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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.
Eugene Fluckey, naval war hero
Date
Jul 3, 2007
Last Updated: Jul 12, 2007
Comments
Eugene Fluckey, naval war hero REAR ADMIRAL MADE DARING SUB ATTACKS By Matt Schudel Washington Post Article Launched: 07/03/2007 01:34:54 AM PDT
Rear Adm. Eugene Fluckey, one of the greatest naval heroes of World War II who was awarded the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses for his daring submarine attacks on Japanese shipping, died June 28 at Anne Arundel (Md.) Medical Center. He was 93 and had Alzheimer's disease.
Mr. Fluckey, who was born and raised in Washington, was a pioneer of submarine warfare and among the most highly decorated veterans from any branch of the military.
In 1944 and 1945, as commander of the USS Barb, he became a Navy legend for his nighttime raids that sank dozens of enemy ships along the east coast of China. His bold forays were complicated by continual barrages from Japanese airplanes and boats and by shallow waters that often forced him to bring his submarine to the surface. He sometimes came so close to shore that his men were able to launch sabotage missions on land.
`Suicide mission'
On Jan. 25, 1945, Mr. Fluckey embarked on what Navy officials, seldom given to hyperbole, called "virtually a suicide mission - a naval epic." In "an exceptional feat of brilliant deduction and bold tracking," in the words of his Medal of Honor citation, Mr. Fluckey found more than 30 Japanese vessels lurking in a concealed harbor protected by mines and rocky shoals.
Evading a cordon of armed escort boats, the Barb slipped into the harbor on a moonless, cloudy night and scored eight direct torpedo hits on six large ships.
One of them was an ammunition vessel, which exploded and caused "inestimable damage by the resultant flying shells and other pyrotechnics," according to the Medal of Honor citation. As Mr. Fluckey watched from the bridge of his submarine, the Washington Post reported in 1945, "Japanese ships were erupting in the night like a nest of volcanoes."
The Barb then fled at high speed "through uncharted rocky waters thick with fishing junks," pursued by two Japanese gunboats. Because of the shallow water, the submarine had to stay on the surface, dodging obstacles and steady fire for a full hour before reaching the safe depths of the open sea.
"The significance of that mission," said retired Navy Capt. Max Duncan, who was the chief gunnery and torpedo officer of the Barb, "was that we completely disrupted the entire shipping system the Japanese had developed at that point in the war."
Mr. Fluckey and his 80-man crew were credited with sinking 29 ships, including an aircraft carrier, destroyer and cruiser. He destroyed more gross tonnage than any other submarine commander. For his wartime exploits, he became known as "Lucky Fluckey" and the "Galloping Ghost of the China Coast."
Confidence all around
"He was extraordinary," retired Rear Adm. Robert McNitt, executive officer of the Barb, said in a telephone interview. "He immediately gained the full confidence of his officers and crew. He made a point of walking through the submarine several times a day. He knew everybody on board and knew a lot about them."
Mr. Fluckey sometimes violated Navy regulations by stashing cases of beer in the officers' shower. Whenever the Barb sank a ship, everyone on board was entitled to a cold beer, which endeared him to his crew.
In addition to the Medal of Honor and Navy Crosses (second only to the Medal of Honor), Mr. Fluckey received the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit and a host of lesser decorations. His greatest achievement, he often said, was that no one under his command ever received another well-known medal: the Purple Heart.
"He was absolutely confident and absolutely fearless, but fearless with good judgment," McNitt said. "He brought his ship and his people home."