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EDWARD M. HARY, JR.
U. S. Navy - Submarine Service
Torpedoman 1/C, Pacific Theatre
Would I make the same decision today if I were confronted with the war situation we faced in 1941? You "betcha" I would. I was glad to serve my country.
On December 7, 1941, I was attending Texas A&M College on a football scholarship. My roommate and I were on our way to breakfast when we heard that the Japanese were bombing Pearl Harbor
and that President Roosevelt would declare war on Japan. I knew immediately that I would leave school and to enlist n the U. S. Navy.
I stayed in boot camp just long enough to get all the necessary shots and was transferred to Balboa Park ( Worlds Fair grounds). Eventually I "volunteered" for submarine service. In
order to qualify for sub service in peace time, you had to be physically sound, have good eye sight, normal hearing, and all of your front teeth. I qualified my first six weeks during
my first patrol run which was on the USS Cachalot, (SS 170).
Our primary duty was to observe the Japanese activities, go out to sea at night and report to our bases in Alaska. They would send planes into the area to hinder enemy activities.
Of course we were given the directive to destroy any enemy naval vessels we might encounter. We had only one direct contact with the enemy when we sighted a troop-transport pulling
into port. We fired two torpedoes at the ship. Immediately one of the lookouts on our submarine, a young man whom we suspected of being much too young to be in the armed services,
and who had a definite lisp, reported to the Captain "widdle boat tumming up atern, sur." The Captain asked another lookout what he said, and when the Captain looked back there were
two torpedoes approaching from our rear. Luckily one missed by ten yards and the other by a hundred yards. We had to dive to two hundred feet to avoid the enemy, thinking that it might
be a destroyer. Since there were no depth charges dropped, it was assumed that it was an enemy submarine. This was just about all the activity to note except that we were caught in
a hurricane for five days with winds up to eighty miles per hour and a temperature of twenty below Zero.
After my discharge from the U. S. Navy, I enrolled in Texas A & M College again and received my B.S. degree in 1949. I worked at several enterprises but ultimately ended up working
for Foundation Seed Section of the Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas. I retired in 1982 and have continued to live in Bryan, Texas. I feel blessed to have shared
almost 62 years of marriage with my wife, Ruth, and a large family. Our three youngest grandchildren are all enrolled in Texas A & M University for the fall 2005 semester.
Edward M. Hary, Jr., 2303 Kent Street, Bryan, Texas 77802
Telephone 979-775-2142
WWII Prog Hary