World War II Submarine Memorial — Local services in Seal Beach

I dedicate these pictures and video to my late father. Clifford Richard Jenke whom served on the U.S.S. Scamp SS-277 and the U.S.S. Dace SS-247 during WWII. He transferred to the Dace from the Scamp 3 war patrols be for all hands were lost on the Scamp. After doing heavy damage to the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Battle of Leyte Gulf the U.S.S. Darter SS-227 ran a ground on a reef. That’s when the U.S.S. Dace came to the rescue and got all the crew off safely. The Darter was one of the very few boats that all hands were saved. The Darter and the Dace both earned the Presidential Unit Citation for bravery under fire.

The 52 boats are on...

Stopped by with son. Drawn by the torpedo. Way bigger than one imagines. Must have been one hell of an explosion.

Markers are of each sub sunk, by month. First sub on left, last on right. Last sub uss bullhead sunk on august 6, 1945 by a plane.

Some months were very heavy losses. 70 men + ten officers each.

We were moved by the sacrifices of these men by the time we walked past all the markers representing 80 people each.

A nice place to reflect on priorities and values, amongst thousands of names of men who would probably give anything to be able to sit and...

I've read a lot of history, including submarine warfare during World War II. I recognized a lot of boats listed here. It's a lot like the Vietnam Wall in Washington. The number of deaths seems like an abstraction. This small park on the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station is in many ways the same. It puts all those boats and all those men's lives into focus. If you're ever in the area, it's a...