This video is dedicated to Mush Morton and the crew of the USS Wahoo, forever on Eternal Patrol and forever in our hearts.
USS Wahoo (SS-238) was a Gato-class submarine, the first United States Navy ship to be named for the wahoo. Construction started before the U.S. entered World War II, and she was commissioned after entry. Wahoo was assigned to the Pacific theatre. She gained fame as an aggressive and highly successful submarine after Lieutenant Commander Dudley Walker “Mush” Morton became her skipper. She was sunk by Japanese aircraft in October 1943 while returning home from a patrol in the Sea of Japan.
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Morton and the Wahoo crew turned machine guns on survivors of the Buyo Maru! Indian POWs and Japanese soldiers and crew! Karma!
I wonder how those guys would feel, about a guy being forced to carry the blame and shame, for "superiors", for their dereliction of duty!
Especially, in relation to Navy – Marine Corps Armory / Ordnance Systems.
And, most of them retired, with pensions and benefits.
While, the system deliberately covers their asses, and never wants to hear of it… Ever!
It's not something wanted, in news paper headlines.
I wager, you can sense my rage, 40+ yrs later… Now, try to imagine the sick feeling, deep in my guts… In my soul!
I even have a "confession" statement, from one Capt (Oh! Excuse me… "Major." And, the Gunny was promoted, a year later, too. While, my 4.9/4.9, and "Meritorious" promotions, dropped and disappeared!
Your Marine Corps brags of never leaving a man behind… This ain't true, for those of us in battles of a war against domestic enemies… Bad "Officers.". Lots of them, just in my experience! Yes! I wonder what they'd have to say about it. What they'd do about it?
I had learned real quick, I had to be a professional, at what I did. I didn't appreciate being forced otherwise! The kind of stuff that gets one court martialed, for a long vacation touring places like a military prison, run by Marines… Or, a Brig, now run by Navy personnel, just after taking over from a Marine Barracks security / enforcer operation.
Let's just say, they wanted me hurt, on the way out the door; but, figure this, they said they let me keep my rank, because my records were too good.
Imagine, the only way to get it stopped, was to not be there doing it! They don't like that; especially, when they know who really controls the main gates… The way out…!
Besides that… Imagine doing military business, while being forced to use your own car, at your expense s… Too…
Hell. I never ever got billeted… Renting, so to have a place to live… After 3 or 4 nights in my car… Then, two weeks in a motel… Then, an apartment….
Then, the XO intercepted my call to the CO, to inform him, as he had ordered!
To this day, I still haven't gotten through.
(However, now days, I'm sure it's do to lack of my knowing how. Therefore, I ask, help me find him… 1stLt Hardwick, H&S Co. 2/5, 1stMar Div., 10/ 1977… The Batt CO has passed, but, I wonder if he kept a diary? He definitely would have noted our meeting.)
Now, imagine my stupidity, for remaining, Semper Fidelis!
Why does this make me want to vomit, and to turn away?
Damn it!
So much for justice!
Not this, too.
Can I offer a system, for fixing crucial issues.
It used to be called, "civil defense."
We can bring it into a 21st century context…
Using, a neutral objective logistics liaison Matrix non-profit NGO.
To mirror up against our Gov. / "Republic."… Machinery…!…?
Gov calls theirs "Disaster and Emergency Services."
Such is "their" "Command and Control" over "enforcers."
We can call ours, "DES – Support, Systems, and Services."
As, our loophole, right through their" "front door s."
With the same "Goal, Mission, and Objectives."
To "protect life, and property." (FEMA).
(Such are "their" jobs, as "public servants / employees.")
Our job, is the democracy, and the "… management."
To protect life, liberty… happiness… home…
The comprehensive contingencies-management capabilities…
And, the neighborhood incident management capabilities…
(Food, water, shelter, shielding, medical, fire, security, enforcers, logistics, liaison…)
("Minutemen, Women, Kids, Elders……)
Get us connected.
Hear me out.
I've been in this stuff, since about 1960…
Deep!
In the tunnels of the rabbit hole s.
You could get us started, overnight!
To give us All voice and vote, again.
To help us "muster", again, to manage crucial issues.
(Suffrage, Infrastructure, Environment, Education, Sciences, Technology, Admin., Legal / Legislation, Social, Commerce, Finance, Economy, Culture……)
Assigned, as "Projects and Sub-Projects, with Missions."
