As a life long Tidewater Virginian, I have heard the stories all my life
> of the U-Boats that sniffed around our coasts during WWII.
> We have known for about 25 years that there were German soldiers who had
> been found dead on the beaches during the war when their U-Boat
> malfunctioned and they all drowned as they were trying to get to shore.
> These men were found dressed in American style clothing , made with
American
> clothing manufacturers' labels sewn inside them, and were carrying all
kinds
> of sophisticatedly created identification documents, such as American
> passports, driver's licences, etc.
> Yes, they are buried in the Hampton National Cemetary and you may call the
> cemetary at 757.723.7104.
> A nice lady there named Gloria will take your name and address and send
you
> information about the German soldiers who are buried there, if you ask.
>
> Deane Ferguson Mills
> York County Virginia
>
> Randy Cabell wrote:
> I note with some sadness that the plans to honor the men of the CSS Hunley
> down in Charleston, SC have been trashed by some few as 'honoring a regime
> which was every bit as bad, and commited atrocities as bad as the NAZIs.'
> But as a partial answer, I wonder if anybody can help me with a bit of
> Virginia history, also involving an 'enemy' submarine.
>
> My father was army liason officer at the 5th Naval District in Norfolk
> through most of WWII.  After the war, he told a story of one of the first
> sinkings of a German UBoat off the Virginia capes, probably late 1942 or
> early 1943.  It seems a PBY on patrol caught U-____ on the surface
charging
> its batteries, dropped bombs or depth charges set to minimal depth and
sank
> it.  The PBY, running low on fuel then radioed its location (before GPS!)
> dropped life rafts to survivors and returned to Norfolk.  Navy ships and
> aircraft could not find it when they reached the area.  Two or three days
> later, a smart staff officer realized the sub was in the Gulf Stream when
> sunk, so calculated the northward movement, dispatched rescue craft, and
> there they found the survivors and unfortunately the bodies of many who
had
> died from exposure.
>
> To make a long story short, a funeral with full military honors was given
> the dead crew members at the US Military Cemetery in Hampton -- German
> flags, German music ('Deuschland uber alles', I guess).  I have never read
> of this anywhere, and 20 minutes ago was unsuccessful finding anything
about
> it at the Library of Virginia or the Hampton Military Cemetery.
>
> Can anybody point me to a source for further information?
>
> Randy Cabell
>
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