BUFFALO, NY - This weekend, the Naval and military park will re-dedicate a shiny, new-looking torpedo.
This 4,000 pound weapon is part of a monument dedicated to the crew of the submarine USS Grenadier, one of 52 subs lost during WW II.
Fifty two communities across the country were assigned a submarine and their crew to remember. "What their purpose was to honor the men on that particular submarine," says Fred Marazita the local base commander for United States Submarine Veterans.
The story of the Grenadier is one of which movies are made. They were attacked by a Japanese plane and couldn't submerge, so they ended up scuttling the ship. Eight officers and 68 enlisted men were taken prisoner. They were questioned, beaten, and starved, four of them died in a POW camp. Western New Yorker George Stauber, was one of the survivors.
Submarine veterans are a tight-knit group and that is why the Naval and Military Park monument is so important to them, and why it means so much that the community has rallied around the restoration project. Niagara Coating donated their services in stripping off all of the old paint and rust and restoring the torpedo that is the centerpiece of the monument.
Veterans and Naval Park representatives will gather Saturday at 1pm to unveil to restored monument to the public.