Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.
Asia
The submarine USS Grunion SS 216 was found off an island in the Aleutian chain says the U.S. Navy.
The USS Grunion disappeared July 30, 1942, with its 70 crew members after conducting operations against Japanese forces. The Japanese had seized the Aleutian island of Kiska.
The sons of the commander of the sub, Lt.-Commander Mannert Abele, acting on a tip mounted the expedition. They found their dad’s charge at a depth of about 3,200 feet off Kiska.
The commander of the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific said the Navy positively identified the Grunion from the images provided by Abele’s boys.
Why it sunk, who sunk it is not known. The Japanese have no records of an attack and the Grunion failed to report back to a supply base in the Aleutians.
The Navy is responsible for taking to me to Asia in the first place. I was awaiting orders when I was in school at Rhode Island when the guy across the desk asked me where I wanted to go. I asked for Asia, the other side of the world. And, I have never regretted it. Twenty years in Asia and I haven’t lost my interest yet. Nor have I lost interest in what took me there in the first place, the U.S. Navy.
I believe that the boys should be commended for their efforts. Now the families of all 70 crewmates will have the peace of knowing their loved ones are accounted for.
To the crew of the U.S.S. Grunion; job well done boys, turn her to the north star a straight sailing till morning.
The late Brad Abele and I were classmates in high school and college. He was always stoic and brave about having lost his father to the unknown depths of the submarine sevice.
Now that the remains of the USS Grunion have been located, perhaps the descendents of its crew can eventually learn the circumstances of Grunion’s tragedy.