerial bomb exploded. All hands were knocked off their feet by the explosion and all power was lost. Scamp began to take an up angle and started to settle rapidly. At just below 300 feet (91 m), she began to hang on, then started up. The diving officer reported that the hydraulic controller had been jarred to "off" in the attack and that the hydraulic plant started closing all the main vents as fire started filling the maneuvering and after torpedo rooms with a thick, toxic smoke.

Fortunately, the sub caught at 52 feet (16 m), the decision having been made to surface and slug it out with the deck gun if she could not be held below 50 feet (15 m). Scamp started down again, "see sawed" three times, and started down a third time before power was regained. Soon the submarine was making two thirds speed on each shaft and had levelled off at 150 feet (46 m). She released oil and air bubbles to appear to have sunk and then headed for the Admiralty Islands. At 21:06, she surfaced and, with a 17 degree list, made for Seeadler Harbor, Manus, where she arrived on 16 April 1944 She made emergency repairs at Manus, shifted to Milne Bay on 22 April and then moved on to Pearl Harbor for a thorough overhaul at the yard. This is when Uncle Gene was able to secure some leave time, and travel to San Francisco.

Here is his wedding picture taken on July 16th, 1944, at the U. S. Navy Chapel, Treasure Island. I don't know why he is rolling his eyes.:



Roughly six months after Gene's marriage, he was killed in action, as we later learned from Japanese records, after the war when his sub was sunk in Tokyo Bay on November 11th, 1944. At the time that the letter was written though, as you can see, that information was not known. Here's what we now know, from post war perspective the Scamp was on its eighth War Patrol when she was sunk:

"Eighth war patrol and loss of the Scamp.... Scamp set out on her eighth war patrol on 16 October. She fueled at Midway Island on 20 October, then set course for the Bonin Islands. On 9 November, she acknowledged a message changing her patrol area. She reported her position to be about 150 miles (240 km) north of the Bonin Islands with all 24 torpedoes aboard and 77,000 US gallons (290,000 L) of fuel remaining. On 14 November, she was ordered to take up the life guard station off Tokyo Bay in support of B-29 Superfortress bomber strikes, but failed to acknowledge the message. Scamp was never heard from again. From records available after the war, it appears that Scamp was sighted by Japanese planes and reported depth charged by Kaibokan CD-4 to the south of Tokyo Bay on 11 November 1944. Scamp was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 April 1945."

Scamp (SS-277) earned seven battle stars for World War II service.



Gene was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and so forth after the loss of the Scamp. Here is the Citation for the Bronze Star:



After the War, the Navy sent this "Synopsis" of his career to Aunt Fleda. I think it adds another dimension to seeing the War through the history of one man, from small town, U.S.A. and how he fit in to the largest enterprise ever undertaken by our nation. Here it is:







I am still going through the effects of Aunt Fleda, who recently passed. There is a lot of irrelevant stuff there, and I am slowly piecing together some of the information on Gene. These documents make him seem more real to me, who grew up in his shadow, and are giving me some insight not only into him, but the Silent Service that the Master Chief had in mind when he started this thread. Although I have sea duty behind me, I can only imagine what it must have been like in those small diesel powered boats when being stalked by Japanese Destroyers armed with depth charges, and Japanese Subs armed with torpedoes. None of today's high tech navigational and counter measures, jus some rudimentary sonar gear, a periscope. Wow.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Amazing Les, thanks for the post. The pictures add an emphasis to this thread, a measure of the cost of freedom. What a legacy, you should be so proud. All my uncles served during the war, some even stayed for a career. They are all gone now and sadly their kids made no effort to preserve any thing from that period.

The 'Daylight Precision Bombing' in Europe gave our flyers pretty poor odds, but that improved with new tactics and strategies.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Half of the U.S. Army Air Force's casualties in World War II were suffered by Eighth Air Force (more than 47,000 casualties, with more than 26,000 dead). Seventeen Medals of Honor went to Eighth Air Force personnel during the war.

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

A few years ago, after climbing all over the USS Massachusetts, I visited the submarine at anchor nearby. I'm ashamed to say I couldn't fit through the hatch.

Thanks, Chief!! Keep checking my above post, rather than add posts, I have edited it, and added some more information and illustrations. I am still digging stuff out of Fledas effects, so I keep finding new material. As you know, I have Gene's private Log, and I will post a couple of pages that haven't been shown before, which I think will help tell not just Gene's story, but that of a single Submarine, and what it did for the War. Multiply that by the whole Sub fleet, and you have a pretty powerful weapon, which did its part in the Pacific!!

