KINGS BAY NAVAL SUBMARINE BASE, Ga. —
World War II Navy veteran Dan Edwards has fond memories of his time serving aboard submarines.
He enlisted as a physician examiner in 1944 and went to diving and submarine school. He went to Pearl Harbor, where he worked as a submarine and diving medical officer. He also served aboard submarines during the Korean War on multiple tours of duty.
He left the Navy in 1954 to earn a medical degree and worked as a general practitioner.
But the lure of the sea kept tugging and in 1984, at the age of 57, Edwards tried to re-enlist in the Navy. He was rejected because he was considered too old.
So, he joined the Air Force, where he served 10 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
Now, the retired physician is struggling with early onset of Parkinson’s disease. He uses a cane to walk and is becoming more dependent on his wheelchair.
But his memories of serving aboard submarines remain strong.
He applied to the Wish of a Lifetime organization in August 2011 with a request to tour a modern submarine. The organization, which tries to grant wishes for aging seniors, contacted Navy officials in Norfolk, Va.
They denied the request, citing his mobility issues and age. It didn’t deter Edwards.
He asked a maintenance man at the assisted living facility where he lives in Nashville, Tenn., to set up a ladder so he could practice climbing up and down.
“We thought he was crazy,” Edwards’ son Palmer Edwards said.
Then, Wish of a Lifetime officials told Edwards’ story to Scott Bassett, public affairs officer at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, in Camden County.
“The buy-in for me was showing he could go up and down a ladder,” Bassett said. “There was something about this guy that was special.”
The ability to navigate a ladder was crucial to allowing Edwards inside the submarine.
On June 28, Edwards’s wish was granted. He made the rigorous climb down two vertical flights of ladders with a little help from the crew of the USS Maryland, an Ohio-class submarine at Kings Bay.
Once inside, Edwards showed his knowledge of submarines when one of his first questions was about the boat’s periscope depth. The answer, he was told, is classified.
But most of Edwards’ questions were answered as he met with individual crew members. He asked about the ballast control system that allows the boat to submerge, hover at different depths and return to the surface.
He also learned how much more difficult it is to earn a Dolphins badge, than when he served aboard submarines. All sailors serving aboard submarines are required to earn Dolphins, which show a sailor has knowledge of all the boat’s systems, which are considerably more complicated than when he served on diesel subs.
He showed special interest when he met with the Navy corpsman responsible for taking care of the crew’s medical needs at sea. Edwards asked about the types of ailments the corpsman treats and how he deals with specific problems, including how the crew handles emergency medical evacuations at sea.
He was accompanied on the tour by his son, Palmer Edwards of Winston-Salem, N.C., and grandson, Michael Rieser, of San Francisco. During the tour, they had lunch in the officers’ stateroom with the boat’s captain, Cmdr. Gregory Kercher.
After the tour, crew members snapped crisp salutes to Edwards as he left the boat. Kercher presented Edwards with a plaque designating him an honorary crew member and an officer’s ball cap from the boat.
“I truly am honored you were able to come on board today,” Kercher said. “The legacy you set allows us to carry on.”
Edwards said modern submarines are impressive, complicated machines compared to ones he served aboard.
“It’s much bigger and more complicated,” he said. “It brought back memories sitting in the board room.”
One thing hasn’t changed, however. Today’s sailors have the same qualities as those he served with when he was in the Navy.
“The submarine personnel have always been a different cut,” he said. “I’m really glad they trusted me to go on.”
At the Veteran’s Memorial in Kingsland, an engraved brick with his name was to be placed to honor him.
State News
Related Photos
-
In this June 28, 2012 image provided by the U.S. Navy, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Dan Edwards learns how to operate a periscope aboard the submarine USS Maryland at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Kings Bay, Ga. In 1984, at the age of 57, Edwards tried to re-enlist in the Navy after serving aboard submarines in WWII and the Korean War. He was rejected because he was considered too old. So, he joined the Air Force, where he served 10 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Now, the retired physician is struggling with early onset of Parkinson's disease. He uses a cane to walk and is becoming more dependent on his wheelchair. But his memories of serving aboard submarines remain strong. The Associated Press
Discussion
Submarine vet ‘re-ups’
- State News
-
-
Report: Jekyll Island exceeded development limits
A decades-old state law passed to protect Jekyll Island’s unspoiled beaches, salt marshes and maritime forests seems simple enough, limiting development of hotels, golf courses and other amenities to just 35 percent of the island’s land area.
-
Tri-state water feud plays out in Congress
The water dispute between Alabama, Florida and Georgia is provoking hardball politics in Congress, where Georgia lawmakers derailed a proposal that could restrict metro Atlanta’s water supply.
-
Olens running for re-election
Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens made several stops in Valdosta Thursday, ending the day by speaking at the annual Valdosta Bar Association’s annual banquet.
-
Deal signs law limiting lobbyist spending
Lobbyists cannot spend more than $75 at a time while seeking to influence Georgia officials under legislation signed into law Monday that still leaves some loopholes and unresolved questions.
-
3 missing women found at Ohio home; man arrested
Three women who went missing separately about a decade ago, when they were in their teens or early 20s, were found alive Monday in a residential area just south of downtown, and a man was arrested.
-
Frontier fort from Revolutionary War found
Less than two months after British forces captured Savannah in December 1778, patriot militiamen scored a rare Revolutionary War victory in Georgia after a short but violent gunbattle forced British loyalists to abandon a small fort built on a frontiersman’s cattle farm.
-
Three injured in shooting near Tifton hospital
A shooting in the parking lot across the street from Tift Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Room on the corner of Lee Avenue and 20th Street Friday afternoon resulted in three people being injured, two of whom were federal agents with the U.S. Marshals Service, according to authorities.
-
James Bond studio to open first U.S. facility in Ga.
The British film studio that’s home to the James Bond movie franchise announced plans Monday for its first U.S. film production facility, at a site near Atlanta.
-
Official: 1 adult, 4 kids killed in Georgia fire
A woman and four young children died early Saturday as a fire engulfed a home in west Georgia, and authorities said only an 11-year-old girl who was woken by her mother escaped. The woman died trying to save the remaining children.
-
Authorities ID man killed in shooting
Investigators worked Saturday to piece together why a man shot an officer five times during a suburban traffic stop, wounding a bystander and sparking a police shootout that ended in his death.
- More State News Headlines
-
