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Author Topic: Warshot  (Read 6470 times)

Offline Lance Dean

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Warshot
« on: September 12, 2008, 04:17:18 PM »
I'm sure many of you who know who I'm talking about already know that Ron "Warshot" Smith passed away this morning.

He was a great guy and I wish I could have met him.  He was a WWII submarine veteran.  He had two books "Torpedoman" and "The Depths of Courage", the latter of which many of you probably have in your collection.
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Offline Darrin

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Re: Warshot
« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2008, 05:25:58 PM »
Ron was a submarine veteran of WWII and wrote two books his latest book he co-wrote with another vet and sadly I can't think of the name of it right now.

He served on the USS Seal and was wounded during a running gun battle topside, his battle surface position was on the gun, for his action that day he was awarded the purple heart and the Bronze Star with "V" device and that was also his last underway because when he recovered from his wounds he was sent to be an instructor at the TM "A" School (if I remember which school he instructed at correctly).

Sadly he lost a lot of friends during the war and since then most of his shipmates that survivied the war, it was a true honor to have him call me shipmate on more then a few occasions and I am proud to have been able to call him a shipmate and friend (even though I was never able to meet him face to face).

He was one of the many folks who helped get the Cavalla restoration project started from what I remember and he was working with USSVI and other submarine related organizations almost up to the time of his passing to include working a booth at the just completed USSVI convention in Ft. Worth.

Warshot,
thank you my friend for your service, dedication and devotion to our country and to the submarine community.. We will miss you terribly and I for one am truly saddened with your passing and please keep a rack in the Fwd Room open for me when it is my time to also go on eternal patrol. :'( :'(

Darrin
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Offline nomad66

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Re: Warshot
« Reply #2 on: September 12, 2008, 08:39:34 PM »
Even though I didn't know him, I am very sorry to hear of Ron's passing. There are fewer and fewer of out WWII vets left among us. My father served in WWII in the Pacific theater with the Army Air Corp. I wish he was able to visit the WWII memorial in D.C., but his health isn't very good. I did manage to get a medallion mounted on the same granite that was quarried for the memorial. It was the least I could do for him.
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Offline Travis McLain

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Re: Warshot
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2008, 05:55:31 PM »
That is too bad, I have read "The Depths Of Courage" and his was a great story, from what I read he seemed like a very good man. These stories really need to be heard, but yet so may people have no idea what these guys did, my great uncle passed away 5 weeks ago; he served in the Navy during WWII was at the invasion of Africa, Italy, and helped somewhat with the invasion of Normandy, then he was transferred to the Pacific for a period, and then was called back for Korea, but I do not have all the information on his service, that is just the basics of it.
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"Uncommon Valor Was A Common Virtue" Adm. Nimitz on the Marines at Iwo Jima.

"USS Batfish relentlessly tracked down the enemy and in three separate, brilliantly executed attacks, launched her torpedoes with devastating speed and skill and demolished three Japanese submarines."

Offline Darrin

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Re: Warshot
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2008, 08:35:49 PM »
While I never "met" Ron face to face we both traded Mk 14's into each other's hides over the last 10 years or so of the submarine bbs' one of the greatest honors in life for me was to have Ron call me a shipmate... My grandfathers' were all WWII vets and they all had unique stories that were humbeling at least (1 was a 7 Dec Vet) and I have family that is Korea and Viet Nam service also so to hear him tell me that was to me a huge honor for me in my life time to be recognized by a WWII sub vet as being a shipmate and a friend even though I sailed more the 40 years after he did and we are both TM's.

For Ron "Warshot" Smith,

Fear none shipmate I have the watch, I will make sure that our weapon's are maintained and that they are ready to run straight, hot and true and that we will get those bastards where ever they live........ Thank you for passing on your stories of your youth and for teaching the future TM's your job whom eventually passed that knowledge to me.

HAND SALUTE






TWO

Thank you Ron for your service, we have the watch and may you have fair winds and following sea's in your journey's

Darrin
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Offline Lance Dean

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Re: Warshot
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2008, 08:44:54 AM »
Dex is in the process of getting Warshot a plot in Arlington.  Wouldn't that really be something?
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