Eternal Patrol: Ervin Schmidt

World War II submarine veteran, Pearl Harbor survivor, Holland Club, and Seattle Base member Ervin Schmidt departed on Eternal Patrol on March 9, 2014.

Ervin joined the Navy in 1940 and was on the battleship USS California during the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor. When the crew of the damaged battleship was sent out to other ships, Ervin ended up on the heavy cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29). While on Chicago, Ervin took part in the Battle of Coral Sea, the invasion of Guadalcanal, the Battle of Savo Island, and the Battle of Rennell Island, where Chicago was sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers. After that Ervin transferred to USS Saury (SS-189) and made 4 war patrols on the sub. He was then rotated back to the US becoming a plankowner on USS Torsk (SS-423) and was on board for the final U.S. submarine torpedo attack of World War II. 

Please remember Ervin’s family in your thoughts and prayers.

Sailor, Rest Your Oar

Robbie Robertson Memorial Service

Robert Duane “Robbie” Robertson departed this life on his Final Patrol, February 21, 2014, with no regrets or dreams unfulfilled.

Robbie and Teri at the 2013 Holiday Luncheon

All SubVets are invited to attend Robbie’s memorial service, which will be held at 1:30 PM on Thursday, March 13 2014 at Tahoma National Cemetery (18600 Southeast 240th St, Kent WA, 425-432-6516).

Because of his lifelong commitment to helping others, his wife Theresa decided to honor his memory by setting up the Robert D Robertson Memorial Scholarship fund to be given in his name. Contributions in his memory should be sent to USSV-CF, PO Box 3870, Silverdale WA 98383, marked for his Memorial Scholarship.

Robbie was born in McKeesport, PA in 1925 and grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. He joined the Navy in 1943 and placed in commission and became qualified in submarines aboard the USS Tirante in 1944, making three war patrols including the stellar first war patrol which earned the submarine a Presidential Unit Citation and Commanding Officer George L Street the Medal of Honor. He also served aboard USS Amberjack (1947-52), USS Odax (Temp Duty 1950), put USS Seawolf in commission (1955-60) and served aboard the Submarine Tender USS Nereus (1966-67). Robbie was first an Electrician Mate 2nd (SS), then changed rates to Electronics Technician 1st (SS), accepted a commission to Warrant Officer while in Nuclear Power training, and was progressively promoted up to Commander when he retired from the Navy in 1974.

One of his more memorable assignments was working for ADM Hyman G Rickover in the Naval Reactors Branch (1960-65). During this period of service, while supervising the movement of a nuclear reactor via rail, the train derailed and in spite of his injuries, he remained on duty on site for over 30 hours. His ‘Twilight Tour’ was at Bremerton Naval Shipyard from 1972-1974.

He was a Veteran of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam Conflicts, and was active in the Tahoma National Cemetery Support Group, Scottish Clan Donnachaidh Society and Seattle Highland Games Chieftain in 1998, Member of the Fleet Reserve Association, Seattle Branch #18. Past Washington State Commander and Past President & Secretary-Treasurer of the Lockwood Chapter, U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II, also managing the Polaris Magazine distribution. He was a Life and Holland Club founding member of the Seattle Base of U.S. Submarine Veterans Inc and Life Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #2995 of Bellevue, WA.

March - April Dolphin Brotherhood Posted

The March – April issue of the Dolphin Brotherhood has been posted to the Seattle Base website.

Swearing in the 2014-2015 Base Officers

This issue has the results of our January elections, a couple articles by Base members on their time in submarines, the usual base news, upcoming events, and other submarine related articles.

Hardcopies of the newsletter are going out later this week. I hope you all enjoy it.

As always, don't forget to check back here on the blog for base updates and other articles of interest. You can find old issues of the newsletter at: Dolphin Brotherhood Archives, which is also a link on the right side of the blog.

Dave Schueler
Seattle Base Newsletter Editor

February 2014 Meeting Notes

We started off the February meeting with Tolling the Boats lost in February, followed by birthday wishes for our members, and officer reports.

Old and New Business 
Our new Base Commander, Dick Gonzales, gave us an overview of the recent Base Officer’s meeting. A number of items were discussed at the meeting, including: how to get more members to attend meetings, more Base activities (such as a picnic), and maintaining Base membership. Several actions items came out of the meeting and we will be hearing more about these and other ideas in the coming months. If you have some ideas for Base activities or other things the Base should be doing, be sure to talk with Dick or any of the Base officers. We are always on the lookout for good ideas.

Ralph Sterley, with a little help from Art Thompson, is taking over as the Base Storekeeper. We want to thank Bill Giese for all his hard work as Storekeeper. Bill will be staying on as the Base Secretary.

The Seattle VA hospital is going to be having some construction work done in and around their parking lot and will be looking for volunteers to help out with directing and transporting patients and their families around the construction and in the hospital. We will provide more information about these opportunities soon.

