Each year on Labor Day weekend I stop by the cemetery in Wayne, Maine where my great uncle, SC 93 CO Lt. (j.g.) George S. Dole, is buried. He died at the family's camp on 6 September, 1928. This year we lost his name's sake, my uncle George F. Dole, younger brother of my mother and aunt, and the last living child of Lt. Dole's twin brother Louis—the last of a generation.
This year at the cemetery I noticed a stone near the Dole plot for Louella V. Turner, 1880 to 1986. I wonder if the Turner family knew the Doles, and if Louella knew George and Louis, or maybe even the next generation of Doles. I don't think there is a subchaser-related aspect to the story, except to underscore how fleeting the generations are. WWI seems deep in the past—some parts of it, like the service of U.S. crewmen on submarine chasers, nearly forgotten—but for Louella it was something that happened when she was pushing forty, and she lived until I was out of college.
So handle those WWI photos and letters with care, and plan how you'll pass them on. Before you know it, another generation will pass, and someone else will be reflecting on it.
—Todd Woofenden, editor
Added this month:
- Submitted by Phillip J. Boogaerts, Jr., grandson of SC 88 crewman CMM George Edward Lansing, Jr.: collection of SC 88-related images.
- Submitted by Dominic Etzold: Images of SC 144 crewman's cap, marked "R. W. Gull."