Looking for all of the MMDs from the 9 boats that entered the Sea of Japan

The Bonefish did not return. The purpose of this trip was to enter The Sea of Japan and destroy the remaining supply lines for vital supplies and to demoralize the Japanese people.

This reunion will be at the United States World War II Submarine Veterans Convention at St. Louis Missouri from August 22 thru 25, 2001. The Convention will be held in the Regal Riverfront Hotel, 200 South Fourth Street. All persons that served on the 9 boats, their families, grand children, relatives and close friends are cordially invited to attend this reunion. This is the purpose of getting together as you will note in Preserve Our Legacy.

This reunion of the Mighty Mine Dodgers is primarily for the purpose of preserving the legacy of the deeds accomplished by the group of submarines for the preservation for our children, grand children and their grandchildren. If we do not do it now it will be gone forever and can never be captured again. Come and help us preserve this legacy for generations to come.

It would be of great value to us if all of you could pass this information on to others and request that they pass it on to all persons that they can. This way it will help others that are not in touch to hear of the reunion. Look for us in the area of the hospitality room.

Preserve our Legacy

Is it asking too much to merely preserve for our descendants, memories that should never be forgotten. Help the world remember so that maybe such a tragedy will never, ever happen again…….

The young men and women of our generation in the military during World War II were willing to give everything to protect the United States and the liberties it represents. We left the comforts of home, school, jobs, and family to go far away to risk our lives or watch hundreds around us lay down their lives to give and insure our freedom. We fought well and stood tall.

During that bloody struggle, hundreds of thousands of our comrades-in-arms died in battle. Some of us bear visible signs of our service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, the thousand yard stare. Others carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg or reoccurring nightmares of an event that is as real today as the day it happened.

It is because of the brave young men and women of our generation who were in uniform that our country is free today and the envy of the rest of the world. Ordinary people, each and every one of us, who did nothing less than save the world from tyranny.

Except in parades, the men and women that helped to keep America safe during World War II wear no badges of honor. You can’t tell a veteran just by looking!

As youthful World War II veterans, we held the sword against the darkness of that time. Now we have gray hair, weathered skin and a slower-pace of walk. Yet, we represent nothing less than the finest testimony on behalf of the greatest nation ever known.

With the passing of each year, the rank and file of U.S. World War II Submarine Veterans are rapidly dwindling.. As we enter the 21st century, we are about to commemorate the 100th Centennial Anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Navy Submariners and celebrate their contributions and the progress of technology that played a vital role in the defeat of the Japanese during World War II.

After World War II many of our comrades in arms chose to remain in uniform. They trained and served with our replacements during the Cold War and engaged the enemy in hot spots around the world such as Korea, Vietnam, Panama, the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Kosovo and Bosnia. As time marches on without restraint from the mightiest hand of man, the sailors of today are training and serving with new recruit who will eventually replace them.

It has been said that, “The nation that forgets it’s defenders will itself be forgotten.” Those who are willing to acknowledge the simple fact of life that we, the remaining veterans of World War II, are going to be gone soon, can appreciate and understand the importance and the need for us to pass on the legacy we helped to create and thereby insure that it will continue to be remembered and honored in the future with dignity and pride. Our comrades who died during World War II, those who have died since that conflict and we who remain and continue to cherish their memory deserve nothing less.

In order for the World War II Submarine Veterans to be successful in the preservation of our legacy, it is imperative that we, of those who are able and willing to pass on information and let the world know of some of the deeds we were involved in, such as the exploits of the Mighty Mine Dodgers in The Sea of Japan.

By: Willie Z. “Dub” Noble

Regal Riverside Hotel, 200 South 4th Street. We will meet in the hospitality room on Thursday August 23, 2001

Looking for all of the MMDs from the 9 boats, that entered the Sea of Japan