USSVI USS Chicago Base Submarine Veterans

10/29/2023

USS Chicago Base submarine veterans and Ottawa American Legion members held a ceremony Oct. 9th at the USS S-44 Memorial at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. USS S-44 was lost Oct. 7, 1943. We hold this ceremony every year on a date close to the date of its loss to honor the crew of this submarine who gave their lives for their country. The United States lost 52 submarines during World War II. USS S-44 was chosen by us because she was assigned by the U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II to the Illinois chapter of that organization as a submarine for them to honor. The Illinois chapter of that organization is no longer active, and USS Chicago Base has taken over their responsibilities. These photos were taken at the ceremony that was held Oct. 9th. Information about USS S-44 can be found at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_S-44.

10/29/2023

10/28/2023

USS Hyman G. Rickover SSN-795 was commissioned Oct. 14, 2023. Some members of USS Chicago Base submarine veterans attended the commissioning ceremony. While we were in Groton, we also toured USS Indiana SSN-789 and visited the Submarine Force Library and Museum. This visit included a tour of the first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus SSN-571. We also made it a priority to spend time at the Groton Base Clubhouse, which is an outstanding facility. We had an awesome time at the clubhouse mingling with other submarine veterans and active-duty submarine sailors. Of course, we enjoyed a few beverages and the food while at the clubhouse. The commissioning of a Navy ship is an inspiring experience for those who haven't been present at one. The Submarine Base and Submarine School have changed and grown very much since we last were there. It was definitely a trip down memory lane for us. These pictures are from the commissioning, the USS Nautilus, and the Groton Base Clubhouse.

10/03/2023

USS Chicago Base submarine veterans participated in the Grundy County Corn Festival Parade this past Sunday Oct. 1st. It was a beautiful day. We had a nice turnout of base members, and the parade was the best of the year for our base. After the parade we went to a local restaurant and enjoyed a nice lunch.

09/21/2023

USS Chicago Base submarine veterans attended the Operation Firm Handshake picnic at the Coal City Area Club Saturday September 9th. This is a free picnic for veterans and their families put on every year by Operation Firm Handshake. It's an awesome picnic and they do an outstanding job. Our submarine veterans group attends this picnic in lieu of having a September base meeting. We enjoy it very much. The Operation Firm Handshake website can be found at: https://operationfirmhandshake.org/. Take a look at this website and you'll get an idea of what they're all about. There're a lot of photos on the website. Take a look at those too. I've placed some photos in this post that are pertinent to our base.

06/26/2023

USS Chicago Base participated in the 2023 Carbon Hill Homecoming parade yesterday. This is our 3rd parade of the year. We have one more parade in Morris, IL at the 2023 Grundy County Corn Festival. We had a nice turnout of base members, and we had a good time during and after the parade. It was a hot day but at least it was breezy enough to make it tolerable. The group went to a local restaurant for lunch afterward.

06/15/2023

USS Chicago Base, USSVI held a dedication ceremony for our newest memorial located in Joliet, IL, on June 14th. The memorial honors the memory of the 28 submarines and their crews which passed through Joliet on their way to service in the Pacific during World War II. The submarines were built at the Manitowoc Ship Building Co., Manitowoc, WI during the years of 1943 - 1945. They were some of the best submarines built during World War II. They tested on Lake Michigan and when complete, they transited the river system from Chicago to New Orleans. In New Orleans the masts were reinstalled, provisions, fuel and weapons were loaded, and the crew then took their submarine off to war through the Caribbean Sea, the Panama Canal, and finally to the Pacific Theater. Four of these submarines were lost with all hands during the war. USS Chicago Base would especially like to thank the City of Joliet, and the many vendors who donated their time, labor, and materials to facilitate the construction of this memorial. We owe a special debt to Reeves & Baskerville Funeral Homes. Without their support the installation of this memorial and the memorial in Morris, IL, would not have been possible. We want to thank the special guests who were able to attend the dedication ceremony. The pictures in this post show the entire ceremony, from beginning to end. The special guests are shown by name in some of these photos. We would also like to thank the Joliet Central High School students who provided us with an honor guard that posted the colors at the start of the ceremony, and the two musicians who played taps at the end. Also, we'd like to thank the Joliet Police Honor Guard. They provided us with a rifle volley salute at the end of the ceremony.

11/12/2022

Pride Runs Deep

11/09/2022

We lost a good friend and shipmate yesterday. Don Schlegle went on eternal patrol. Sailor, rest your oar, we have the watch. God speed.

10/13/2022

USS Chicago Base, along with other area veterans, veteran's groups and interested people, participated in the October 11th, 2022, Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery (ALNC) direct burial ceremony for unclaimed veteran remains. After the ceremony we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Silver Dollar Restaurant in Elwood.

10/03/2022

USS Chicago Base participated in the 2022 Grundy County Corn Festival parade Oct. 2nd. This is the last parade for our base in 2022. As always, it was one of the best parades that we attend all year. It was a wonderful autumn day, the crowd was large and appreciative, we had very good attendance by our base members, and we enjoyed a nice lunch at a local restaurant following the parade. The camaraderie we enjoy at these events brings us all closer together and is in keeping with our USSVI creed.

