Submariners unsung heroes of Cold War. Received from Buzz Bussard (62-63) : FW: Submariners unsung heroes of Cold War - CNN.com.htm D2b Just received this and wanted to pass it on due to the timing. I told most, but for those that do not know I did a local TV show that can be seen on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4QJuj6sw_I&noredirect=1 Subject: Submariners unsung heroes of Cold War - CNN.com.htm Submariners unsung heroes of Cold WarBy Bob Crowley, CNN Photojournalistupdated 1:51 PM EST, Thu November 10, 2011Submarine sailors of the Cold WarSTORY HIGHLIGHTS· The USS Nautilus was the first submarine to reach the North Pole in 1958· Submarines played pivotal role in intelligence gathering and nuclear deterrence in Cold War· Submariners face rigorous training and high standards to qualifyEditor's note: Tune in at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday for a special Veterans Day edition of CNN's "In Focus." The award-winning series produced by CNN photojournalists brings you stories of America's heroes as told by the men and women who fight for our country every day. (CNN) -- When Al Charette traveled to the North Pole, he went under it.The USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, made history when it reached the North Pole on August 3, 1958, beneath the ice.Charette, who was part of that Cold War crew, recalls how this milestone was of much more significance than being a historical first."What we did," he says, "is really expose 3,000 miles of coastline of the U.S.S.R."Submarines, which submariners call boats, played a pivotal role in intelligence gathering and nuclear deterrence at a time of political tension between the United States and Soviet Union. Attack submarines sought out and tracked Soviet ballistic missile submarines, while U.S. Navy missile boats tried to keep from being discovered."We didn't want to make any kind of a noise that a fish didn't make, " the 79-year-old Charette remembers.The Cold War may be remembered as a conflict without any battles, but for submariners, the danger on the front lines was real.Jack Gallimore started on diesel-electric submarines, including the USS Hardhead and the USS Sablefish in 1958. Cat-and-mouse games of two superpowers aside, risks remain even today for sailors who head out beneath the waves, says Gallimore, now 73."All the submariners," he says, "when they go to sea, they're in harm's way."Gallimore remembers an incident that happened during the turnover of older diesel subs to the Greek navy. He and other crew members acted as observers during the training phase. During a dive, the boat angled down steeply and the propellers shook. The sub managed to surface eventually, yet Gallimore insisted the danger was part of the job."We've all experienced when something went wrong," Gallimore says.Before any sailor can be called a submariner, he has to earn his "dolphins," a pin that's the equivalent to a pilot's wings. The sailors must qualify on the submarines they are to serve by knowing the systems inside and out. The training and testing are rigorous.Greg Kane, 63, another Cold War veteran, qualified on the ballistic missile sub USS George C. Marshall. Earning that qualification was an enormous source of pride, he says."When you had those dolphins on," he says, "you were a submariner. You were a part of the brotherhood of the fin."The standards to be part of that "brotherhood" exist to this day. Surrounded by a hostile environment at all times while submerged, any mistake by a single submariner could prove dangerous or even fatal for the entire crew."My life depended on my other shipmates," says retired Master Chief Bud Atkins, 77, "and it didn't matter whether they were a seaman or a captain." Atkins, who spent time in diesel-electric and nuclear-powered boats, served below the waves from 1950 to 1980, when he retired.In addition to meeting these tough standards, submariners also faced the responsibility of knowing their boats might have to launch nuclear warheads at a foreign country. Kane, who maintained the launching systems for Polaris missiles during the Vietnam War era, says crew members underwent vigorous psychological testing well before even seeing a submarine.Various scenarios were thrown at them: What if your boat was called to launch a strike? Could you do it?"The whole idea was really being aware of what the world situation was, what the dire consequences would be if you ever had to go through it and what would happen ... if you didn't have a deterrent force out there to stop something like that from happening," Kane says.Tom Russell, whose 20-year Navy career took him on a variety of vessels, also served on fleet ballistic missile boats in the 1960s."We just hoped that every time we went to battle stations that it was a drill because we all knew if it was not a drill, home would be in pieces," says Russell, 82.All these retired submariners speak of their service with pride, but they are guarded when it comes to details of their missions long ago.Charette grows nostalgic when recalling how a submarine could be in harbor or along a coastline and go unnoticed. Or suddenly surface somewhere unexpectedly just to send a message.Asked if he could describe any of these experiences, he replies with a grin, "Not that I care to talk about."

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY Submarine Veterans at Mountain Home, AR

and all veterans. May there be peace and friendships in your lives.

