Relatives Of Lost WWII Sub's Crew To Meet
USS Grunion Had 5 Michigan Sailors On Board When It Sank In 1942
POSTED: 2:06 pm EDT August 18,
2008
UPDATED: 4:20 pm EDT August 18,
2008
MIDLAND, Mich. -- Don Reid was a boy when his older cousin joined the Navy, then disappeared when his submarine sank off the Alaska coast in 1942.Searchers found the wreckage of the USS Grunion last year about 1,000 meters underwater.Reid said 18-year-old Seaman Arnold Post took him to the movies and ice skating in Midland, where both grew up and Reid still lives.Reid said the discovery of the wreckage in the Bering Sea last August was a relief.On Oct. 11, relatives plan a gathering in Cleveland.Five other Michigan sailors were aboard -- Richard McCutcheon of Detroit, David Swartwood of Flint, Byron Traviss of Detroit, Loyal Ryan Junior of Lansing and William Cuthbertson of Frankenmuth.USS Grunion was commissioned April 11, 1942, after being constructed in Groton, Conn.It had a crew of 60 men and could endure up to 48 hours submerged as deep as 90 meters.
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