This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Eugene Claude Ipox, Jr., TM1
to remember
Brink, Charles Wallace, LCDR USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Roswell
Last Address The Villages, FL
Date of Passing Oct 27, 2012
Location of Interment Callaway Cemetery - Callaway, Florida
Brink, Charles W. LCRD USN, retired
went on his Eternal Patrol, October 27th. Our father was born on a sheep camp near the city of Roswell, New Mexico, April 16th, 1925. He was raised in the San Diego/El Cajon region of California, and at the age of twelve his mother died, and he and his five sisters were left to survive the hardships of the times. At the age of 17, WWII had erupted, and he immediately enlisted in the Navy. He had been raised on flour tortillas and beans, and on his first day in the Navy he was served steak and all the milk he could drink. He decided the Navy was heaven, and his destiny. He became a Submariner, and served on the USS Icefish, Bluegill, Catfish, Tusk and Torsk. He was in the second class at the nuclear power school, and served under Admiral Rickover.
Our father's Navy career took us from coast to coast, and to Rota, Spain, where he was squadron material officer and made lieutenant commander. His last tour of duty was as the Commanding Officer, Naval Reserve Training Center, Tampa & St. Petersburg. He served in WWII, The Korean War, and Vietnam. He started in the Navy as a sailor with only a 9th grade education, and ended his career as an officer. Following his Naval service, he distinguished himself in the private sector, and was a founding member of Florida Credit Service, which after his retirement was acquired by Equifax.
Our father was preceded in death by our mother in 2005, Amelia (Amy), his loving wife of 57 years. She was his rock, and his soul.
We survive him, his three children, seven grandchildren and nine great- grandchildren, and his extended family throughout the world: Ralph Brink, The Villages, his children Kara (John Amador), Adam and Christina, and his grandchildren, Samantha and Tyler; Charles Brink, Tampa & Park City, Utah, along with his wife Linda and their children Bryan (Kelsey) and Christopher (Brooke), and their grandchildren Jackson, Carter, Braxton, Mateo, and Ellie; Celene Brink, St. Petersburg, and her husband, J. Kipp Wall, and their children Jamie (Sandra) and Weston, and their grandchildren, Alexander and Lucas.
"Pay it forward", our father believed in this expression to describe the concept of asking the beneficiary of a good deed to 'repay' it to others instead of to the original benefactor – he lived kindness.
Memberships: Masonic Eagle Rock Lodge, Idaho Falls, Idaho; Military Officers Association of American, St. Petersburg Chapter: US Submarine Veterans WWII.
Donations to Hospice (LifePath, Suncoast), and Clothes to Kids, Inc. (www.clothestokids.org).
We, his family, were honored to have had him as our father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle. He was "The Greatest Generation". Pride Runs Deep.
Service: Friday, November 23rd, 1:00 Calvary Cemetery - Burial with Military Honors; Reception following from 3 – 6 at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. Brett Funeral Home & Cremation Services.
Catfish was launched 19 November 1944 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn.; sponsored by Mrs. J. J. Crowley; and commissioned 19 March 1945, Lieutenant Commander W. A. Overton, USNR, in command.
Catfish sailed from New London 4 May 1945 for Pearl Harbor, arriving 29 June. After training and the installation of new equipment, she proceeded to Guam for special training, then departed 8 August on her first war patrol, a special mission to locate a minefield off Kyūshū. When the cease-fire order was given 15 August, she was ordered to the Yellow Sea for surface patrol and lifeguard duty. She returned to Guam 4 September, thence to the West Coast, arriving at Seattle 29 September.
Based at San Diego, Catfish operated locally on the west coast and made two cruises to the Far East during which she conducted simulated war patrols and provided services to the Seventh Fleet.
Catfish was extensively modernized in a GUPPY II conversion (August 1948–May 1949), giving her greater submerged speed and endurance. She was on another Far Eastern cruise when war broke out in Korea in which area she made a reconnaissance patrol in support of the United Nations forces. Catfish returned to the States 20 October 1950 and was based in San Diego.
After that the submarine carried out training exercises with Naval Reservists off the west coast, operated with the Canadian Forces in joint antisubmarine warfare exercises, and made several cruises to the Far East.
Other Memories Based at San Diego, Catfish operated locally on the west coast and made two cruises to the Far East during which she conducted simulated war patrols and provided services to the Seventh Fleet.
