You have probably never heard of him. He represents the millions who served honorably and without fanfare.
24 Sept 1925 -- 24 Sept. 2017 Fred Maeser Crandall.
When he was 17 years old, his dad was very excited to sign him off to the Navy. As soon as he could, he volunteered for Submarine service and earned his dolphins as a gunner’s mate. We wanted to be on a sub because when he saw people come back with horrific injuries, he wanted to either come back dead, or in one piece. Guys with dolphins also got more pay, and the girls knew it and paid more attention to someone with dolphins on their chest. He was assigned to the USS Spikefish, which was a new sub with new Radar. This radar came handy near the end of the war when they detected a Japanese sub that didn’t have Radar. They had the clear advantage and tracked it for a few days, radioing in to make sure it was not an ally. When they were sure it was Japanese, the captain ordered 6 torpedoes to be fired. 3 hit it or sure, and sunk it fast. When they went to see the wreckage, only 1 of the 3 survivors would grab their poles to be rescued. Fred had the job of guarding him. Everyone was jealous because the prisoner got a proper shower with lots of water. The crew would barely get a trickle for a shower every couple days. One day, the prisoner was looking at a Better Homes and Garden magazine (why was that on a sub?) and saw a picture of a woman with a baby. He signaled to his guard (Fred) and said “gunter, gunter… me got, me got” pointing to the woman with a child. He wanted Fred to know he had a wife and child. At that point, Fred’s heart was softened to the realities of the war. The Japanese were people, and children of God as well. When they finally docked, the Japanese prisoner exited the sub onto the dock and saluted the American flag out of respect. Another thing about the Spikefish what that it could dive to 600 feet, and the Japanese thought it could only go to 300. This saved them a few times when the Japanese were dropping depth charges. It still rattled their cages, but the sub stayed intact. One time Fred had to pull guard duty on the deck at night. It was a very cold night, and he was chilled to the bone when he was finally relieved. As he was going back to his bunk, he saw the radio guy, on duty and nice and warm. He decided that the radio spot was a better duty than his. So, after his first enlistment was up, he reenlisted as a radio operator. This helped him later, after the Navy, to get work at Sandia National Labs. 10 years after he enlisted, he finally got out of the Navy. His wife was worried because she didn’t think he could support a family outside of the navy. He would later say that she was right, despite it not being true.
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