On this day when we commemorate those who have fallen in service to their country, I can reflect on how fortunate I am that all my relatives who served managed to return from their respective conflicts, including both my grandfathers (WWII), one of whom is still alive and giving his offspring lip in St. Louis, the other passed away a few years ago.
The Wife never knew her grandfather "Jack." He was the oldest (and shortest) of six brothers (all were over 6' except Jack, who was about 5'9"). His double whammy came when he passed the Navy math aptitude test, which - when combined with his height - made him perfectly suited to submarine duty. He was assigned to the USS Runner, a Gato-class diesel attack sub. She patrolled the Palau area on her first two attack runs, torpedoing six ships in total, though no kills could be confirmed. Her third run was not so successful:
On 28 May 1943 RUNNER (Lt. Cmdr. J. H. Bourland) left Midway to begin her third patrol. She was to patrol the south and west, until she came into the area south of Hokkaido and east of the northern tip of Honshu, where she was to patrol from about 8 June to 4 July 1943. The submarine was never heard from following her departure from Midway.
She was expected at Midway about 11 July, and not later than 15 July, and should have made a transmission when approximately 500 miles from this base. She was ordered on 112 July to make an immediate transmission, but no reply came. Although a careful, lookout was maintained in the hope that RUNNER was safe but without transmission facilities, results were negative. On 20 July RUNNER was reported as presumed lost.
A summary of Japanese antisubmarine attacks received since the close of hostilities contains no mention of an attack, which could explain the loss of RUNNER. Thus her loss must be ascribed to an enemy minefield, of which there were at least four in the area to which she was assigned, to an operational casualty, or to an unreported enemy attack. Destruction by a mine is considered the most likely of these possibilities.
The Runner's wreckage was recovered about ten years ago.
Jack's death had ramifications on his family I won't go into here. However, one can easily multiply his story by about a million (since the Revolution) to realize the impact war continues to have on us. Maybe the latest draft dodger laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier today should stop to think about it once in a while.
Enough editorializing. Instead, I'll just say thanks to everyone who's made the ultimate sacrifice so we - in return - could become an ungrateful nation of morbidly obese consumer whores who pay more attention to a glorified karaoke contest than we do the state of our own government. It goes without saying that I also offer my profound apologies.
And thank you, Jack. You never got to know your granddaughter, but she turned out all right, at least.
I've been famously cynical since ... birth? Something like that. But perhaps that's not always a bad thing, and maybe it's hitting positively healthy levels these days. I mean there is something to be said for comments like this making......
| --Posted to Bloodless Coup on Jun 2, 2006 12:51 PM:. |
Thanks Pete. To volunteer at such a young age and with a family -- When I take a moment to reflect, its hard to process the enormity of his sacrifice.