This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Robert Cox, YNCS
to remember
Fluckey, Eugene Bennett, RADM USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Washington, DC
Last Address 7101 Bay Front Dr #313 Annapolis, MD 21403
Date of Passing Jun 28, 2007
Location of Interment U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery and Columbarium (VLM) - Annapolis, Maryland
After he retired from the Navy in 1972, Eugene Fluckey and his wife, Marjorie, started running an orphanage in Portugal in 1974. Marjorie died in 1979, after 42 years of marriage. He married his second wife, Margaret, in 1980 and they continued to run the orphanage together until it closed in 1982. He has one daughter, Barbara.
His book, Thunder Below! published in 1992, depicts the exploits of his beloved Barb. "Though the tally shows more shells, bombs, and depth charges fired at Barb, no one received the Purple Heart and Barb came back alive, eager, and ready to fight again."
Fluckey was awarded Eagle Scout in 1948. He is one of only eleven known Eagle Scouts who also received the Medal of Honor. He was an honorary companion of the Maryland Commandery of the Military Order of Foreign Wars. His book Thunder Below! was winner of the 1993 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature.
Other Comments:
Medal of Honor
Awarded for Actions During World War II
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. Barb (SS-220)
General Orders: Submarine Board of Awards, Serial 0175 (February 28, 1945)
Citation: The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Commander Eugene Bennett Fluckey, United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of the U.S.S. BARB (SS-220) during her ELEVENTH War Patrol along the east coast of China from 19 December 1944 to 15 February 1945. After sinking a large enemy ammunition ship and damaging additional tonnage during a running two-hour night battle on 8 January, Commander Fluckey, in an exceptional feat of brilliant deduction and bold tracking on 25 January, located a concentration of more than 30 enemy ships in the lower reaches of Nankuan Chiang (Mamkwan Harbor). Fully aware that a safe retirement would necessitate an hour's run at full speed through the uncharted, mined, and rock-obstructed waters, he bravely ordered, "Battle station--torpedoes!" In a daring penetration of the heavy enemy screen, and riding in five fathoms of water, he launched the BARB's last forward torpedoes at 3,000-yard range. Quickly bringing the ship's stern tubes to bear, he turned loose four more torpedoes into the enemy, obtaining eight direct hits on six of the main targets to explode a large ammunition ship and cause inestimable damage by the resultant flying shells and other pyrotechnics. Clearing the treacherous area at high speed, he brought the BARB through to safety and four days later sank a large Japanese freighter to complete a record of heroic combat achievement, reflecting the highest credit upon Commander Fluckey, his gallant officers and men, and the United States Naval Service.
Navy Times article on passing of Rear Admiral Fluckey
Date
Jun 29, 2007
Last Updated: Jun 30, 2007
Comments
Highly decorated WWII ex-admiral dies at 93
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Friday Jun 29, 2007 17:18:22 EDT
Eugene Bennett Fluckey, a legendary World War II submariner and one of the most highly decorated living American servicemen, died Thursday night at a hospital in Annapolis, Maryland, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 93.
In five war patrols as the skipper of the submarine Barb, Fluckey sank dozens upon dozens of Japanese ships and destroyed many more small craft and shore installations, according to the Naval Historical Center. Fluckey?s total decorations included the Medal of Honor, four Navy Crosses, and Presidential Unit Citations and Navy Unit Commendations for him and his crew.
Born Oct. 5, 1913, in Washington, D.C., Fluckey graduated from the Naval Academy and accepted his ensign?s commission in 1935. He served aboard the battleship Nevada and the destroyer McCormick before attending Submarine School in 1938 in Groton, Conn.
After several years serving aboard submarines, then-Lt. Cmdr. Fluckey took command of the Barb in late 1943, and went on to sink more enemy tonnage than any other U.S. sub skipper, according to a recent biography, "The Galloping Ghost," by Carl Lavo.
In action against the Japanese in 1944 and 1945, Fluckey and the Barb sank 85 enemy ships, including an aircraft carrier, a destroyer and a cruiser. His Medal of Honor recognized his "conspicuous gallantry" during a war patrol along the east coast of China from December 1944 to February 1945.
According to the official citation, Fluckey and his crew sank a large enemy ammunition ship and damaged additional ships during a "running 2-hour night battle" on Jan. 8, 1945. Later that month, "in an exceptional feat of brilliant deduction and bold tracking," Fluckey and the Barb located more than 30 enemy ships. In the battle that followed, the Americans slipped through enemy defenses, scoring direct hits on six of the main targets and blowing up a large ammunition ship, causing "inestimable damage by the resultant flying shells and other pyrotechnics."
In August 1945, Fluckey was selected to command the new submarine Dogfish, then under construction, although that assignment ended after only a few months when Fluckey was reassigned to Washington. He first served in the office of the Secretary of the Navy before becoming personal aide to the Chief of Naval Operations, Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz.
From June 1947 until he retired in August 1972, Fluckey served in a variety of increasingly important positions, including Commander of Submarine Division 52; Commander of Amphibious Group 4; and Commander of Submarine Force Pacific. He also served as Director of Naval Intelligence before he retired.
