VERMONT — At the Veteran Administration in White River Junction there is a distinct memorial dedicated to the Submarine USS Flier, formally classified as SS 250. The ship was lost during World War II.

The United States Submarine Veterans Inc., or USSVI, is ever mindful of lost shipmates, friends and family that have served in the submarine service of our country. It assigned each state one of the 52 lost submarines from World War II, with California and New York receiving 2 each of the lost submarines. Vermont was assigned the USS Flier (SS 250).  The Green Mountain Base Chapter of USSVI cares for the memorial and sees the significance of fellow submariners that were lost.

Flier’s keel was laid down on Oct. 30, 1942, in Groton, Conn. She launched on July 11, 1943. During combat in the South China Sea, her crew sank 10,380 gross tons of Japanese shipping. Flier stuck a naval mine on Aug. 13, 1944, near the Balabac Strait in the Philippines, and sunk. Seventy-eight sailors and officers were killed.

Read more about the Flier here.

If you are ever at Vermont’s VA hospital and outpost, the memorial is in the park where the U.S. flag is flown along with several other significant memorials at the park dedicated to our veterans.  The submariners in Vermont remember the USS Flier and the men lost and on Eternal Patrol this Memorial Day.

For more information about the Green Mountain Base Submariners and the USSVI, contact Bill Mattoon at email: [email protected].