A time to remember history, tragedies

Groton - Submarine school students held the flags of U.S. submarines lost at sea during a Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday.

All the flags, that is, except for the USS Scorpion's.

When the Scorpion's name was called out at the ceremony, which was held by the U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II Thames River Chapter at the National Submarine Memorial East, Bill Elrod tilted the flag forward.

The Scorpion and its 99-member crew went down in the Atlantic Ocean on May 22, 1968. Elrod, of Montville, was a member of the crew but got off the submarine because of a family emergency just days before it was lost.

Holding the flag, Elrod said, was a way to honor his shipmates.

"It took a long time to get to the point where I can do this," said Elrod, who retired from the Navy in 1985 after serving on six submarines. "I've thought about what happened for 41 years. It's part of me every day. That's all I can say."

Three submarine veterans, Bob Gustafson, Jim Horne and Norman Kuzel, sat next to each other in the audience. They saluted each time the name of a U.S. submarine lost before, during or after World War II was called out during the Tolling of the Boats.

"A lot of fellas before me gave up their lives," Gustafson, of Norwich, said after the ceremony. "I want to honor that and respect that." He served on 10 submarines during a 22-year Navy career.

"I'm proud to be associated with the type of men that make this service up," Horne, of Middletown, said. "It's an honor for me to sit here."

The speakers at the ceremony paid tribute to all veterans, but especially WWII veterans.

"The modern day Submarine Force stands on the shoulders of giants, many of whom are in our midst today," said keynote speaker Rear Adm. (select) Richard P. Breckenridge, deputy director of the Submarine Warfare Division at the Pentagon.

Allyn Donath, daughter of the late Carl Bryson, and Sarah Baxter, daughter of the late Henri L. "Hank" Baxter IV, placed wreaths at the memorial. Bryson and Baxter were Subvets members who each served 30 years in the Navy.

Charles Roskoski, who served in the Navy from 1940 to 1946, was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on Dec. 7, 1941. Roskoski, 88, of Meriden, called the ceremony "wonderful" and said he attends every year.

"I'm glad I made it through," he said of serving during the war. "And I'm happy the losses were not greater than they were."

j.grogan@theday.com