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Remembering US WWII Submariners on this Memorial Day

WWII Submarine Combat Patrol Pin with 3 Gold Stars (4 patrols) Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14925973
WWII Submarine Combat Patrol Pin with 3 Gold Stars (4 patrols) Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14925973

On Memorial Day, people sometimes thank veterans, rather than remembering those that died defending the United States. Surviving Veterans have our own day, 11 November.  Today, we should remember those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.  As we do so, let us not just think about our most recent conflicts. Before it recedes into history, let us remember comrades of our parents and grandparents, who gave their lives during WWII, which ended over 70 years ago.

The US Submarine Service took the highest percent of casualties of any US service during that war–nearly 23%. Submariners represented only 1.6% of Navy personnel, but were responsible for over 55% of Japanese ships sunk. My father, James Brink, was a submariner. He survived four war patrols on the USS Sea Poacher (SS-406) and went on to raise a family and have a successful career. Over 3,500 of his fellow submariners did not. In all, 52 American submarines were lost during WWII.

Below is a list of US submarines lost during WWII. Casualty lists for each submarine can be found at the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association.

1941

USS SEALION (SS-195)

1942

USS S-36 (SS-141), USS S-26 (SS-131), USS SHARK (SS-174), USS PERCH (SS-176), USS S-27 (SS-132), USS S-39 (SS-144), USS GRUNION (SS-216)

1943

USS ARGONAUT (SS-166), USS AMBERJACK (SS-219), USS GRAMPUS (SS-207), USS TRITON (SS-201), USS PICKEREL (SS-177), USS GRENADIER (SS-210), USS RUNNER (SS-275), USS R-12 (SS-89), USS GRAYLING (SS-209), USS POMPANO (SS-181), USS CISCO (SS-290), USS S-44 (SS-155), USS DORADO (SS-248), USS WAHOO (SS-238), USS CORVINA (SS-226), USS SCULPIN (SS-191), USS CAPELIN (SS-289)

1944

USS SCORPION (SS-278), USS GRAYBACK (SS-208), USS TROUT (SS-202), USS TULIBEE (SS-284), USS GUDGEON (SS-211), USS HERRING (SS-233), USS GOLET (SS-361), USS S-28 (SS-133), USS ROBALO (SS-273), USS FLIER (SS-250), USS HARDER (SS-257), USS SEAWOLF (SS-197), USS SHARK II (SS-314), USS TANG (SS-306), USS ESCOLAR (SS-294), USS ALBACORE (SS-218), USS GROWLER (SS-215), USS DARTER (SS-227), USS SCAMP (SS-277)

1945

USS SWORDFISH (SS-193), USS BARBEL (SS-316), USS KETE (SS-369), USS TRIGGER (SS-237), USS SNOOK (SS-279), USS LAGARTO (SS-371), USS BONEFISH (SS-223), USS BULLHEAD (SS-332)

ADDITIONAL WW II SUBMARINE PERSONNEL LOSSES ARE ALSO ON THE SITE

 

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Happy Veterans Day!

Crew of my Dad's Submarine, the USS Sea Poacher, posing at the Pearl Harbor Submarine Base in front of a captured Japanese mini-sub (1944)
Crew of my Dad’s Submarine, the USS Sea Poacher, posing at the Pearl Harbor Submarine Base in front of a captured Japanese mini-sub (1944)
LTJG James A. Brink, Weapons Officer, USS Sea Poacher, 1944-1945
LTJG James A. Brink, Weapons Officer, USS Sea Poacher, 1944-1945

Happy veterans day to all my fellow veterans! Here are some pictures of my Dad, his fellow shipmates, and the USS Sea Poacher (SS 406).  James Brink (at the time a LTJG) served aboard the Sea Poacher for four war patrols during World War II. After the war he remained in the Reserve, was mobilized during Korea and the Cuban Missile Crisis, commanded two reserve submarines, and retired as a Commander in 1964. In his civilian career, he practiced law for over 40 years.

USS Sea Poacher (SS 406). Images courtesy of the USS Sea Poacher Association (www.seapoacher.com). War Patrols may be accessed on the site.