Thanks again for the thread!!

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Lots of memories being stirred by this thread.

My dad went to boot camp at Farragut NTC in Farragut, ID. He was the Honorman of his company.



He then went to diesel school at Navy Pier, Chicago and onto advanced diesel school in Detroit.



He attended advanced diesel school in this building in Detroit.


He then went to San Diego and was assigned to LCI's and then shipped out to Tulagi for training as a rocket loader and shooter on the newly designated LCI (G); landing craft ships that carried rocket launchers in the foredeck.

Here is his ship, the LCI (G) 365 on its way to the Guam invasion in Jun 1944 after participating in support landings at Saipan.



This is a copy of the deck log of the LCI (G) 439 from Jul 21, 1944. Dad and the rest of the flag staff moved to the 439 after the 365 was put out of action from being damaged by Japanese 75mm arty pieces on Guam.



My dad died in 1965 before I knew any of this information. I spent the summer of 2013 researching this and making contact with a few of his remaining shipmates. I actually talked to one man who remembered dad. I gained a tremendous respect for what these men endured for our continued freedom.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

As a result of my research I wrote to the Sec Nav and got Dad awarded the Combat Action Ribbon almost 70 years after he earned it.



My Dad, my hero.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

Have to jump in. I've read all the books I could find on WWII subs, including US, German, and Japanese. I don't think I'd last a week in that environment. These men were very special.

Nowadays, with women on board, to me it is inconceivable to pull duty like that. Sorry if that is not PC.

No, there are several subs that were ahead of her in numbers sunk and tonnage. Not that she had a poor sinking record by any means. The Bowfin didn't make the top 10 either with US wartime records or after JANAC butchered the records after the war.

The WWII sub that had the record for highest number of subs sunk was the USS Tang (SS-305) and most probably the highest tonnage sunk too. In 5 war patrols she sank 33 ships and of those 5 patrols, the second patrol ended up with the Tang not having a chance to fire any torpedoes. Instead on that patrol, she recovered 22 airman on lifeguard duty, which was a record at the time. On her 5th and final war patrol, the Tang was sunk by a circular run of their last torpedo fired on the patrol. Nine survived the sinking and war, with 78 crewmen lost. The commander, Dick O'Kane, did survive the sinking and the war (just barely) and was awarded the CMOH for this patrol. He was a true American hero, as was his boat along with all the other submarine vets that served in WWII.

If you want a good read on the Tang and also of 5 patrols of the USS Wahoo that O'Kane participated in, he wrote a book titled "Clear the Bridge! The War Patrols of the USS Tang". It gives you a very thrilling record of the Tang's short existence and also a very good idea of what war patrols in a US submarine in WWII were like. I highly recommend this book.

A patrol on a sub is lonely thing, whether it's on a diesel boat or a nuc! My first boat was the USS Seacat(SS399) out of Keywest, FL. I was on her for the "Cuban Crisis". We were walking on cases of canned food in the berthing compartment! Then came 5 patrols on the USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN 602). That's out and under for 64 days, that's no TV, no Internet, no cell phones, and no other means of communication! We did not know where we were but I have seen the main sea chest injection temp(water around the boat) at 30 degs F! ! ! Remember, we could not launch missiles under ice! I think the water above Russia in the Artic Circle is about that temp! I will never regret the time I served but I decided then it was not the life for a family man! Thanks to all that have and are still serving!
jcelect Joe Cebull EM2 SS/FBM 1961-1969

Great thread, thanks for posting. My father put 30 years in the Navy retiring as a Master Chief. He served on a number of submarines for 20+ years.

When I was 11 I got to go out to sea for a day on one of his old diesel boats with some other kids whose fathers were crew. They let us have the run of the boat. Got to use the periscope, launch a dummy torpedo, stand watch from the bridge, even go out on deck while off of San Diego. Definitely a day I will never forget.

An earlier post mentioned Merrill's Maraders... my uncle was a medic with them in Burma. Lots of veterans scattered throughout our family... no wonder I enlisted in the Army the middle of my senior year in high school... One week after graduation{6/26/69}, I was on the bus to Fort Old for basic training barely 17 and half.

My Dad went through Farragut and ended up in Pensacola achieving CPO and was an aerial gunnery instructor. SBD, SB2C, PBY were what he taught on.

I can't help but think he taught some of the heros in the Battle of Midway, among others.

