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Veteran Sailors Proud Of Their Submariner Legacy
By Bill McLaughlin
The meeting began with the sound of a horn and a shout of "Dive! Dive!" from Michael Bost, the commander of U.S. Subvets Jersey Shore Base.
Retired members of the Silent Service, which took proportionately more casualties during World War II than any other arm of the military, meet monthly at the South Toms River municipal building to preserve the camaraderie that marked their tours of duty.
There's no surer way to test those bonds than to stay submerged for three to six months in what were once aptly named "tin cans."
"You learn to cope," said Bost, who ran the steam plant for a nuclear class sub. "It's a young man's job. You learn to bond like in a foxhole. You're faced with different situations, and you have to know you can trust your crew."
The meeting was attended by about a dozen of the 80 members ranging in age from their 40s to 80s, representing the gamut of undersea experiences from diesel-powered subs to the current nuclear-powered boats.
"I was interviewed by (Admiral Hyman) Rickover," Bost, a first class petty officer, said of the father of the atomic Navy. "Pretty scary. You had to know your stuff."
John DeFilippo, who also met Rickover, said getting into submarines is not for everyone.
"They choose you. You don't choose submarines," DeFilippo said. "It's an elite force. The cream of the crop, maybe the top 10 percent gets selected."
Then the winnowing process begins. It takes a cool customer to handle the stress and strain of working in a confined space at the bottom of the sea living a humdrum existence- until sudden peril presents itself, according to the veterans.
Sailors split their days in six-hour intervals, on duty, asleep and free time, so there is a manageable routine.
Spry in his elder years, George Platia served aboard the diesel-powered U.S.S. Nautilus at the start of World War II. Platia and his generation played catch-up in the beginning to Nazi technology and experience, and then surpassed them.
It's an eclectic group. Until recently, they had an associate member who fought on Germany U-boats during WWII. He was respected for his service and warmly greeted by his fellow submariners.
Bob Cloupe, an early 1960s recruit, said there was one lasting memory every submariner has.
"It's that long line of guys waiting for the hatch to open for the first time in months. Then getting a breath of fresh air into your lungs and how sweet it was," he says with a smile.
The group holds a widow's luncheon for the wives of recently deceased members, the latest deceased sailor being Mait Pearce, of Whiting, who grew up in the Navy joina ing around 1942 and serving well into the nuclear generation of the 1960s.
Pearce was a true Navy submariner, Bost said. He never missed a meeting, or a chance to talk up subs and their importance in world history.
"We believe the submarine threat to the Soviets pushed them to realize they couldn't win a war against us," Bost said. "We could put a ring around them and they couldn't do anything about it. They had no idea where we were."
At the beginning of each meeting, a roll call of boats sunk during that month in years past is read. They also recite the Subvet creed which says in part: "their dedication, deeds and supreme sacrifice be a constant source of motivation toward greater accomplishments."
The group will hold a golf tournament fundraiser April 9 at Cedar Creek. The public is invited to play or sponsor holes or tees.
Cost is $100 per player, but non-golfers can attend for $20, which covers breakfast and lunch. Prizes are awarded for closest to the pin, longest drive and best and worst team scores. For information, call 732-919-1078 or e-mail subvet635@aol.com.
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