HAROLD MELGES -USS SEA FOX I received the following from Normal Melges this evening. Harold “Buzz” Melges was an ET aboard the Sea Fox 63-66. Sailor Rest your oars, God Bless you and thank you for your service. Geo

KILROY WAS HERE! WHO THE HECK WAS KILROY? In 1946 the American Transit Association, through its radio program, "Speak to America," sponsored a nationwide contest to find the REAL Kilroy, offering a prize of a real trolley car to the person who could prove himself to be the genuine article. Almost 40 men stepped forward to make that claim, but only James Kilroy from Halifax, Massachusetts, had evidence of his identity. He was a 46-year old shipyard worker during the war who worked as a checker at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy. His job was to go around and check on the number of rivets completed. Riveters were on piecework and got paid by the rivet. Kilroy would count a block of rivets and put a check mark in semi-waxed lumber chalk, so the rivets wouldn't be counted twice. When Kilroy went off duty, the riveters would erase the mark. Later on, an off-shift inspector would come through and count the rivets a second time, resulting in double pay for the riveters. One day Kilroy's boss called him into his office. The foreman was upset about all the wages being paid to riveters, and asked him to investigate. It was then he realized what had been going on. The tight spaces he had to crawl in to check the rivets didn't lend themselves to lugging around a paint can and brush, so Kilroy decided to stick with the waxy chalk. He continued to put his checkmark on each job he inspected, but added 'KILROY WAS HERE' in king-sized letters next to the check, and eventually added the sketch of the chap with the long nose peering over the fence and that became part of the Kilroy message. Once he did that, the riveters stopped trying to wipe away his marks. Ordinarily the rivets and chalk marks would have been covered up with paint. With war on, however, ships were leaving the Quincy Yard so fast that there wasn't time to paint them. As a result, Kilroy's inspection "trademark" was seen by thousands of servicemen who boarded the troopships the yard produced. His message apparently rang a bell with the servicemen, because they picked it up and spread it all over Europe and the South Pacific. Before war's end, "Kilroy" had been here, there, and everywhere on the long hauls to Berlin and Tokyo. To the troops outbound in those ships, however, he was a complete mystery; all they knew for sure was that some jerk named Kilroy had "been there first." As a joke, U.S. servicemen began placing the graffiti wherever they landed, claiming it was already there when they arrived. Kilroy became the U.S. super-GI who had always "already been" wherever GIs went. It became a challenge to place the logo in the most unlikely places imaginable (it is said to be atop Mt. Everest, the Statue of Liberty, the underside of l Arc De Triomphe, and even scrawled in the dust on the moon). As the war went on, the legend grew. Underwater demolition teams routinely sneaked ashore on Japanese-held islands in the Pacific to map the terrain for coming invasions by U.S. troops (and thus, presumably, were the first GI's there). On one occasion, however, they reported seeing enemy troops painting over the Kilroy logo! In 1945, an outhouse was built for the exclusive use of Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill at the Potsdam conference. It's first occupant was Stalin, who emerged and asked his aide (in Russian), "Who is Kilroy?" To help prove his authenticity in 1946, James Kilroy brought along officials from the shipyard and some of the riveters. He won the trolley car, which he gave to his nine children as a Christmas gift and set it up as a playhouse in the Kilroy front yard in Halifax, Massachusetts. If you check the WWII memorial in Washington DC, you will see Kilroy peeking over a wall. So, now you know the rest of the story!

PEACE IN VIETNAM ANNOUNCED JANUARY 28,1973.

The origin of Sub Pay Should Teddy Roosevelt be the patron saint of submariners? Roosevelt was the first American President to go aboard a submarine and to make a dive. Roosevelt ventured beneath the waters of Long Island Sound aboard USS Plunger (SS 2) on March 25, 1905. Plunger was the United States' second submarine, commissioned in September 1903.... Beyond this historical first, however, is the fact that Roosevelt was the man directly responsible for submarine pay. The Naval hierarchy in 1905 considered submarine duty, neither unusual nor dangerous, and classified it as shore duty. Therefore, submariners received twenty-five percent less pay than sailors going to sea in Destroyers, Cruisers and similar surface ships. Roosevelt's two-hour trip on Plunger convinced him that this discrimination was unfair. He described submarine duty as hazardous and difficult, and he found that submariners "have to be trained to the highest possible point as well as to show iron nerve in order to be of any use in their positions…" Roosevelt directed that officer service on submarines be equated with duty on surface ships. Enlisted men qualified in submarines were to receive ten dollars per month in addition to the pay of their rating. They were also to be paid a dollar for every day in which they were submerged while underway. Enlisted men assigned to submarines but not yet qualified received an additional five dollars per month. Roosevelt did not dilly-dally once he made a decision. He issued an Executive Order directing the extra pay for enlisted personnel. This was the beginning of submarine pay! Brian Palmetto Base Commander

TWIN LAKES SUBMARINE BASE, MOUNTAIN HOME, AR MEET TUESDAY JAN 24TH AT NOON-I:OOP.M., AT THE ELKS LODGE http://www.orgsites.com/ar/twin-lakes-base They have about 24 members. Come for lunch and have a good time visiting and keeping up to date how they are creating awareness of what and who submarine veterans are and how important submarines were/are during wars and conflicts.