Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: How I Ended Up on a Submarine, Part 1

by Harper Brame as told to Marilynn Chadwick

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28 NIV

So how on earth did I end up working on a submarine? Well, it was definitely not my original plan. The war was wrapping up after Japan was bombed, but the military draft continued because there were still many dangers all over the world, especially in the Pacific.

My father was with the Army Corps of Engineers, so our family moved around a lot. I was nearing the end of my senior year. I had attended five high schools in four years. I played basketball and baseball at every high school I attended. At my last school, I realized I was too small for football, so I joined the tumbling team and marching band. I took just seven lessons on the trombone and learned how to march. My short time in the marching band turned out to be one of the best things that happened for my navy career.

My draft number was really low, and I knew I would be called up. So I enlisted in the Navy, just under the wire of what was still considered World War II. We would have headed for Japan except the Bomb hit and Japan surrendered soon after on September 2, 1945.

I was off to Navy Boot Camp. The US Navy Training Center in Bainbridge, Maryland trained hundreds of thousands of navy recruits during the war and prepared them for service on land and sea.

But I had been prepared for military life in other ways I couldn’t have foreseen. Right off the bat, it turned out I had better training from my time in the marching band than we got in bootcamp. Since I already knew how to march, I didn’t get fussed at and didn’t get awakened at 3am to go out and learn how to march. The second-class petty officer in charge appreciated my marching ability and put me in a leading position. Plus, since my dad’s work kept him away, I had learned how to help my parents and be the man of the house. I was given lots of responsibility and had even learned how to clean well. That, too, would come in handy.

Inspections were a big deal in boot camp. I knew how to keep my room clean and had learned how to clean up our houses after moving from place to place. So, the officer put me in charge of inspection—especially the bathrooms. Our inspection went with flying colors. I graduated from Boot Camp and received a plaque as the honor man for my entire company.

Knowing how to march and clean helped move me ahead. I found out early that if you just do what you’re told, it sure was easier than doing what you’re not told. For one thing, I got to sleep all night.

After graduation from boot camp, they had a big parade with people from the community and all four companies. We had one honor man from each of the four companies, and I was our honor man. We received our honors alongside those who had just returned from war. Now, we awaited our orders.

To be continued tomorrow…

To watch several short videos of Harper Brame sharing his stories, click here to view “Witness to War”

Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: The Hot Running Torpedo

by Harper Brame as told to Marilynn Chadwick

“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

John 15:13 RSV

I was barely 18 when I entered the Navy. But I have a lifetime of memories from my tour of duty as a submarine sailor. It’s been such a long time since I’ve thought about that blue whale. It’s funny how things can suddenly come to mind out of nowhere.

It’s sort of like the time we had a hot running torpedo on the sub. The captain quickly sent us to the front of the sub where we went below if we didn’t have required duties to bring it under control. There was a very real danger of explosion, and we had 24 loaded torpedoes. If that thing had gone off, I’d have beaten the rocket to the moon! I had heard that some torpedoes, when they finished their run, would randomly explode. Or they got too hot and heated up the dynamite. But our torpedomen, doing what they knew best, got the thing stopped.

In more technical language, on a World War II diesel submarine, a "hot running torpedo" was one that accidentally activated its propulsion system while still inside its launch tube. The risk of an internal explosion was one of the most immediate dangers we faced on the submarine. That was just one of the many potential problems aboard a diesel sub in that era.

During World War II, the United States lost 52 of their 200 submarines. That meant about one out of four were lost, making submarine service one of the most dangerous assignments. Over 3500 sailors perished. Forty subs were sunk by the enemy, but 12 went down due to mechanical failures, including hot running torpedoes. Some were lost for unknown reasons, never to be heard from again.

Submarines played a vital role in the Second World War. It took a lot of sacrifice and hard work from their crews. It was a dangerous job that left people submerged for hours to days in unfriendly waters.

Somebody needs to speak about this part of our country’s history. I don’t know how many have seen the things I have seen, and there are not too many World War II submarine veterans still alive to tell about it.

That’s why I’m telling these stories. I want my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and the next generation, to hear my stories about a great blue whale. But more importantly, I want to leave a legacy of life lessons about the cost of our freedoms, and of course, the value of our family and the faith we hold so dear.

To watch several short videos of Harper Brame sharing his stories, click here to view “Witness to War”

Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: The Great Blue Whale, Part 2

by Marilynn Chadwick

“The earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small.”

Psalm 104:24b,25 NIV

…Continued from Friday…

My Dad paused before continuing the story and got real quiet. He was thinking back to the astounding size of the creature he had seen.

“I was up in the shears of the conning tower. Back then, if you were on lookout duty, you had to always scan the horizon for threats like enemy ships or aircraft. You would also keep watch for any navigational hazards. We were an extra set of ‘eyes’ for the submarine when it was on the surface. But we never in a million years expected to see what appeared in front of our very own eyes that afternoon.”

“I just don’t have the words to describe it.” “It” was a great blue whale that had surfaced a few yards from Dad’s submarine. “It was like the end of the world coming up,” he said. “I think if it would have come up under us, it might have tipped the sub over. She had a calf with her that would have been huge on her own, if not next to her enormous mama. I just don’t have words to describe how large it looked. The ‘fountain of youth’ was coming out of her breathing apparatus. I only wish she could have stayed up longer. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and I’ve often wondered how many people have ever seen a great blue whale.”

Dad had grown up on a farm surrounded by family and extended family. There was always lots to learn and someone to ask about everything. Uncle Harold, who lived to be 104, used to call my dad the “curiosity box.”

“So if you are a curious sort like me,” Daddy told the enthralled children, “you might be interested in a few facts about the great blue whale. My interest was sparked and I have since learned that a great blue whale can weigh as much as 30 elephants—that’s 200 tons or 400,000 pounds! Blue whales can grow more than 100 feet long, the largest animal to have ever existed.”

“Not only is the blue whale the largest animal ever to live on the earth, it’s also the loudest. Blue whales are the loudest animals on the planet. A jet engine registers at 140 decibels, while the call of a blue whale reaches 180 decibels. Their ‘whale language’ can be heard up to 1,000 miles away!”

“That was eighty years ago.” Daddy told the children, “But I still can remember the awe and wonder of seeing that great blue whale like it was yesterday.”

This story inspired us to start writing about Dad’s memories from the war*. Life lessons learned and the importance of passing on a legacy. I encourage you to find a way to capture your own memories about your faith, family, and freedom. Talk to your parents or grandparents or start writing your own memories for your children and grandchildren!

*To watch several short videos of Harper Brame sharing his stories, click here to view “Witness to War”