The Daily Dose/December 22, 2018
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off: Capsule Book Review: Presumed Lost by Stephen L Moore
The story of our lost submarines in World War II, and the imprisonment of their survivors by the Japanese is a story that is not often told. Heck, we rode a diesel submarine back in the 1980’s and we can’t remember hearing much about it. (What was discussed from time to time were boats that were more recently lost, like Thresher and Scorpion.)
Presumed Lost takes care of this, covering the final patrols of the Perch, Grenadier, S-44, Tang, Tullibee, Robalo and Sculpin. Perch and Grenadier were so badly depth charged the crew scuttled the ships. Robalo hit a mine, Sculpin and S-44 went down fighting while Tang and Tullibee were brought down by their own torpedoes that had circled back.
(The title comes from the fact the Japanese did not report their sinking of these ships or the fact they had taken prisoners, with the US Navy telling family members the boats “were overdue and presumed lost”. The prisoners were never reported to either the Navy or the Red Cross as POWs.)
Of the 525 total crewmen on the seven boats, 158 survived to be taken prisoner by the Japanese and 121 prisoners returned home. Of the 37 who died, two were thrown overboard shortly after being pulled from the sea, deemed too injured to be taken prisoner. The beatings and deprivations began immediately upon being taken aboard their rescue ships and only stopped in August 1945 when it became clear to the Japanese they were going to lose the war.
I’ll tell you what, in the past, it was not particularly difficult reading about what POWs from other branches of the service went through, but for reasons we are not prepared to explain reading about shipmates who also rode diesel boats and were taken prisoner was difficult.
Difficult but compelling. Beaten and starved, with inadequate clothing and virtually non-existent medical care, they suffered the deprivations the Japanese subjected all their prisoners to. Most weighed less than a hundred pounds when liberated.
Final Rating (A-F): B – A heck of a book, as Moore uses interviews with those who lived through the experience to anchor his narrative and highlight a little-known aspect of World War II. Highly recommended to Navy and World War II buffs, and recommended to everyone else.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow and The Wife have been eating very well of late and results are starting to show. Plus, two customers return black Christmas trees at the retailer, while another customer wants to whine to a manager after Sparrow declines her request to be charged a lower price. One of the funniest entries yet, we put it in the Hall of Fame.
Of course, you can see a manager…Regular readers of this crap know you can always see a manager…They can solve everything…In fact, I’m waiting for the president and Congress to request to see a salaried member of management to break their budget impasse…
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On This Date
In 1807 – The Embargo Act is signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson, a response to the effect the war between Great Britain and France was having on US shipping. After initially responding with restraint, Jefferson then requested the Embargo Act, and Congress passed it four days after it was introduced. The Embargo Act ended up hurting the US as much as Britain and France, and was repealed shortly before Jefferson left office in 1809.
In 1996 – Kordell Stewart of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs 80 yards for a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers, establishing a new NFL record for the Longest Touchdown Run by a Quarterback. The run gave the Steelers a 14-9 lead, though the Panthers would win the game 18-14. The record is now held by Terrelle Pryor of the Oakland Raiders, who ran for a 93-yard touchdown in 2013.
In 1958 – Lonely Teardrops by Jackie Wilson is at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot R&B Chart – for the second of seven consecutive weeks. It was the first of six #1s for Wilson on the soul chart and Lonely Teardrops was also Wilson’s first hit on the Hot 100, peaking at #7. While Wilson never topped the Hot 100, a re-release of his 1957 hit Reet Petite went to #1 in Great Britain in 1986.
Quotebook
The man who finds the smell is the one who sniffs.
Nicholas Monsarrat
Smith and Jones
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
None of the three Apollo 8 astronauts ever walked on the moon. Frank Borman (1970) and Bill Anders (1969) left NASA and while Jim Lovell commanded Apollo 13, his spacecraft suffering an oxygen tank explosion heading out, doing well to make it back to Earth. Lovell the only person to fly to the moon twice and not walk on it.
Today’s Stumper
How many career rushing touchdowns did Kordell Stewart have, and where does that rank him on the all-time list for quarterbacks? –Answer next time!
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