Subvets honor lost comrades at submarine base ceremony

<p>As veterans of the Navys submarine corps arrive at the submarine base here to recall their service during World War II, they will remember the camaraderie, the ports of call and battles won.</p><p>But theyll also remember the buddies they lost serving in the branch of the military that had the highest mortality rates of the war.</p><p>You talk about the fun things that happened, said James Rogers of Brooksville, Fla. But you still remember those who didnt make it.</p><p>About 800 subvets are expected this weekend for the 17th annual event at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base to renew old friendships and honor fallen comrades. Officials say there are about 5,000 surviving World War II-era submarine veterans.</p><p>Rogers served about the USS Flying Fish. He considers himself lucky because he didnt lose a crewmate. But like all submariners, there were moments when survival was not a sure thing.</p><p>He recalled one day when his boat was bombarded by depth charges in the Sea of Japan near the end of the war.</p><p>It was like sitting in a barrel while someone was hitting it with a sledgehammer, he told The Jacksonville Times Union for a Friday story. You were always a little afraid.</p><p>Joseph Milner of Venice, Fla., credited fate with keeping him alive: A work accident the day before kept him from shipping out on the USS Bonefish the day before it was sunk.</p><p>Later, serving on he USS Aspro, Milner said his boat sunk 16 enemy ships, damaged eight others, shot down a Japanese aircraft and rescued six American pilots.</p><p>He recalled depth charge attacks that would knock the fillings out of your teeth and frantically working to remove armed torpedoes that had jammed in their tubes.</p><p>We never thought of the dangers, Milner said. We had confidence in the crew and skipper.</p><p>About 3,600 men died on the 52 U.S. submarines that were sunk during the war, according to the Navy. They suffered the highest mortality rates among any branch of the military.</p><p>Turk Turner of Virginia Beach, Va., was on the USS Perch, which was scuttled in the Java Sea in 1942. Turner spent more than three years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Turner said he plans to spend the weekend talking about the good times.</p><p>Milner said the ceremony planned for Friday, in which a bell tolls to honor the sailors who died, will be emotional.</p><p>When they toll that bell, you wont have a dry eye, he said. All you can think about is those who are still out there.</p>