What an amazing story! The quote from his daughter Nancy wrung my heart: "If you don't know your Dad, then who are you?"
Reading this story was also an unbelievable coincidence, because the date the sub left on it's
mission to the Aleutions - May 24, 1942 - was the day my Dad arrived for duty at Camp Niantic CT. I always wondered what he was sent down there for and just found out this week that their mission was "securing the New England coast against potential saboteurs, on site security for radio stations, defense plants, and war shipments - and also guarding that submarine base in New London.
Apparently, the park area was "loaned" to the govt for use as a military base after PEarl Harbor. It'd been used before by the Conneticut National Guard by the 1st Conneticut Volunteer Infantry in 1898 during the Spanish american war.
There was also an aircraft range at nearby Meigs Point. P47 warplanes flew over the harbor, fired at the range & then flew over Long Island Sound.