SHARKHUNTERS in 61 COUNTRIES!

When GEORGE BONJA (5013-1996) came aboard, the country of LEBANON became the 61st country in which there are SHARKHUNTERS Members.

And another FIRST - GEORGE also joined EAGLEHUNTERS and so became the only Member to become the first of his country in BOTH our groups.

WELCOME ABOARD to GEORGE and LEBANON!

SHARKHUNTERS in 62 COUNTRIES!

When BRUNO SRDELIC (SH 5042) came on board, the country of CROATIA became the 62nd country in which there are SHARKHUNTERS Members!

WELCOME ABOARD to BRUNO and CROATIA!

It’s The Kids

Every once in a while, we are asked who puts our KTB and FB Magazines together - the kids. There is a very progressive section of the local high school in which mentally or physically handicapped kids are trained for jobs in life, and they do our Magazines for us. They gather the pages, collate them, staple them, fold them into a magazine, then stuff them into the envelope and seal them.

We pay them for their work, and they enjoy doing something meaningful like our KTB and FB Magazines, as well as other projects we need them to do - rather than making birdhouses.

We just thought you would like to know where some of our money goes - it goes toward helping these kids get a start into life. Thanks.

MOV

If you do not know what is the MOV, then you do not need to read this section. If you do know what this is, then I must ask for a newer book as the one I have is 10 years old. Any U-BootFahrer who is coming to our gathering in the Florida Keys - if you can give up a copy of your MOV, we would greatly appreciate this.

In advance, vielen Dank.

PHONE NO’s

Sometimes a Member’s KTB Magazine will come back here because there is a problem with the address, or something like that. I try to call the Member to get the correct address, because we really want you to get your Magazine and I find that there is no telephone number in our file.

Some Members have unlisted numbers and do not want to give them out, and we can understand that - but if we do not have your phone number and your mail comes back here, how can we straighten the problem out? We do not give out phone numbers (or addresses) EVER! We just do not. If a Member does not want to send us his/her phone number, no problem and we understand. But if the mail comes back for some reason, then our hands are tied and we cannot reach the Member to correct this problem.

CREDIT CARDS

Since we are on the topic of security and since I have some space left on this page, let me also assure Members who use their credit cards that there can never be any wrong use of your card either by this office or outside thieves. Why?

Once we have charged your account for whatever it is that you requested, any paper that has your card number on it is immediately fed through a shredder and then it is all burned. ALL paper that leaves this HQ goes into the fire, credit card stuff and everything else - it all goes into the fire if it is trash.

Thankfully, we have never had a security leak here - and we are trying our best to be certain that we never do.

NAVY CROSS

We will be listing the seven US Navy submariners who won the CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL of HONOR and the five German U-BootFahrer who won the KNIGHTS CROSS with OAK LEAVES and CROSSED SWORDS and the two who earned the DIAMONDS to this award.

We will also be listing all the German U-Bootfahrer who won the KNIGHTS CROSS & the 29 who won the OAK LEAVES.

I think it is only correct that we also list the US Navy sub. vets who won the NAVY CROSS as well, and that’s what we want to do. However - we do not have such a list.

Will someone please send us a list of all US Navy submariners who won the NAVY CROSS (SILVER STAR, too) or at least point us in the right direction to find this list. Thanks in advance.

WELCOME DAN SIMON

Why do we make a special mention of a new Member, named DAN SIMON (5000-1996)? Look at his number - there are now MORE THAN 5,000 Members of SHARKHUNTERS, and as you read earlier in this KTB Magazine, in 61 countries.

WOW! There are more than 5,000 Members in 61 countries (that is 40% of all the countries in the world) and we are coming up on our 14th Anniversary. We are quite proud of our accomplishments to tell the HONEST story of the German U-BootWaffe in particular and of other submarine services as well, such as the US Navy, the Royal Navy, the Italian Navy and others.

Many thanks to all the veterans who sent their story; thanks to YOU the Members who kept SHARKHUNTERS growing.

LST ‘Stuff”

A lady who lives near this HQ told me that her husband worked for the company in Streetor, Illinois that made LST’s during the war and they have a lot of booklets, newspaper articles, photos etc about the LST’s that were made in Streetor.

We need to know if there is an LST Veteran’s Organization or a Museum to and for the LST’s; anything like that so this couple can donate these artifacts. Please contact this HQ if you know of such a place or organization. Thanks.

MANUALS NEEDED

We are trying to build a library of World War II training manuals of ALL services - from ALL countries. That is a tall order I realize, but please look into your old foot lockers, in the basement, out in the garage, in the old dressers - anywhere these manuals might be hiding. When you find them, please send them here for our reference library of World War II Technology. Thanks in advance!

