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Contact Info
Home Town Grand Rapids
Last Address 1923 Calvert St. Charleston Heights, SC
Date of Passing May 07, 1959
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Other Comments:
Raymond Charles Prys
Rank/Rate
Radioman, Third Class (SS)
Birth Date
January 8, 1938
From
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Decorations
Submarine
USS Thornback (SS-418)
Loss Date
May 7, 1959
Location
Charleston, South Carolina
Circumstances
Electrocuted while working in the radio room on board
Other Memories I was on the pier when Ray was electrocuted. I remember him being taken out and loaded into the ambulance. I remember the feeling of devastation of loosing a shipmate. I remember Ray being from Michigan, not too far from my home. He was a pleasant, smiling sailor, happy with his new ship and job. Although he had a "boyish" appearance, he impressed his shipmates with his quiet intelligence. I remember Ray, his wife and infant son, trying to make their way, by themselves, in a new lonely environment. It was a great loss to all his shipmates. -- Bruce Schofield ~~~~~~~~~ Raymond Charles Prys
~~~ Sailor Rest Your Oar ~~~
Ray was one of those quiet guys on the Thornback that I liked and got to know pretty well. He wasn't like a lot of the other married guys who didn't have much to do with those of us who were single when we were in port. Once when we were in Key West he invited me to come by and visit him and his wife in their home, which I did. They hadn't been married very long and seeing how happy they were made me wish I had someone to go home to, instead of the noisy submarine barracks we lived in while in port. We visited for awhile and then they invited me to go along with them to the Commissary. I didn't have anything planned for the rest of the afternoon, so I went along. I didn't know exactly what a military Commissary was for sure, so Ray explained it to me on the way over there. They said the Commissary was for military personnel only. It was great for married guys in the Navy and their wives. It made it a lot easier for couples to get by on a small Navy salary. Once we were inside, I was surprised to find out there were a lot of things you could buy that didn't have any tax or import fees on them. There were typewriters, guns, tape recorders, and camera displays everywhere, and it was all much cheaper than in town. Of course there groceries in the Commissary too, and that was really the only thing they were there for. That trip to the commissary was shortly before I was discharged from the Navy and may have been the last time I talked with Ray very much. I didn't hear about his untimely death until sometime later, through a shipmate I had stayed in contact with. I always remember him and his wife and how happy they were together, and what a shame it was for him to have died at such a young age. -- Norm Hammond
My recollection of Ray was that he was energetic and friendly. Being new on board I was mostly befrinded by the newer crew members but even though Ray had been aboard awhile he made it a point to talk to me from time to time. I remember our bunks were close to each other in the after battery and we would bump into each other from time to time and he was always cheerful and would say hello to me. I was standing by my locker in the barracks one morning getting ready to walk down to the boat when Howell approached me and asked if I had heard about Prys being killed on board. That was the first I had heard and it was a such a shock. Later the crew would attend a memorial for Ray at the base chapel. -- Pat Gurr