I watched this on Memorial Day in my search to remember Commander Howard W Gilmore of the Growler. God bless all these men that gave their lives. My hope is that this country is still worth their sacrifice.
God rest USS Harder, Sam Dealey, his Officers and men. Thanks for presenting this timeless episode. The courage of such men can be better appreciated by generations of Folk for years to come!
JW Thomason was my grandfather’s younger brother who served as the head chef on the USS Harder. Immediately after Pearl Harbor, he sold his restaurant in Ft. Worth, and enlisted in the Navy at the age of 37. So, he was around 40 years old when he made that swim. When he was in Washington, DC to receive his Navy Cross, the Harder was sunk with all hands. After the war, he went on to establish the Sizzler Restaurant chain with a secret papaya marinade recipe he learned about when serving in the South Pacific. As an elderly man, he told me that one of his proudest achievements was making sure each breakfast served on the Harder was uniquely cooked in that tiny galley to each sailor’s or officer’s preference.
I remember the Sizzler chain. Thank you for "The Rest of the Story." God bless your grandfather, God bless the men of the Harder and God Bless America.
Thankful that you're great uncle survived the war. By saving the pilots life he saved his own. The Thomasons have a long tradition of military service. Col. John W. Thomason USMC served in WWI and SSgt Clyde Thomason was a Marine Raider (Carlson's 2nd Marine Raiders) kia on Makin Island in 1942. He was the first enlisted man to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
I served aboard the USS Harder II (SS 568). All the Harder books were in the boat 's library. When non-quals would come to me for an engine room sign off, I used to slip in a question or two from the books so non-quals would get an appreciation of our name sake's history. They all complained that it nothing to do with the engine room.
A navy pilot captured by the Japanese had a small chance of being sent to a prisoner of war camp. In some cases after being executed they would eat the liver. Strange but true.
As much as I admire the intrepid men portrayed here, it greatly pains me to contemplate the terrible loss of life and limb. I had several friends who were casualties of war, and it is very to me painful to hear of any military who fight to the death.
The Harder has finally been found but 10 times Deeper than thought, over3,700 Feet and Sunk the way they thought, a Depth Charge landed on Her Back not far behind the Conn,
Been watching off and on as well as having read many sub books....glad they found her...pictures show one close hit on the middle port side..never knew what hit em
I only have one question. If they had no paddles for their life raft from the start, why didn't they take the paddles from the other life raft that was dropped by the aircraft assisting? Those paddles would have prevented their problem getting back to the sub.
I read an article some time ago that suggested Sam Dealey was really tired and should have been relieved after the fifth patrol. The story was that Sam asked for just one more patrol, then relief.
There is a sense of courage to do things when too tired, but alas, we will never know the real story. what struck me was that the sinking destroyer would have the depth charges go off when they got deep. not something you would want to be around.
If the raft was like I remember, the paddles were fixed to the raft. And that raft was a one man raft. In the urgency of the operation they wouldn't have taken the time to break the paddles loose. That plus they already had a plan and the enlisted men would likely stick to that plan.
They also had the chance to take the paddles from the life raft was dropped for the pilot by the assisting aircraft; as seen in the video they were right there for the taking but were left there.
If ONLY our torpedoes weren't useless junk, imagine what they could have done . The admiral who signed off on development of the American torpedoes in the 1920's ought to have been court martialed for treason and keel hauled. Over 800 Americans died because our torpedoes either failed to explode or circled back and sank our own boats.
great shows, but this one rings up stupid. they left the paddles.... the float plane was close, cut the rope, but then what ? why didn't the plane pick up the zoomy ?
Perhaps before the next interview a cup of coffee .There is a moment they picked up the oars as there the cream of the fleet, a great program an people nit pick .Most critics can,t swim.