To learn, the…
(Who, What, When, Where, Which, Why, How…)
For vetting our "public servants/ employees."
While, in the words of the pre- FEMA / DHS…
… OCD and the CDA, of the early "Atomic Age", and post WWII.
(Office of Civil Defense/ Civil Defense Administration…
… "active and passive civil defense are integral to national security [democracy] posture."
… Versus… "hostage population s"
( FEMA – EMI, Boyce Wayne Blanchard, "Higher Education Project Manager"… [Tell him, the Flathead Valley guy sent you.])
(From: MT – DES Division, William "Bill" Thomas)
This NGO gives us all the tools "We…" needs.
As our buffer…
Waste not, another second!
You don't want those alarming sounds, of Kiev, here.
Semper Fidelis.
(This is all cleared, with your FBI "White Hats.").
Read various reports on the incident! XO changed story to say they were just trying to get Soldiers to get out of lifeboats! HOGWASH! They also let 2 other ships damaged sail off! Was afraid to tangle with them!
On the 4th patrol they also ran over a lifeboat and fired on survivors in water! The last patrol ASW aircraft found her wake and oil slick after submerging! Then sunk the Wahoo! The continuing use of Wahoo has a surface ram did her in!
Captain Morton was born in my hometown of Owensboro, Ky. there is a monument dedicated to him and his crew that is in front of the VFW. The monument is a WW2 torpedo on a concrete base, I think that's a very fitting tribute. I'm so proud to say he's from my hometown.
Morton sure had a pair of nuts the size of medicine balls. Going after a Japanese convoy with only a deck gum took a lot of intestinal fortitude. Most commanders probably would not push their luck that far. I guess Morton had never heard that sometimes it's better to take your winnings and leave the table while you still can.
Boy' the Mark 14 torpedoes were sure awful. Imagine meeting the enemy with nothing more than a wooden gun!
Just think of what the USS Wahoo might have accomplished had those damned Mark XIV torpedoes actually WORKED! The BuOrd at the time was the epitome of a bureaucracy having it's collective head up it's ass!
Mush trained Kane. Both admirable Naval Officers.
Fair winds and followin seas my brothers of the deep .
looking at Capt Morton looks, and the way he became Captain, it reminds me of "Run silent, run deep".including the bow shot Burt Lancaster is Morton's twin .
Great video. I really liked the tribute at the end. Brings the whole thing to human terms.
A couple of comments. O’Kane was XO under Kennedy, not Morton. Morton was aboard as PCO (Prospective Commanding Officer) which was a preparatory position to train for his own command. He was, essentially, a supernumerary and the expectation was for him to go to another boat as captain. He ended up with the Wahoo when Kennedy was pulled. Kennedy reflected a common problem with captains at the beginning of the war. He was a peace time commander and not aggressive enough. Many peacetime CO’s got the axe after the war started. All this is in O’Kanes book.
Unfortunately. the smart, brave Captain Morton & crew didn't survive the war. He had an exec Officer, Captain O'Kane who later was Captain of the Tang, which in 11 months was most successful but was sunk by own circling torpedo but 11 on bridge survived ending in Japan as POWs. Read book – reare to cry.
You honored that crew & Commander Morton beautifully with "Eternal Patrol. I cannot stop crying. They gave us our freedom, for which I am eternally grateful.
It's a boat not a ship, do the research next time, any submariner will kick you if hears you call his boat a ship.
I prayed for all of them, it's all I can do, for all those beautiful young people who gave all for their country amen.
It is disgusting how a war criminal and mass murderer is paid homage here. And this from a country that does not recognize the International Military Tribunal of Den Haag and still hangs medals on its own war criminals. Go to hell, Morton.
In my opinion, the japanese soldiers in the life boats were not survivors of a shipwreck but enemy combatants after a battle.
If ever there was a crew that stood up THE WAHOO and her crew are present . The last post tribute was moving..
This is a war criminal that murdered allies in the water
How wonderful to honor these men.
"Wake of the Wahoo" by Forest Sterling is a most wonderful read. Sterling, a member of Wahoo's crew for most of its patrols was sent to a Navy school just before Wahoo's last patrol. This incredibly informative book is a must read for anyone interested in the USS Wahoo (SS238) , Dudley "Mush" Morton and its crew. A great story about a great boat on "Eternal Patrol".