So many stories about aircraft failures - landing gear, engine departure, wing departure.

Apparently, if you used the speed brake on the SB2C at the speed you were required to use it on a dive, there was a 50-50 chance the wings would pull off.

I have known three submariners of the modern era. Two of them say they loved it and would have stayed in EXCEPT they wanted a wife and children and couldn't do both.

I have crawled through a couple WW II subs and there's no way I could have been a submariner. Humans are funny in that some dangers don't bother us at all, other situations can terrify brave men.

We have a local real estate tycoon in the DSM area who grew up dirt poor in southern IA, enlisted at 17yo and found himself piloting landing craft during the Pacific Island campaign. He states he has been able to not think about that most of his life. But, when the honor flights started it all came back. He has said going in was scary enough, but carrying wounded and dead back was horrible.

I understand why most combat vets don't talk about it much until they're old.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

One of the men who served (that I was friends with) on U 181--had served on a destroyer. His boat (I cant recall its name) was sunk-and many of the surviving ccrew were presse into service as submariners though they were not trained to be. That was because there wasnt "openings" on other surface ships as well as they needed replacemnets on U boats.

Anyway, before he passed away, he sent me his Destroyer war badge for safe-keeping. He kept that badge as his sole momento from the war-and being on a destroyer-was his happiest time in service. Another U 181 friend-gave me the only momento he had left from the war--which was his U Boat war badge. He also gave me his fathers only momento from imperial times--his dad's1901 "Loyalty To the Regiment" cross, which was his cross to the exact unit he served with full career: 15th Kompanie von Sachsen Regiment.

The above (including a few other items from other German servicemen) are what they thought of me-fully knowing I wasnt nor are--some freak who idolizes what Hitler and his pigs stood for.

Thank you for the correct info. Also, for the heds-up on book. I think I shall like very much to read that book. One book I highly suggest addint to that one-is Otto Giese's book: "Shooting the War :Through a lens." Its one of the best ive ever read-including any subject.

As I think about the Submarine "Silent" Service, I also have to remember that I made the acquaintance of a Russian Submarine Captain, I'll call him "Capt. Nick", while I was in Russia on my first stay, and have corresponded with him occasionally since 1998. Hard to believe that my first visit to Russia was almost 20 years ago.

He was retired at the time I met him. He served on Russian nuclear submarines. Quite a character, and I haven't thought of him for awhile. Somewhere I have some photos of him in his "garage", which is sort of a Russian "man cave". He has all sorts of memorabilia there, and much of it is really interesting not just because of its submarine connection, but as artifacts of the Cold War. I'll try to dig up some photos to post here.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

For a great read on what our "Silent Service" actually did for decades read "Blind Man's Bluff". I read it and gave it to my dad. He laughed after reading it and admitted it was spot on. Yep, we did that, and this and that again was his response.

My mom then read it and had a hissy fit. If I had only known that is what you were actually doing...

Sorry I cannot remember the author's names but they were investigative reporters who did their homework and got it right.

Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew. I have a copy and it's a GREAT book.

I just ran across a fact on the USS Bowfin that is kind of funny. If any of you remember the movie "Operation Petticoat" starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis, there was a scene in it where they were lining up to shoot some torpedoes at an anchored ship and one of the nurses accidentally fired the torpedo prematurely and hit a truck. That scene was actually based on an incident with the Bowfin where it had fired at some ships and an errant torpedo hit a dock and blew a bus into the water.

BTW, Operation Petticoat is a great comedy movie and fun to watch if you run across it on the TV.

O'Kane also wrote Wahoo about a previous boat he was the Executive Officer on. Great reads. He was also in the same POW camp as the subject of Unbroken; Louis Zamporini.

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Front sight and squeeze

Hey Chief, it sounded like we grew up together right down to the Zenith B& W TV. I think I saw every war movie ever televised back then, and there were lots of them made after WW II and Korea. I think that had something to do with my enlisting in the Corps right out of HS. In a two year period between my four tours I went from infantry to recon (after lots of training). Part of that was familiarization with submarine travel.

I spent some days in the sub base at St. Thomas, VI. We boarded the USS Sea Liom, a trainer. Had to go out on the sub for three trips. Two were one day no night and one was three days two nights. I gained on healthy respect for the submariners onboardm even when they would describe what it be like if they took on water while submerged. They sighed and we just prayed it would never happen. Tough sailors they are.

Here in the early morning hours of another Memorial Day, I think about all of my family members who served, but especially about my Uncle Gene, who was killed back in 1944, aboard his submarine, the USS Scamp.

