USS Sealion (SS-315)-- Part 9: An Audio Recording of the Attack

It was not customary for submarine crews to make audio recordings of attacks.  However, the crew of the Sealion  had obtained  behind by a CBS war correspondent who had debarked at Midway, and when ordered to battle stations after encountering the Japanese battle group, one sailor  positioned the microphone  by an intercom in the cunning tower.  

That recording, along with a similar one of an attack on a Japanese oiler during the Sealion's Fifth War Patrol were then preserved by the  Naval Underwater Sound Laboratory and are thought to be the only surviving  sound recordings of World War II submarine attacks.

The Sealion continued to patrol between Mainland China and Formosa for the next several days before returning to Guam.

--GreGen

Bits of War: Getting It Down-- Iwo Jima Survivors-- That "Jap" Word

Bits of War-- Some stuff about World War II.


1. GETTING IT DOWN-- From the Feb. 5, 2009, Peoria Journal Star-- Macomb High School received a $25,000 grant from the Illinois State Library for computers and recording equipment for a national history project to record World War II veterans. These recordings will be forwarded to the Library of Congress.

I can say too much about how good an idea this project is.


2. IWO JIMA SURVIVORS-- Feb. 19, 2009, Calhoun (Ga) Times-- Twenty-eight survivors of the battle met in Cartersville on the 64th anniversary of the start of it. This may be the last meeting. Said Al Cadenhead of Calhoun, "Many are in poor health and it is harder for them to get around.

Jack Runninger was on the USS Newberry ferrying the 4th Marine Division to those beaches Feb. 19, 1945. He remembers they were up at 2 AM and had a breakfast of steak and eggs, expecting an easy landing. Instead, Marine losses were 6,825 KIA and 27,909 casualties.


3. THAT "JAP" WORD-- Feb. 19, 2009, WTHR-TV-- The VA Hospital hallway at the Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center is lined with paintings and pictures of World War II. One is titled "Japs Surrender." A new employee objected to it saying that it is a slur against the Japanese. However, veterans feel it is a slap in the face.

I have to wonder if there is a person living in the US during World War II who didn't call them Japs during the war? You have to view such things in context.

So, Now It's the "J" Word. --GreGen