Ervin O. Schmidt RM1/C, a Pearl Harbor survivor. In the summer of 2005, he traveled to Washington D.C. to visit the Memorial of the Torsk I hope you can read this note Mr. Schmidt sent me about how he created the USS Torsk battle flag. You will find his story in my book.

USS Guitarro (SS-363) Battleflag photo is courtesy of USSubvetsofWWII.org

USS Guitarro (SS-363) 21 October 1941, James A. Davidson reported to the receiving station at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Today he is 89 years old living on the Washington Campus located minutes from the White House in Washington D.C. He was at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport, Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina arrived. All residents were transferred to Washington. The photo taken while serving in the Navy is courtesy of his daughter Professor Carolyn Davidson Abel, Stephen F Austin State University. The photo taken a couple of years ago was provided by Mr. Davidson. I love that smile.

Information on the USS Guitarro (SS-363) http://en.wilipedia.org/wiki/USS_Guitarro_(SS-363) and the Armed Forces Retirement Homes click on http://www.afrh.gov/. To read his story, James A Davidson YNC (SS) USN-RET who pensioned at the age of 60 as a CWO-4 can be found in Submarine Stories of World War II by Mary Nida Smith. Send $12, plus $2. for mailing to Mary Nida Smith 162 Stamford Drive, Lakeview, AR 72642

Don't forget 11 April is National Submarine Day. Hug a submariner and say a big "thanks." To learn how to adopt a veteran go to http://www.afrh.com/ I, Mary Nida Smith not only adopted a subvet, I married one.

Limit Edition: I am sorry to have to report my book, Submarine Stories of World War II, was published as a limit addition. All rights and copyrights were returned to me. Websites to check out:

• http://seafoxsss402.homestead.com
• www.coldwarsubmarines.com They need cold war submarine stories.
• http://www.submarinewivesclub.org

Magazines: Navel Submarine League, Undersea Warfare, All Hands and Navy Times.

Click on http://www.absolutewrite.com where you will find-Index to agents and publishers. Click on Writer's Beware: 20 worst agents.

"Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here, we may as well dance."

SubmarineSailor.com is the place to find everything you ever wanted to know about submarines and the men who rode them. Check books/Video/DVD where you will find the new book, "The Depths of Courage: American Submariners at War with Japan, 1941-1945," by Ron"Warshot" Smith and Flint Whitlock. Submarine Stories of World War II by Mary Nida Smith is written for ages ten and up. Young boys will enjoy the adventures and danger that submariners endured during their time below and above the sea. Mary Nida Smith is a member of the Wives of U.S. Submarine Veterans W.W.II, the newsletter editor for Arkansas Submarine Veterans of World War II, Diamond Chapter, a member of Military Writers Society of America and the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators.