I dont remember anything about WWII - I was born in 1938. I had several uncles and aunts who served in the various services. In fact, not too long ago, I found my dad's draft registration! He was 41 at the time, with two children and a business, and didnt get called up. But this is a very long time for a family to have anything near "closure" - I'm sure there are grandchildren or great grandchildren but its so sad that the people who knew and remembered these sailors and other soldiers who were lost in that war never knew for sure what happened to their loved ones. On the other hand, I'm sure there were many families in the wars AFTER that that were left in the same position.
I know first-hand the emotional relief from finally learning final resting place of my maternal uncle, Lt. Walter E. Lang Jr. I wish that my mother, who took the news of his loss hard (she told me much later, I was less than 6 months old when the Albacore was sunk), and her other brother, could have been alive to know that his boat had been found, confirmed by the U.S. Navy and now designated as a U.S. War Grave.
The USS Albacore was sunk by a Japanese mine near the island of Hokkaido in November 1944. In May 2022, a Japanese researcher from the University of Tokyo succeeded in finding her using coordinates recorded by a Japanese patrol boat that was in the area that had observed the explosion. In January, 2023, the U.S. Navy confirmed her identification.
What a stunning account of courage and commitment during those incredible times...Times no one went looking for but times in which hundreds of thousands stood up to defend the nation and ultimately the world from the scourge of Fascism. Today we are being called to defend democracy and the rule of law from neo-fascists who are leading great numbers of people in our midst astray. A few followers are true believers. The vast majority don't realize what's going on or recognize the individuals and groups pushing authoritarianism and the new fascism down our throats. This crowd is glad that djt is out front, hammering the lies and stoking the violence. He's the convenient shiny object. 5 months from Wednesday June 5 is election day 2024. People will begin casting ballots up to 30 days before that date. As TC has said, each person can act to defend the democracy we have and if we're to keep this democracy and keep building a better democracy no one can sit back and expect someone else to act. The actions of the Harder and its crew is one to take to heart.
Virginia has 45 days of early voting. All early ballots will be run through scanners on election day so those results will appear with day-of results. My husband is an election official at the "central absentee precinct" and he works A LOT. Virginia has elections and primaries every year. 45 days each event. He's also one of the people that MAGAts love to denigrate.
Your family really knows what is at stake for sure. We too have early voting in Michigan, but I am not sure how many days that adds to the work of everyone working on elections. It is really important that everyone support your husband and all election officials and volunteers during the process.
To be clear, our early ballots DO get scanned and counted as soon as we cast them in person, so when I vote, say, on day 30, I know how many people have voted before me. We are marked off the rolls as having voted (we've actually had early voting folks show up on election day to vote - not happening, you already did; ditto for absentee mail ballots). Votes cast on those early in person + mail-in ballots are not tallied until Election Day. Bottom line, it's serious business and it's carefully and responsibly completed with tons of cross-checks.
Saw the news this morning and was confident we'd hear from you about it. The Harder had quite a record.
Submarines are different critters indeed. My daughter dated a young man who's spent seven years assigned to a US sub. When he left the USN he took a position with a company doing specialized restoration work on historic temple domes and church steeples. He was able to climb around with great agility, but the guy stumbled and misstepped on level ground all the time. Dancing was out of the question. It's not just space travel that changes physiology.
Earlier submarines only had numbers. The R class was produced during World War I and the S-class just after. It wasn't till the arrival of more modern (and larger) submarines that they got names.
I recalled 'Harder''s story, but not that she had forced the Japanese fleet to sea early thanks to her aggressive and competent CA and brave crew. And she doubtless had to contend with the crap US torpedoes while running up at least part of her impressive score....thanks for a fine read.
I heard it was found. Of course we cuold count on you to fill in the details.
I dont remember anything about WWII - I was born in 1938. I had several uncles and aunts who served in the various services. In fact, not too long ago, I found my dad's draft registration! He was 41 at the time, with two children and a business, and didnt get called up. But this is a very long time for a family to have anything near "closure" - I'm sure there are grandchildren or great grandchildren but its so sad that the people who knew and remembered these sailors and other soldiers who were lost in that war never knew for sure what happened to their loved ones. On the other hand, I'm sure there were many families in the wars AFTER that that were left in the same position.