‘PATROL in PARADISE’

By now, you have received your application for our ‘PATROL in PARADISE’. In fact, there is another in the center section of this issue of our KTB Magazine. Have YOU reserved your spot on this super event? We can only take 80 people - that’s all the space we could get, so if you are coming - get your deposit in right away. So far, there are about two dozen registered. Here are some of the people you will want to meet at this gathering:

From the SEA:

Oblt. HANS-GEORG HESS (SH 125) - just a few months past his 21st birthday, he was given command of U-995 and at a time when U-Boats did not return from their first war patrol, he brought his boat and his crew back from five successful war patrols. He was the youngest combat sub Skipper. of WW II; he won the KNIGHTS CROSS.

THEODOR FREUNDORFER (SH 177) - Officer in training

Oblt. WOLDEMAR TRIEBEL (SH 197)- I.W.O. on U-978.

OberFunkMaat GERD RICHTER (SH 214) was radioman on U-81 when they sank the RN aircraft carrier HMS ARK ROYAL and damaged the battleship HMS MALAYA

DETLEV ZIMMERMANN (SH 315) - planesman on U-315 during the War, now a LT. in the USCG Auxiliary

GÜNTER DIETRICH (SH 339) - German minesweeper crewman who helped General SS LEON deGRELLE (SH 1835+) get out of Europe to Norway.

CAPTAIN EDWARD L. BEACH (SH 1163) - won NAVY CROSS while XO on USS TIRANTE then was Skipper of USS TRITON when she made the first circumnavigation of the globe totally submerged! He’s also an accomplished author with ‘RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP!’ being his best known work.

WALTER TEGTMEIER (SH 1221) - U-Boat crewman

RADM EUGENE FLUCKEY (SH 2169) - Skipper of USS BARB, he was known as the ‘Galloping Ghost of the China Coast’. With a CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL of HONOR, four NAVY CROSSES and a whole lot more on his chest, is the most highly decorated USNavy submariner EVER; and is the most highly decorated American vet of any service still living.

Oblt. HANS-FERDINAND MASSMANN (SH 4522) - the Skipper of U-137 and U-409. Known as ‘HAI’ to his friends - it means ‘SHARK!’

From the AIR

Major. HANNES ESKEN (EH 67) - Luftwaffe navigator

Col. ROBERT MORGAN (EH 271) - Pilot of the famous ‘MEMPHIS BELLE’

Major BEN DREW (EH 466) - P-51 pilot who shot down the first jet ever; he shot down the first two jet fighters to ever take off on a combat sortie; he is the only fighter pilot to shoot down two jet fighters in a single engagement while flying a propeller driven aircraft; he destroyed the BV 238 ‘GOLIATH’ which was the largest plane ever built.

This is only the beginning of the list of outstanding veterans of both sides of WW II. Many more will be added to this list soon, but it is unlikely that these men will ever come together in a group again. DON’T MISS THIS ONE-TIME CHANCE!

Membership Cards

We all have a SHARKHUNTERS Membership card - at least, we got one when we joined. If yours is like mine, it is pretty ragged after so long in the wallet. We have just gotten a machine that will laminate your card into plastic so it will last much longer. We will do all the work for you, so please read carefully.

IF YOUR MEMBERSHIP NUMBER ENDS WITH 1983

Check the label on the envelope in which your KTB Magazine came in for this information, and if yours ends with 1983, then this is what you do.

1. Send your old Membership card here;
2. Enclose a note that tells us if you want your old card laminated and returned or if you want a new Membership card;
3. Enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope so we may return your Membership card to you.

LIFE Members do not need to do anything - we are ordering some really sharp cards for you, so when they come in, we will let you know how to proceed.

COMPUTER FUND

Our COMPUTER FUND began when Dr. WARREN BROWN (SH 265 A) convinced us that SHARKHUNTERS needed to get into the 20th century. DOC even made the first donation to this fund. Our first was an old IBM PC-XT and it helped a little bit.

We have moved ahead quickly and now have three IBM 486 units and have recently purchased a top of the line unit with the new PENTIUM processor. This high-tech hardware helps us move SHARKHUNTERS along nicely, but we are still in debt about $3,300. Some Members are graciously helping us retire this debt with their contributions. Thanks to the newest to help:

ANDREW BARABAS (SH 4784) 20
CAPTAIN HELMUT SCHMOECKEL (SH 1455) $80
BERNHARD KÜNZEL (SH 4950) $ 65
CAPT HORST-EBERHARD von HORSTIG (SH 3767) $ 50
STEPHEN WOLFE (SH 3855 LIFE) $100
DWIGHT McMAHON (SH 615 LIFE) $ 50