See post #11 above for some more details.

And thanks again, Chief, for starting this thread!!!

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

In 1961 I was teaching in Idaho Falls. Our next door neighbor was a
Navy man training at the INEL. He made beer in his garage and I helped
him drink some of it. In 1963 he was on the U.S.S. Thresher. One of our
first Nuke Subs. It went down and never came up.

I think about him today, and all of my uncles, cousins, and friends who
served, and those we lost. Our freedom is not free. We enjoy it at a very
high price.

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should
thank God that such men lived." General George S. Patton

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In Omnia Paratus

My father's father was wounded in WWI. My father's side of the family - all deceased now - served in WWII. One great uncle was in a wheelchair for life from crash landing on a carrier in WWII, the rest came home intact and had families. I remember Sunday evenings from the Eisenhower years to the Ford years at my grandparents house, talking, drinking, eating, pitching horseshoes and playing cards with them. I pray to recapture those evenings in the hereafter.

Thanks to all for the real stories of those who have served. I am fortunate, I think, to be able to say that both my father and my father-in-law are WWII vets. Both served honorably in the US Army. My dad was an MP and his duties in Europe included prisoner transport and security, guard duty of sensitive and classified installations, as well as town patrols during periods of leave for those who had the opportunity for it occasionally. My FIL was intended to be an infantry medic, but was assigned to work in field hospitals, including wards that held those who had mental problems due to their experiences during combat. He also spend a good bit of time working in an outfit tasked with identification and autopsies of those KIA along with the graves registration duties associated with that business. He also served in England, France, and surrounding areas.

Both of those men are still living. My father is 94 and is unfortuately in the full grasp of Alzheimers, which is a very sad end of his life. My FIL is 96 and still lives alone and takes pretty good care of himself under the circumstances. As you all know, there are getting to be relatively few of those WWII vets still living. Their service and what they gave for us, along with that of so many others service given makes my own US Army service time very unremarkable in context, but I am proud to have been able to contribute, this during the Vietnam era. The legacy that we are all beneficiaries of because of those who served, most remarkably in many cases, is hard to really comprehend, even for us who were more exposed to these men during and after their service given. I'd like to know more about the service time of my dad and FIL, but both were and are very recticent to discuss that. Like most all of that generation, they did what they had to do without much complaint. At least, my association with men of this caliber has helped me to understand what "service" really is! We must never forget the cost of the freedom that we enjoy because of those who served, in whatever capacity. It takes all of them to get the job done! My thanks goes out to all who are members here for their service, and for their stories that make that service obvously real. I know that many things are left unsaid because they are difficult to talk about and remember. That's part of the price of service, and as we know, so many gave all they had to give. I am grateful.

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So long ... Ken

Many books and movies have been made about them, but they’re going away fast. When they’re gone, I doubt we’ll ever have that recipe again.
Whom do I mean? My mother’s generation. My father's, uncles' and grandfather's generation. Nearly all of the WWII generation. They grew gardens, they collected scrap metal, they bought war bonds, they did without nylons, they walked a lot and cut back on trips. They enlisted, they went to places they’d never heard of, and endured years of tedium sometimes interspersed with days of terror. They worked hard dirty jobs, they did without butter and meat and new clothes. They supported their country out of a deep sense of duty and patriotism and all that made the place great in the first place.
They didn’t want the war they found themselves in, and they definitely didn’t like the numbers of boys dying in places they never heard of and often couldn’t spell or pronounce. But they understood, from a deep well of pure common sense that it was necessary and they had to knuckle down, suck it up, and get it done.
The youngest of them are now ninetyish and won’t be around much longer, but I salute them all . . . the old guys in wheelchairs who still manage to stand when the flag goes by . . . the young women who raised their children without fathers in a time when parents were important to a child’s growth ... the entertainers who buoyed the nation’s spirits with their bond drives, their wave-the-flag movies, and their willingness to put themselves in harm’s way by joining up themselves.
With great clarity of vision, they saw what was the right thing to do, rolled up their sleeves, tightened up their belts, locked arms, and kicked butt.
I appreciate what they did for me and I am deeply, deeply honored to have had the opportunity to grow up among them.

I have a cousin who made 3 war patrols in the USS Drum.
It really affected him and he still doesn't talk much about his WW2 experiences.
His name is listed on the crew manifest at the USS Drum display in Mobile, Alabama.

