This article is an E-Mail message I received from Nick Nichols about the Cold War Submarine memorial written for the Associated Press.

From: Otis Willie
Subject: [submarine service] South Carolina memorial commemorates Cold War submariners
Date: Thu, 02 Jan 2003 13:26:39 -0800
South Carolina memorial commemorates Cold War submariners
(EXCERPT) Wed Jan 1, 7:59 PM ET, by BRUCE SMITH, Associated Press
Writer
MOUNT PLEASANT, South Carolina - They went about their duties quietly,
steadfastly and for the most part unnoticed, ready to fight a nuclear
war that never came.
Now a new memorial commemorates the thousands of submariners who,
without firing a shot, helped the United States win the Cold War.
"It's a tribute to the men who served and to their families who stayed
home and to the people both in and out of the military who supported
us," says retired Vice Adm. Albert Baciocco Jr., gazing toward the
unusual memorial at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.
The memorial sits on high ground depicting a submarine as it might
have appeared sailing into Charleston Harbor. It even points in a
compass direction of 299 degrees, the same heading subs would have
followed at the harbor entrance.
The 55-ton sail and fairwater planes from the decommissioned USS Lewis
and Clark are set on a black stone base, the plantings around it
giving the effect of the wake of a submarine. The rudder from the sub
completes the memorial. The sail is the vertical tower atop a sub,
while the planes are the wings on either side.
Beyond the memorial, gray in the distance, is the aircraft carrier USS
Yorktown and the verdigris waters of the harbor.
Baciocco once commanded a submarine group in Charleston — a group that
included the USS Lewis and Clark — and served as commander of the
Charleston Navy Base, which closed in the mid-1990s.
He headed a foundation that raised $1.2 million in donations and
in-kind services over five years to build the memorial.
The depiction of the submarine is enclosed by a gently winding path
lined with smaller markers and stones memorializing other aspects of
the Cold War.
One notes the role of the British Navy, while another remembers the
families of the submariners who waited at home while the vessels went
out on their 70-day patrols. Still another stone memorializes the
crews of two subs lost in accidents during the Cold War — the USS
Thresher in 1963 and the USS Scorpion in 1968.
"Our submarines went to sea, a silent, invisible force solemnly
dedicated to maintaining peace but ready to fight, if necessary, to
defend our nation and our allies," reads the inscription on one
marker.
The recent memorial dedication was attended by retired Adm. James B.
Osborn, who led the first ballistic missile sub patrol when the USS
George Washington sailed out of Charleston in 1960.
Former submariner Keith Schnebel of Summerville said the Charleston
base of the United States Submarine Veterans plans to lead tours of
the memorial. "It means a lot to us.... This is a first of its kind,"
he said.
The memorial commemorates the era between March 12, 1947, when
President Harry S. Truman set forth the Truman Doctrine, and Nov. 9,
1989, when the Berlin Wall fell.
The Cold War "was unique in history. Yet it was 40 years long and the
world stood on tenterhooks so to speak," Baciocco says.
"At the same time we had these kids at SAC (Strategic Air Command) who
were on alert on the ground or alert in the air flying over Alaska all
the time," he says. "Then we had these kids sitting in holes out in
North Dakota with the Peacekeeper missile and all. That was all part
of it."
The work was largely unheralded.
"Do they get a medal? Do they get recognized by the people in town who
say what a great hero you are? No. (But) the heroism and the
dedication was something else," Baciocco says. "That's why I thought
this was important."
___
INFORMATION: Call the Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum at
(843) 884-2727 or visit www.state.sc.us/patpt /
The Web site of the Cold War Submarine Memorial is www.cwsmf.org
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030102/ap_wo_en_po/na_fea_trv_us_submarine_memorial_1
---------------------------
Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com