LEWISTON – Members of area veterans organizations attended memorial services commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the Thresher Submarine USS 593 recently.
The sub was lost with all hands while it was on shakedown cruise on April 10, 1963, off the coast of Massachusetts.
The group met in the parking lot at the Lewiston side of the James B. Longley Bridge for the program.
Tom Dow, a U.S. Navy seaman attached to the USS Recovery ARS-43, gave a talk on his experiences in searching for the USS Thresher after it was reported lost.
Jerry DerBoghosian, who worked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard where the Thresher was built, gave a talk on his experiences while working on the Thresher from the time the keel was laid and up to the time the Thresher went on its fateful shakedown cruise.
Richard Giem, Commander of Post 22 American Legion, read an essay on “All Hands Lost at Sea” then the group marched single file from the parking lot to the down river side of the Androscoggin River.
Those attending sang the “Star Spangled Banner.” Invocation was read by President-Emeritus, USS Canberra Association, Jerry DerBoghosian. A wreath was thrown into the river, “Taps” was played and “God Bless America” closed the program.
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