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990

When I read threads like this I realize there are Giants among us. My Dad didn't serve, he was born in 1904 and was already 37 when the war started, and I think he had a heart problem. My Mom worked at Brecon sewing powder bags after I was born in 1943. My Sisters, 10 and 12 years older than I, took care of the family while she worked.

My BIL was in the South Pacific during the war, but never talked much about it. About 5 years ago I was privileged to know an old gentleman that was on Iwo Jima and he wouldn't talk about it either. He was a fine man. Another older guy I knew went ashore at Normandy Beach 6 hours after the first landing. He still had his .45 that he carried ashore. He was a anti-aircraft company Captain.

So I can truly say that there a few Giants left among us, for which I am truly grateful to have known some of them. God bless them and the memories they left us and those who are still walking with us.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

By the way: Do a google search for Brecon Talladega, and you will find a lot of information if you are interested in this sort of stuff.

I had the pleasure to work beside a brick mason who was a WWII Submariner. His name was Worth Powell and he served on the Uss Seahorse. Fantastic Sea Stories... I can still hear him in my memory today.

Probably how I ended up in the Navy...

When I was in the Navy, I applied for Submarine Medicine School (I was a corpsman.) It was approved, and I was slated to be in the Polaris subs, after school...but the approval also came with a 3 year extension on my enlistment. I had already done 2 years, and I knew (at the time) I didn't want to do an extension past my original enlistment, so I declined. I then got orders to the 1st Marine Division at Cherry Point, NC.

Now, I've often wished I had taken the school and the extension...I might have made it a career, who knows. But then, I wouldn't have met my wife and had our children, so I really have no regrets. I just think (now) it would be so interesting to have served on a sub.

Seems like yesterday that I worked with a bunch of WW2 vets. That was in 1950. Some would not speak of their service. Some would. Some real serious, others were funny. Most are long gone. My one foreman I worked for was in Europe in the Signal Corps US Army. Was at the bridge at Remagen. [Sp]. Later on into Germany. When in high school about 1946 or so the submarine Puffer docked in our town. I was in the machine shop at the time & our teacher who was a WW1 vet took our class to see the sub. We entered thru the foreward hatch & left thru the rear. I deceided right then no sub duty for me. I remember the galley was the size of a closet. The Puffer was headed for Mare Island to be scrapped.

Korean war vets are leaving us also. A friend's father, who was mostly deaf, told me it came about from being a gunner in a battle that lasted the better part of three days and nights. He then commented that he didn't know how he stayed alert for that time. I said "Don, they were probably shooting back." He laughed and said "They sure were".
His son told me he had never heard that story.

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Front sight and squeeze

Thanks to all who have served! I did not but wish I had.

San Francisco has a fantastic WWII submarine anyone can tour. It has been restored and is worth a visit.

My dad, who died a couple of years ago at age 92, was a machinist's mate in WWII and Korea. In his last few years, he lost most of his hearing. He was at the VA getting a prescription refilled for his heart medicine, and they noticed he was very hard of hearing, so they set him up for testing. They found that he has lost almost all his hearing...apparently from working inside the big ships and being subjected to repeated clanging and banging. Now, get this, they submitted it, and he was ruled to have 100% disability. He got back pay for two years, and then began getting his monthly pay. It made their last few years very pleasant (he and my stepmother.) I've never heard of the VA going out of their way like that!

Diesel boat sailors are truly a different breed of men. I think that I've read most of good submarine books, from 90 Degrees North, to Run Silent, Run Deep. Those WWII, and Cold war submarine sailors have my utmost respect, and admiration. I've read Blind Mans Bluff as well, and I can say that, not all submarine duty was like what's described there. I served on the USS Phoenix SSN 702 from early 91, to late 95. I got out because, I wanted to meet decent women, something that can't easily be done while pulling submarine duty. I don't really like to talk about my time in service, for a number of reasons. I'm not ashamed, there just isn't much to tell, and most people I come into contact with don't care anyway.

Never regret not joining the military, because you have served your country in other ways. Some of the most honorable people I've ever met, never severed. I can also honestly say that some of the most detestable I've ever met were veterans.

... my friend Bill Polzin who was on the USS Cochino when it sank from battery explosions and told me the story in vivid detail. All of the crew survived but 11 people from the rescue sub USS Tusk including some civilians were washed overboard and 6 were killed due to faulty 'survival suits' that floated head down'.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Thank you for the kind words.

I read about that incident in the book Blind Man's Bluff. It is a great read on submarine actions during the cold war.