Base member Don Masoero let us know that the USS Perch (SS/APSS-313) will be September 4 – 6 in the Renton area. Don let us know that while the main focus of the reunion will be Perch’s WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam veterans, all submarine veterans are invited to join in the events. A full event schedule is not set yet and Don will let us know more as the reunion gets closer.

We discussed coordinating with the local VFW chapters for activities, promotional ideas, and membership ideas.

After the business we did normal introductions and a Binnacle List update.
Bob Haslan, who was in the hospital in January was at the meeting and looked well. Chris Opple has entered a hospice and our thoughts are with her and Bob during this difficult time.

February Program 

Our guest speaker for February program was Peter Metzelaar. Peter is an active member of the Museum of Flight, a nationally recognized speaker and a Holocaust historian. He spoke to us about his childhood in occupied Holland and his experiences hiding from the Nazis around his home country. He talked about the ‘Underground’ organization that helped out Jews with clothing, food, and shelter. He told us about immigrating with his mother to the United States after the war and shared some stories about his service in the U.S Army. He also told about his later return to Europe, where he visited Holland (and found out he could still speak and understand Dutch), returned to areas where he hid during the war, and how he was able to connect with the daughter of a family that helped he and his mother. Finally, Peter talked about his visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He talked about what happened to the people that were brought to the camp. It was a fascinating presentation and we want to thank Peter for speaking to us.

We will have more interesting speakers in the coming months and we hope to see you at the next meeting.

One last note, I've added a link to Bremerton Base's Gertrude Check web page in the Seattle Base Links section on the right of the page (it is just under the link to the Seattle Base Home page). It is a great page and will help you keep up on USSVI and submarine news for the region.

Eternal Patrol: Robbie Robertson

World War II submarine veteran, Holland Club, and Seattle Base member Robbie Robertson departed on Eternal Patrol on February 21.

Robbie joined the Navy in 1943, and became part of the commissioning crew of and qualified on USS Tirante (SS-420). Robbie served on all of Tirante’s war patrols, including that patrol when Lt. Commander George Street earned the Medal of Honor. Robbie also served on USS Amberjack (SS-522) and USS Odax (SS-484). He went on to earn his commission, go to nuclear power school, and qualified for gold dolphins on USS Seawolf (SSN-575). Robbie went on to work with Admiral Rickover and several shipyard and engineering billets. He was promoted to Commander before retiring in 1974.

Robbie was an active member of many veterans groups and was a fixture at Seattle USSVI base meetings. He will be missed.

Please remember Robbie’s family in your thought and prayers.

Sailor, Rest Your Oar.

February Meeting Reminder

Shipmates,

The next Seattle Base meeting is this coming Wednesday, February 19.

We will meet at VFW Post #2995 (4330 148th Ave N.E., Redmond WA 98052). Social hour starts at 6 PM with business meeting at 7PM. Don't forget to review the previous meeting minutes, you can find them here on the blog or on the Seattle Base website, just click the Minutes button on the left.

Base Commander Dick Gonzales said he wanted to provide our members with the opportunity to enjoy notable, and in some cases world class, speakers. We will have the opportunity to hear one of these speakers at our February meeting, where Mr. Peter Metzelaar will be our guest speaker.

Peter as a boy

Peter will talk is about a young boy (himself) who was born in Amsterdam in 1935. In 1942, when Peter was only seven, the Nazis seized his entire family except for him and his mother Eli. His story is a compelling account of courage, compassion, bravery, and determination against all odds.

Peter is an active member of the Museum of Flight, a nationally recognized speaker and a Holocaust historian.

Please feel free to bring friends and family to the meeting and let others know about the opportunity to hear this fascinating speaker.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Binncale List Updates: Robbie Robertson and Ervin Schmidt

We’ve gotten updates on the conditions of Robbie Robertson and Ervin Schmidt.

Robbie Robertson
Robbie is doing better. His therapy schedule was changed, so he is resting better and is able to welcome visitors in the afternoon. Pat Householder and John Roberts had the opportunity to visit with Robbie recently. There is some discussion going on about Robbie going home with assisted care so that he gets all the help he needs and Terri doesn’t wear herself out. Robbie and Terri want to thank everyone for the cards and phone calls.

Ervin Schmidt
Ervin’s condition is improving and he was able to go home on Tuesday. Ervin was evaluated by a physical therapist, who said he is still slumping a little too much to start using a walker, but the overall prognosis seems good. Ervin’s family is looking at nearby rehab facilities. They want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

The family also wanted to pass along that Monday, February10th, is Ervin's 98th Birthday and while he probably won't be up for a party, cards would certainly be appreciated. You can find his address in the Members section of the Seattle Base website (or the national USSVI website) or just drop me an email if you can't find it.