I know first-hand the emotional relief from finally learning final resting place of my maternal uncle, Lt. Walter E. Lang Jr. I wish that my mother, who took the news of his loss hard (she told me much later, I was less than 6 months old when the Albacore was sunk), and her other brother, could have been alive to know that his boat had been found, confirmed by the U.S. Navy and now designated as a U.S. War Grave.
The USS Albacore was sunk by a Japanese mine near the island of Hokkaido in November 1944. In May 2022, a Japanese researcher from the University of Tokyo succeeded in finding her using coordinates recorded by a Japanese patrol boat that was in the area that had observed the explosion. In January, 2023, the U.S. Navy confirmed her identification.
https://news.usni.org/2023/02/20/wreck-of-wwii-submarine-uss-albacore-discovered-off-japan
What a stunning account of courage and commitment during those incredible times...Times no one went looking for but times in which hundreds of thousands stood up to defend the nation and ultimately the world from the scourge of Fascism. Today we are being called to defend democracy and the rule of law from neo-fascists who are leading great numbers of people in our midst astray. A few followers are true believers. The vast majority don't realize what's going on or recognize the individuals and groups pushing authoritarianism and the new fascism down our throats. This crowd is glad that djt is out front, hammering the lies and stoking the violence. He's the convenient shiny object. 5 months from Wednesday June 5 is election day 2024. People will begin casting ballots up to 30 days before that date. As TC has said, each person can act to defend the democracy we have and if we're to keep this democracy and keep building a better democracy no one can sit back and expect someone else to act. The actions of the Harder and its crew is one to take to heart.
Virginia has 45 days of early voting. All early ballots will be run through scanners on election day so those results will appear with day-of results. My husband is an election official at the "central absentee precinct" and he works A LOT. Virginia has elections and primaries every year. 45 days each event. He's also one of the people that MAGAts love to denigrate.
Your family really knows what is at stake for sure. We too have early voting in Michigan, but I am not sure how many days that adds to the work of everyone working on elections. It is really important that everyone support your husband and all election officials and volunteers during the process.
To be clear, our early ballots DO get scanned and counted as soon as we cast them in person, so when I vote, say, on day 30, I know how many people have voted before me. We are marked off the rolls as having voted (we've actually had early voting folks show up on election day to vote - not happening, you already did; ditto for absentee mail ballots). Votes cast on those early in person + mail-in ballots are not tallied until Election Day. Bottom line, it's serious business and it's carefully and responsibly completed with tons of cross-checks.
Kudos from a fellow Virginian.
Saw the news this morning and was confident we'd hear from you about it. The Harder had quite a record.
Submarines are different critters indeed. My daughter dated a young man who's spent seven years assigned to a US sub. When he left the USN he took a position with a company doing specialized restoration work on historic temple domes and church steeples. He was able to climb around with great agility, but the guy stumbled and misstepped on level ground all the time. Dancing was out of the question. It's not just space travel that changes physiology.
Were some of the subs (R-12, e.g.) not named, or were the names not readily available? Just curious after a great story.
Earlier submarines only had numbers. The R class was produced during World War I and the S-class just after. It wasn't till the arrival of more modern (and larger) submarines that they got names.
Thanks Tom.
I really hate Autocorrect.
I recalled 'Harder''s story, but not that she had forced the Japanese fleet to sea early thanks to her aggressive and competent CA and brave crew. And she doubtless had to contend with the crap US torpedoes while running up at least part of her impressive score....thanks for a fine read.
Thank you Tom. Am glad they
finally located her. Do you
know if they will recover her?
I know she's down 3k ft. but
haven't they recovered from
deeper?
Fair skies and following seas
sailors. Blessings.
No, they are left where they are, since they are now designated as war graves.
I understand. Thanks for letting me know.
Thank you, so much for another compelling moment, Your writing is fascinating
Fascinating and stirring.
Thanks TC!