[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8898]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE CREW OF USS ``LAGARTO''

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANIEL LIPINSKI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 2006

  Mr. LIPINSKI Mr. Speaker, I wish to pay tribute to 86 brave men who 
made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and, for freedom--the 
crew of the submarine USS Lagarto--as well as their loved ones--their 
wives and sweethearts, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, 
mothers and fathers--who have all kept them in their hearts for more 
than 60 years.
  The story of the Lagarto represents the sacrifices made by sailors in 
the ``Silent Service,'' the most dangerous of all the missions, as 
submariners suffered the highest percentage of combat deaths of any 
service in any branch of the armed forces during World War II.
  The Lagarto, built in the shipyards of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, had a 
short but distinguished career. The submarine joined the assault on 
Imperial Japan in early 1945, and was credited with sinking a Japanese 
submarine and other enemy vessels.
  However, on May 3, 1945, the Lagarto and its sister submarine, the 
USS Baya, were coordinating an attack on a Japanese convoy off the 
coast of Thailand. The Japanese escort minelayer Hatsutaka was able to 
drive off the Baya in the early hours of May 4. But the Lagarto was 
never heard from again. Evidence pointed to a depth charge from the 
Hatsutaka that may have sunk the Lagarto, and the submarine was 
presumed lost with all hands on board.
  For the next 60 years, many of the loved ones of the Lagarto crew 
continued to wonder where their final resting place might be. Then, in 
the Spring of 2005, a fishing boat snagged a large object off the Thai 
coast. Eventually, renowned wreck diver Jamie McLeod investigated and 
helped confirm that the wreckage in about 180 feet of water was the 
Lagarto.
  On Saturday, May 6, 2006, the crew of the Lagarto was honored by the 
Navy during a special annual USS Lagarto Remembrance Day Memorial 
Ceremony at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc. This event was 
attended by more than 150 family members of the crew of the Lagarto.
  As Nancy Mabin Kenney, who was a toddler when her father, Seaman 1st 
Class William T. Mabin, was lost on the Largato, said: ``This ceremony 
will be our way of saying goodbye that we never had.''
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me honoring 
the brave men of USS Lagarto and to express our sincere gratitude to 
their families and friends upon the ultimate sacrifice these sailors 
gave for our great nation.

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