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USS Ranger leaving Puget Sound for Texas scrap yard

My old ship from 1974-1976. Nostalgic and a bit sad for me and the 100,000 or so of my fellow sailors that served aboard her from 1957-1993. –BB

USS Ranger is seen in a 1987 U.S. Navy file photo.

BREMERTON, Wash. — Naval Sea Systems Command says the mothballed aircraft carrier USS Ranger will be towed out of Puget Sound on Thursday on its way to be scrapped in Texas.

Robert Johnson sees more than a relic of gray steel and worn rivets when he looks across the Sinclair Inlet. He sees home.

“It gave me a piece of my soul I think,” the Navy Vietnam veteran said.

It is the same ship that is on his hat, the USS Ranger, a massive aircraft carrier.

“A lot of people served on it. A lot of people worked on it, played on it and many died on it,” Johnson said.

He worked in the electronics and radio towers, making sure bombing raids went without a hitch from the South China Sea.

“They had to have radios to talk back to the ship,” he said.

Johnson served on the ranger for nearly three years, sometimes going two months without seeing land. Now that home is rusting away in Bremerton.

“They sold it to the scrap company for a penny,” Johnson said of the Navy’s plan to get rid of the Ranger to a Texas company.

The Ranger will soon begin its months-long journey around South America to get to Texas and broken down for scrap and parts. It’s too large to make it through the Panama Canal.

The ship served in Vietnam, the pacific and the Gulf war and even made cameo appearances in “Top Gun” and other 1980s blockbusters like “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.”

In a way a ship nearly everyone knows, but few as well as Johnson.

“It’s sacred ground right down until they rip the last bolt out,” he said.

It will take five months to complete a 16,000-mile trip.

via KOMOnews.com

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CBS Uncovers New VA Scandal: Dept. Ignored Veterans’ Benefits Claims

Wyatt Andrews revealed the details of a new scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday’s CBS This Morning. Andrews zeroed in on how the veterans’  benefits office in Oakland, California simply ignored “more than 13,000 informal claims filed between 1996 and 2009 – all of which were stashed in a file cabinet and ignored until 2012.” The correspondent spotlighted whistleblowers who claimed that “V.A. supervisors in Oakland ordered [employees] to mark the claims ‘no action necessary,’ and to toss them aside.”

– See more at: Newsbusters.org

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WaPo Fact Check: Incompetent VA Employees not being fired at claimed rate

In his “Meet the Press” interview, McDonald also said 100 senior leaders are under investigation by the inspector general and the Department of Justice.

Yet McDonald is incorrect saying 60 employees who manipulated wait times were fired.

Disciplinary actions for 75 employees have been proposed since June 3, 2014, according to the VA’s most recent weekly briefing to the House and Senate committees on veterans affairs. These actions were related to patient scheduling, record manipulation, appointment delays and/or patient deaths. The proposed actions included removals, admonishment (a written letter of censure), reprimand (a stronger letter of censure), suspension of less than two weeks and probationary termination. Admonishment or reprimand letters can be removed from employees’ personnel files after two or three years.

Of the 75 employees, only eight employees have actually been removed, as of Feb. 13, 2015. Twenty-three cases were pending. Five employees resigned before a decision was made on their case. Others were demoted, were on probationary termination, had some other disciplinary action, or had no action taken at all.

McDonald used his new personnel authority to propose removals of five executives — in Phoenix, Georgia, central Alabama, Pittsburgh and the VA central area office in Washington. Two retired before they could be removed, and three were actually fired. But of those three terminations, only one was officially related to the VA scandal — James Talton, director of Central Alabama’s VA.

via The American Legion’s BurnPit http://ift.tt/1w83iPB
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Veteran Faces VA Red Tape and Thousands in Student Loans after Paperwork Error

After being recently medically separated from the military, Mark Dressler, a 19-year Air Force veteran, planned to use his Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to continue his education. After participating in the Department of Veteran Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program, he was accepted at Diesel Driving Academy in Shreveport, La. for a commercial driver’s licensing, or CDL, program.

via Veterans of Foreign Wars http://ift.tt/1BHYTKr