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”