Memorial Day - nice: bringing closure for families who lost relatives on WWII submarines

My brother Phil sent me this, off the NBC website.

 

Ocean explorer discovers 5 sunken WWII subs, giving closure to hundreds of families. "It's not about finding ships," Tim Taylor said. "The importance of our work is to connect families and bring some type of closure and peace even generations later."

Since she was a young girl, Helen Cashell Baldwin had been haunted by the mystery of what happened to the doomed Navy submarine USS R-12.

Baldwin's father, Fredrick Edward Cashell, and 41 other men died in June 1943 when the submarine sank off the Florida Keys during a World War II training exercise. The R-12 could not be found, and as Baldwin went from an 8-year-old girl to a 75-year-old woman, she all but lost hope that it would ever be discovered.

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But in 2011, a relative forwarded her a website claiming that the submarine had been found. Ocean explorer Tim Taylor, who set up the site, wanted to get in touch with relatives of the victims.

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"It was not like any other discovery I had ever made," Taylor said of finding the R-12. "There were 42 souls on board that vessel. And submarines contain and keep water out. They keep bodies and souls in. And it became a responsibility for us to connect those lost sailors with their families."

They set out to raise money to expand their operations. And in the last 10 years, Taylor's team has found six more submarines off Hawaii, Alaska, Panama, the Philippines and Japan.

Taylor and Dennison continue to search for more World War II-era Navy vessels that never returned to shore. They believe it is essential for private explorers — and the philanthropists who fund them — to take up the challenge of scouring the seas and oceans for lost military vessels.

It's a very touching article - hit the link above or here for the full story with pictures and video.

 

Comments

[maria]

Thanks for posting this Tom. My mother's uncle was lost in a submarine attack; the details are scant but his wife never recovered emotionally as I recall. I'll be posting a link to this.

[Kathy A]

A very moving story. Thanks for posting this Tom.

[Nancy]

May they rest in peace