If those stupid and known defective torpedoes had just been redesigned as soon as the defect was known, just imagine how many more Japanese ships would have been sunk and just imagine how many allied lives could have been saved, and how many subs could have also not been sunk. The torpedoes were known to not be dependable and yet some higher-ups in the Navy allowed them to be used. That was almost traitorous.
you forget these were real men until you played taps RIP young men
Truk
At age nine or so I read the book Wake of the Wahoo by Forest J. Sterling, a Yeoman on the Wahoo who transferred to a Navy school for specialists on the Wahoo's penultimate cruise, leaving her and her men at the Royal Hawaiian hotel on Waikiki beach (then reserved for submarine crews). It is a moving and engrossing book, a real forgotten treasure as Sterling recounts her Skipper and crew at war honestly and with genuine love for those lost men.
Outside the county courthouse in the town of Wahoo Nebraska there is a torpedo mounted as a memorial monument to the boat and her men that sits on the road we would take to my grandparents house.
My Great Grandfather. Edgar Arthur LaCombe III went to sub school to become a machinist in 1941. His first submarine he was to be stationed on was Wahoo. But being an impatient young man ready for the fight, he was offered a chance on an older submarine before the Wahoo fitted out so he took it and he would serve the rest of the war on that boat. He never talked to us about the loss of the Wahoo. He only talked to my grand-dad about it. But he knew every man on Wahoo, having been through sub school with all of them. when she was lost he felt guilty for not having been on her.
Morton and O’Kane went on to become great and victorious submarine commanders.
RIP Heroes of America.
Morton was NOT the exec on WAHOO the first two patrols! Dick O'Kane was- Morton came aboard for a PCO (Prospective Commanding Officer) tour on the second patrol, after Kennedy's disappointing first patrol. O'Kane helped arrange the PCO billet for Morton, who was set for one anyway… The COMSUB for that area wanted to give Kennedy a third patrol, but was talked out of it- When WAHOO returned from the second patrol, Morton relieved Kennedy, who has issues with being aggressive enough when engaging, and created a morale issue. Please reference "WAHOO"" by Dick O'Kane (MOH, RAdm/USN Ret.) and "Clear the Bridge". O'Kane and Morton developed a unique style of attack- O'Kane would control the attack, while Morton would direct navigation. Morton said it was so he didn't get "buck fever" and miss the shot.
"I ordered them to shoot the lifeboats, not the troops in them". Seriously? That's the defense?
Investigator- "Where were the troops"?
Morton and crew- "Packed into the lifeboats like sardines".
US Navy- Perfect sense. Carry on.
Imagine the results Morton would have had if he wasn't saddled with garbage torps.
the early torpedoes were defective and failed to detonate and may not have missed as mentioned
Really enjoyed this video. Very classy thing to do remembering the crew and their Captain with the playing
of taps and showing a picture of each crewmen. Well done!!!
The Indian soldiers were in the water everybody knows that and when they tried to get into the boats the Japanese shot them. This was going on while they were shooting at the submarine. Actually more Indian died from the Japanese in the light bulbs then died from the submarine. This is documented fact. And if you want to talk about that let's talk about Australia and the soldiers that were heading for New Guinea. And the planes that were sent out to take care of them the day after the big battle. Several 1000 what is there And the exact same justification.
To the crew of the U.S.S. Wahoo
Thank You!
From Spc-Lee A Benson 11B U.S. Army (RM)
I remember reading about the Wahoo and her crew way back in high school in the 60s.
Good job. I remember reading "Wake of the Wahoo" when I was a kid.
In 1979, I was assigned to the USS MORTON DD948, stationed out of Pearl Harbor.
I'm reasonably certain this Destroyer was named after this guy.
We were anti submarine warfare group
i would have machine gunned those life boats orders or no orders
Once he lost Dick O'Kane, Morton accomplished virtually nothing–except to get his crew killed. His contribution to Wahoo's success was to take unnecessary and rash risks that O'Kane's mastery of torpedo use bailed him out of. O'Kane was the mind behind Wahoo's glory days.
What a waste RIP brave lads we will remember you😢
That speech to the crew reminds me of the great one by Captain Ernest Evans of the destroyer USS Johnston. "This is going to be a fighting ship. I intend to go in harm's way, and anyone who doesn't want to go along had better get off right now."
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