Personal Stories Of WWII… Submariner

Issue 18.12

I recently wrote to an old high school buddy of mine who was a World War 2 submariner. He now lives in the house in my old neighborhood that he grew up in. With the help of a

Conscientious mail person, I got a letter to him. He told me that of the bunch of boys that palled around together, He, his younger brother and I are the only ones still among the living.

When the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor, we all couldn’t wait till we could get into the fight. As soon as Phil turned seventeen, he went to the navy recruiter and tried to enlist. Phil was about

3 pounds under weight so the recruiter told Phil to overeat for a few days and then before he came back, to eat about five pounds of bananas. Well, those five pounds of bananas did the trick and Phil was in the navy. Phil wanted to be in the most exciting part so he was put in the submarine service. Phil’s small size was an enhancement for subs. Phil went on five patrols each were about 60 or 70 days in length. That length of time on a patrol was not only hard on a person but also hard on the sub so time had to be factored in to get the boat and crew ready for another patrol. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel was taken over by the navy for use by sub men.

Some shore time was spent at Brisbane and Perth Australia and also New Zealand. I called the submarine a boat. Surface vessels are ships but submarines are boats.

While on these patrols, Phil’s boat sunk 13 ships; some transports and some Jap warships. Some of their patrols took them within sight of Japan. Once they surfaced very close to Japan in order to pick up survivors from a downed B-29 bomber. In order for this to be successful, American fighters from a carrier flew cover till all twelve flyers were safely aboard and they could dive for protection. Another time a different sub picked up another downed crew that George Bush was a member of. Phil’s sub had many close sinking experiences. They had to wait out depth charge attacks at a depth of 585 feet. They also withstood bomb attacks from the air. During the war, 52 American Subs and 3,500 men were lost As the Air Corp had Clark Gable make a movie of my wartime bomber group, the 351st Heavy Bomb Group so had the navy made a movie of Phil’s boat called “Sailors Beware” starring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. Some people were also a little superstitious.

Phil had a two dollar bill that he once tried to spend back in Montana but it was so rare and strange that the store clerk wouldn’t accept it so Phil carried that with him on all five patrols. His

Captain Cleary wore the same pair of red socks for protection also.

Phil spent the war on the USS 387 named Pintado. Submarine crews ate very, very well while at sea and Phil’s Boat was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.