Reservist has link to the past

World War II submarine USS Cavalla (SS-SSK-AGSS-244) on display at Seawolf Park in Galveston, Texas, Apr. 23, 2016. The park, which is located on Galveston’s Pelican Island, is a memorial to the lost submarine USS Seawolf (SS 197). On their first combat patrol, with three torpedo hits, the crew of the Cavalla (SS 244) sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku, one of the largest vessels in the world and a veteran of Pearl Harbor. After the attack on the Shokaku, the Cavalla, under the command of Lt. Cdr. Herman J. Kossler, managed to survive 105 depth charges being dropped on it, and finally slipped away to safety. On her second patrol, as a member of a wolfpack, the Cavalla teamed up with the USS Razorback (SS 394) in support of the invasion of Peleliu in the Philippine Sea on Sept. 15, 1944. Both the Cavalla and Razorback are the only two surviving submarines that took part in the formal surrender of Japan in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945. Seawolf Park is also home to the USS Stewart (DE 238), one of only three destroyer escorts in the world. The Razorback can be toured at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in North Little Rock Arkansas. (Courtesy photo by Jeff Walston)