The USS Flier: Death and Survival on a World War II Submarine

23. Next of Kin

157 23 Next of Kin For the families of the Flier’s deceased crew, there was initially a roller coaster of misinformation and false hope. The New York Times reported the loss of the Flier on 20 September 1944, stating that “apparently there was no loss of life aboard the submarine .” The article speculated that the Flier’s crew “might have been picked up by other American craft.” When the Washington Post reported the loss of the Flier on 29 September 1944, it claimed that “the skipper and probably some if not all of the officers and crew of the Flier are safe.” The Post made this assumption on very slender grounds, noting that although the navy had declined to respond to inquiries, it had indicated that “the next of kin of the officers and crew have been informed.” To the Post, this phraseology , contrary to the usual statement that “next of kin of casualties have been notified,” suggested that most of the men on the Flier had survived. By 13 September the navy’s Casualties and Allotments Section had drafted a letter to the next of kin, although it is unclear whether these letters were intended for the relatives of all the Flier’s crew or only those of the eight survivors. However, the letter stated in part, “He is safe, and it is likely that he will correspond with you in the near future.” The letter also admonished the recipients to keep the information confidential, for security reasons.1 By 10 October the situation for the families of those missing in action had 158 The USS Flier been clarified. The commander of Submarine Division 182, Creed C. Burlingame, forwarded to the Casualties and Allotments Section seventy-eight letters of condolence for the Flier crew’s next of kin, along with submarine combat insignia and citations.2 Such confusion about the fate of the crew was not uncommon . In other submarine tragedies, relatives sometimes learned of the loss of their loved ones through media reports. For instance, the wife of Earle Caffrey “Penrod” Schneider, commander of the Dorado, first heard the news of her husband’s death on the radio. At the time, she was driving cross-country with her young son from New London to meet her husband on the West Coast.3 Alice Allyn Grenkowicz, married to a Darter crew member, heard on the radio that his submarine had run aground, but it was a month later when she finally learned that her husband was unharmed; she continued to suffer anxiety attacks for the rest of the war. Many relatives had to rely on individual initiative to find out what had happened to their loved ones. Ann Cottongin, after hearing that the USS Darter had been lost at sea with her husband, wrote to her congressman to find out the fate of the crew.4 Miscommunication and misinformation would remain features of naval disasters throughout the war. Even at the best of times, communication with family could be difficult. Submariners who wanted to telephone loved ones from Pearl Harbor had to make an advance application, including any names and places likely to be mentioned in the conversation. Eventually regulations banned them from telephoning altogether.5 Some submariners wrote to their wives or other family members on a daily basis, but their letters could not be mailed—and none received—until they were in port. The American military machine recognized that efficient mail service was a central element of morale , but letters often arrived sporadically and were invariably censored . There was also a degree of self-censorship, in that those writing home often tried to minimize the risks they faced.6 Only recently, with the advent of e-mail, have submariners 159 Next of Kin been able to communicate regularly with their families. Even so, being married to a submariner continues to be emotionally draining , with each prolonged absence capable of eliciting a “grief response.”7 During World War II the wives of submariners typically returned home to live with their parents or tried to find accommodations near a major port. The sense of separation could be especially acute for newlyweds. William Godfrey met his wife while assigned to a newly constructed submarine at Manitowoc, Wisconsin; they married after a whirlwind courtship. Only after arriving at Fremantle did Godfrey learn that he was the father of a daughter—some two months after her birth.8 Betty...