10/03/2022

These photos are from our October base meeting. One photo shows Commander Connon with the Robert Link Award that he received at the annual USSVI convention in Buffalo, NY. Also, there's a photo of Commander Connon presenting one of the Meritorious plaques that our base has received to our Chief Cook Bill Hoffman. During the meeting we held our annual ceremony commemorating the loss of the World War II submarine S-44. The S-44 was the state submarine assigned to the Illinois Chapter of the Submarine Veterans of World War II. Most states had chapters of this organization and they were assigned submarines lost during WW II so that they could commemorate them. With the passage of time this organization can no longer perform this duty, and USS Chicago Base has picked up where they left off. S-44 was lost 7 October 1943, as a result of enemy surface action en route to her patrol area in the Kuriles. She was sunk by IJNS Ishigaki, a Shimushu class es**rt. S-44 earned two battle stars during World War II. Two members of her crew survived the sinking of their submarine and the war. See this link for more information about S-44. http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08155.htm. We perform the S-44 ceremony in this month because she was lost in Oct. 1943.

09/30/2022

USS Chicago Base Submarine Veteran Volunteers were requested to interface with U.S. Naval War College students when they recently visited the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry U-505 Exhibit. These students spend 11 months studying at the college and most of them are from the Navies of our country's foreign allies. After their visit we were given a plaque by them to commemorate the event. Here's a photo of the plaque and of the volunteers who were present.

09/30/2022

Several USS Chicago Base Submarine Veterans are volunteers at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Some of these volunteers gave a tour of the U-505 Submarine Exhibit at that museum for the latest class of Great Lakes Naval Station Chief Selects. The tour was held on Sept. 20th. After the tour the volunteers ate lunch with the Chief Selects. They had a lively discussion about their Navy experiences after lunch with the Selects.

07/13/2022

We’ve been working on a WWII Submarine Memorial in Joliet, Il. for a while. The foundation went in today. It will be several months before the granite memorial will be ready, but this is a great start. Many thanks to the City Manager, Mr James Capparelli and Mr Tom White from the Three Rivers Construction Alliance for making this happen.

06/27/2022

USS Chicago Base participated in the 2022 Carbon Hill Homecoming parade that was held June 26th. It was our 3rd parade of the year. The crowd was large and appreciative as usual, and the weather was great. Afterward we enjoyed lunch at a local establishment. Our last parade for 2022 will be the Grundy County Corn Festival Parade on October 2nd.

05/30/2022

USS Chicago Base submarine veterans volunteered at the 2022 Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery Memorial Day ceremony. It was the first Memorial Day ceremony at this cemetery since 2019. It was an awesome day, and it was good to be back. There was a large and appreciative crowd as is usual for these ceremonies. The cemetery had a very nice program; with band music, speeches, including by Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd, reenactors from wars going back to the revolution, a flyover by a WW II Grumman TBM Avenger, etc. We enjoyed lunch together after the ceremony at a local restaurant. It was a great way to honor our veterans and to celebrate Memorial Day.

05/18/2022

On May 15th of this year, Joe Tokarz, a USS Chicago Base Submarine Veterans member, visited the SL-1 Memorial located west of Idaho Falls, ID. The two photos in this post show the memorial and another of Joe saluting it. This is what Joe said about the memorial: "May 30, 2022 is Memorial Day. On May 15, 2022, I visited America's newest Memorial - a most fitting remembrance to the soldiers and sailor who died at SL-1 January 3rd, 1961. When you look up from the plaque, you can almost see the SL-1 site. Thank you to DOE and INL for their support in making the SL-1 Memorial a reality. All gave some. Some gave all!" Note: Joe was instrumental in having this memorial installed. He had previously visited the area where SL-1 was located. He looked for a memorial to the SL-1 crew members who perished in an accident at the facility, and found nothing. He thought there should be a memorial. So, he contacted the DOE (Dept. of Energy) and INL (Idaho National Laboratory) and was able to accomplish this worthy task. Kudos to Joe for doing this. For those who don't know, SL-1 stands for Stationary Low-Power Reactor One. See this Wikipedia article about the reactor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1.

05/02/2022

USS Chicago Base Submarine Veterans participated in the 2022 New Lenox Loyalty Day parade yesterday, May 1st. It was unseasonably cool (no surprise) but we stayed dry. The crowd along the parade route was appreciative and larger than we expected, given the weather. Afterward the New Lenox VFW post served free hotdogs and beverages, as they've always done before. It was nice to get back to New Lenox for this parade. It was cancelled the past 2 years because of Covid.

04/08/2022

USS Chicago Base, along with other area veterans, veteran's groups and interested people, participated in the April 8th, 2022 Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery (ALNC) direct burial ceremony for unclaimed veteran remains. After the ceremony we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Silver Dollar Restaurant in Elwood.

03/07/2022

USS Chicago Base participated in the Tinley Park Irish parade yesterday. It's our first parade for 2022. Here're a few photos from the parade. The day was kind of cold and very windy. But at least we didn't get snowed or rained on. The crowd along the route was very large and vocal. We appreciated that. After the parade we went to the Tinley Park VFW for some refreshments.

01/13/2022

USS Chicago Base, along with other area veterans, veteran's groups and interested people, participated in the Jan. 13th, 2022 Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery (ALNC) direct burial ceremony for unclaimed veteran remains. After the ceremony we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Silver Dollar Restaurant in Elwood.

12/09/2021

USS Chicago Base had their monthly meeting and Christmas party at the Tinley Park, IL VFW on December 4th. We had a nice turnout, lots of good food provided by our own Chief Cook Barnacle Bill Hoffman, and great fun. Here're some photos from the party.

10/26/2021