USS Bremerton Group Drive
I just made a donation to help fund the expansion of the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum in the name of the submarine I served on, the USS Bremerton (SSN-698). The Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum is the new name for what has been known as Bowfin Memorial and Park. Through their expansion project and modernization, they will bring greater focus to the submarine force at large.
My shipmates, friends and family, you can do the same in this effort to increase the public awareness of the war winning and peace keeping contributions made by the Silent Service and in the process give the USS Bremerton added recognition.
Easy Ways to Help
Make a tax deductible donation. Click on this link or paste the following into your browser:https://www.bowfin.org/capital-campaign where you can learn in detail what they are doing.
Share this message, make your own message, or ask others if they would like to help take an active part. Whether you can make a donation yourself or not, it’s just as important to pass along this message to others who may be ready to deliver. Ask a corporate sponsor, ask a friend or neighbor!
ALL DONATIONS GO DIRECTLY TO THE MUSEUM THROUGH THEIR WEBSITE’s DONATION PAGE
698 GROUP RECOGNITION
Donations of ANY AMOUNT are greatly appreciated, even the equivalent to a cup of coffee, this week’s draft beer, or a tank of gas.
Now check this out. The Museum is offering two different donor recognition plaques, one for their Exterior wall and a special limited time offer for their Interior wall.
The deal is, the donations for the inside wall needs to be completed by JANUARY 1, 2020. That’s only about one month away!
That means if you are going to donate, do it soon and you will help us nab two targets with one fish.
Another thing, in order to achieve the special Interior Wall recognition, Bremerton alumni/sponsors as a group we need to exceed a minimum of $10,000 in donations, with graduating levels at $25K, $50K, $100K and $250K.
Special 2x Offer just for 698 Supporters
As a friend of the USS Bremerton, if your 698 alumni donation is sent to the Museum between now and January 1, 2020, I will match the first $1000 of donations of $50 or less made in recognition of SSN-698.
This is what it means, the more shipmates we can get involved, I will effectively double some of these donations. On the other hand, if you’ve got a big torpedo to fire, Go For It!
With enough donations we will be able to help provide honorary recognition to the Bremerton in the most touristed submarine museum in the country and in what better place than Bremerton’s home port for so many years, beautiful Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It will give you another reason to put the islands on your vacation itinerary.
If anyone would like to follow suit in an enthusiastic bout of philanthropy in honor of the Silent Service, this is a good place to promote the sub force as we lend a hand in recognition of our own legacy and also help in the education of the public through the great expansion and modernization of The Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum.
Your support counts, Your sharing counts, Your giving counts, because You count.
HOW TO DONATE
On the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum’s capital-campaign page you can watch a video (featuring another 698 Alumni!) and see what the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum has in store for your next visit. Then when you are ready to make a donation go to the bottom of the page and fill in the form or paste this link into your browser: https://www.bowfin.org/capital-campaign
Your money will go directly to the Museum and their expansion project.
REFLECTING UPON LEGENDS
As I look back over the growing distance of time, I realize, my service in the Navy’s submarine force was an important pinnacle of life experience. The shipmates I served with, we carry a bond for life. Life under the sea in a nuclear powered submarine is packed full of a myriad of systems to understand and operate in the performance of our missions while surviving for months under the ocean is amazing experience to reminisce upon.
Admittedly, I did not spend much time reading my submarine history when I served. I didn’t think too much about legacy as a 21 year old when I earned my Submarine Dolphins while in the middle of a special operation. I thought living the submariner’s life was more than enough.
Yet now I have time to reflect, not only of the bold actions of my generation of Cold War submariners, I look beyond at the Silent Service as a whole, from today’s technology rich multi-mission environment to the total warfare of WWII.
I have developed a deep respect for the vision, the innovation and heroic daring of the WWII submariners who took the fight to the enemy when America was caught on her heels by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Machine and man were destined to be drawn together to fight the unrelenting forces of the ocean and of the enemy and in doing so, the U.S. Navy submariners were able to turn the tables of a powerful foe in dramatic fashion leading to ultimate victory.
Their leadership in the realm of submarine warfare and the establishment of a well maintained and leading edge U.S. Navy submarine force, ready for war but with a vision of peace, has shaped the world as we know it.
IMPACTING NAVAL WARFARE
To offer you a snapshot of the impact of the WWII Fleet submarines, I want to quote Richard “Dick” O’Kane from his book “Wahoo”:
“Our submarines sank over 1,300 merchantmen, half again the number sunk by all other forces combined. Over 200 warships were sunk, which exceeded even the number sunk by U.S. Naval Air; and, in addition, there were 300 special missions. All of this was accomplished by a force manned by only 2% of the United States Navy’s personnel. After the war, Japanese admirals and generals alike place U.S. submarine operations first in the factors leading to the fall of the Empire.
“The results were not achieved without the most severe penalties…”
52 submarines were lost out of about 263 that made war patrols and 3,505 shipmates are still on patrol “our submarines had the highest casualty rate in the armed forces, six times that in surface ships, for boats engaged the enemy continuously throughout the war, except for about 3 weeks between 2-month patrols.”l
CLOSING THOUGHT
In a recent article from SeaPower Magazine, Vice Admiral Charles A. Richard is quoted, “Undersea warfare, which underpins the survivable piece of strategic deterrence, is truly one of the last asymmetric advantages we have.”
Take part in honoring the United States Navy’s Silent Service.
https://www.bowfin.org/capital-campaign
Featured Image is USS Bowfin (SS-287). Now the magnificently restored center piece of the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum. Source Bowfin.org