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Darrel Dean
Rector
Rank/Rate |
Gunner's Mate, Third Class |
Service Number |
628 00 85 |
Birth Date |
September 11, 1923 |
From |
Chautauqua, Kansas |
Decorations |
Purple Heart |
Submarine |
USS Tang (SS-306) |
Loss Date |
October 25, 1944 |
Location |
Formosa Strait near Turnabout Island |
Circumstances |
Sunk by circular run of own torpedo |
Remarks |
Dean's brother, Earl, was also in the Navy. He was
a steam-fitter and stationed in the Philippines at the
outbreak of the war. Earl was captured when Corregador was
surrendered, survived the Bataan Death March, and was held
as a Prisoner of War for three 1/2 years. Earl had no idea
his brother was dead until his release from a Japanese
prisoner of war camp at the end of the war.
Dean also had some claim to fame as the first man to be
operated on in a submerged submarine (during the fourth war
patrol of USS Seadragon (SS-194), submerged at 120’ under the
South China Sea off the coast of Indochina in September
1942) at the hands of then Pharmacist's Mate Wheeler B.
Lipes. It was then Dean’s 19th birthday. Mr.
Lipes died of pancreatic cancer April 17, 2005.
When asked about Dean and the operation Mr. Lipes said, "I
always thought he was the guy who had the courage. I've
asked myself, `Would I have gotten up on that table and let
someone do the same thing to me?' He was one of the most
courageous people I've ever met." |
Photo courtesy of Darla Loyd, niece. Information and remarks by William Watkins, cousin.
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Rector, Darrel Dean
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