WWII & a Whale

On March 26 I wrote a blog post about the sinking of the Dixie Arrow on that date in 1942.

I recently read an on-line article by Drew Wilson about Cherry Point Marine Base Air Station, "The Summer of '42." In the article Richard DeCharms IV, who is now 83 years old, relates stories of 1942, when World War II came to the coast of North Carolina. DeCharms mentions the military's admonition, "Loose lips sink ships."

I was intrigued by the following two paragraphs:

"DeCharms said he went on one trip with his father to Ocracoke where a runway was to be built for pilots to go out and find the German subs.

"'One day every plane they had, it seemed like, went out one day. I was down on the beach and saw them going out, just plane after plane that day. Father came home and we thought half the German submarines were out there,' DeCharms said. 'He got home and he said "I guess I can tell you this," he said. "It’s the saddest thing. They went out there and they killed a whale. They bombed a whale." So that’s the one thing he told us.'"

You can read the entire article here: http://www.havenews.com/articles/summer-9525--.html


Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of the Rondthalers of Ocracoke Island. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news032112.htm.