World War II Honoree

Eugene Bennett Fluckey

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Washington, District Of Columbia

Honored By

Friends of American Heroes

REAR ADMIRAL. AWARDED THE MEDAL OF HONOR AND FOUR NAVY CROSSES FOR HIS DARING SUBMARINE ATTACKS ON JAPANESE SHIPPING HE JOINED THE SUBMARINE CORPS IN 1938 AND SERVED IN THE PACIFIC BEFORE TAKING COMMAND OF THE USS BARB. IN 1944 AND 1945, AS COMMANDER OF THE USS BARB, HE BECAME A NAVY LEGEND FOR HIS NIGHTTIME RAIDS THAT SANK DOZENS OF ENEMY SHIPS ALONG THE EAST COAST OF CHINA. HIS BOLD FORAYS WERE COMPLICATED BY CONTINUAL BARRAGES FROM JAPANESE AIRPLANES AND BOATS AND BY SHALLOW WATERS THAT OFTEN FORCED HIM TO BRING HIS SUBMARINE TO THE SURFACE. HE SOMETIMES CAME SO CLOSE TO SHORE THAT HIS MEN WERE ABLE TO LAUNCH SABOTAGE MISSIONS ON LAND. ON JAN. 25, 1945, HE EMBARKED ON WHAT NAVY OFFICIALS, CALLED 'VIRTUALLY A SUICIDE MISSION -- A NAVAL EPIC.' IN 'AN EXCEPTIONAL FEAT OF BRILLIANT DEDUCTION AND BOLD TRACKING,' IN THE WORDS OF HIS MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION, HE FOUND MORE THAN 30 JAPANESE VESSELS LURKING IN A CONCEALED HARBOR PROTECTED BY MINES AND ROCKY SHOALS. EVADING A CORDON OF ARMED ESCORT BOATS, THE USS BARB SLIPPED INTO THE HARBOR ON A MOONLESS, CLOUDY NIGHT AND SCORED EIGHT DIRECT TORPEDO HITS ON SIX LARGE SHIPS. ONE OF THEM WAS AN AMMUNITION VESSEL, WHICH EXPLODED AND CAUSED 'INESTIMABLE DAMAGE BY THE RESULTANT FLYING SHELLS AND OTHER PYROTECHNICS,' ACCORDING TO THE MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION. AS HE WATCHED FROM THE BRIDGE OF HIS SUBMARINE, 'JAPANESE SHIPS WERE ERUPTING IN THE NIGHT LIKE A NEST OF VOLCANOES.' THE USS BARB THEN FLED AT HIGH SPEED 'THROUGH UNCHARTED ROCKY WATERS THICK WITH FISHING JUNKS,' PURSUED BY TWO JAPANESE GUNBOATS. BECAUSE OF THE SHALLOW WATER, THE SUBMARINE HAD TO STAY ON THE SURFACE, DODGING OBSTACLES AND STEADY FIRE FOR A FULL HOUR BEFORE REACHING THE SAFE DEPTHS OF THE OPEN SEA. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT MISSION, WAS THAT THEY COMPLETELY DISRUPTED THE ENTIRE SHIPPING SYSTEM THE JAPANESE HAD DEVELOPED AT THAT POINT IN THE WAR. ON OTHER OCCASIONS, HE MANEUVERED HIS SUBMARINE SO CLOSE TO SHORE THAT HE COULD BOMBARD COASTAL INSTALLATIONS WITH TORPEDOES AND GUNS. ON ITS FINAL PATROL IN 1945, THE USS BARB BECAME THE FIRST U.S. SUBMARINE EQUIPPED WITH BALLISTIC MISSILES. ONE TIME, HE SELECTED EIGHT COMMANDOS FROM HIS CREW TO PADDLE ASHORE IN RUBBER BOATS AND PLACE A 55-POUND BOMB UNDER RAILROAD TIES ON THE NORTHERN JAPANESE ISLAND THEN CALLED KARAFUTO. AS THE MEN WERE ROWING BACK TO THE BARB IN DARKNESS, THE PRESSURE-SENSITIVE CHARGE BLEW UP A 16-CAR TROOP TRAIN. IT WAS THE ONLY TIME IN WORLD WAR II THAT U.S. FORCES SET FOOT ON THE SOIL OF THE JAPANESE HOME ISLANDS. HE AND HIS 80-MAN CREW WERE CREDITED WITH SINKING 29 SHIPS, INCLUDING AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER, DESTROYER AND CRUISER. HE DESTROYED MORE GROSS TONNAGE THAN ANY OTHER SUBMARINE COMMANDER. FOR HIS WARTIME EXPLOITS, THE ADMIRAL BECAME KNOWN AS 'LUCKY FLUCKEY' AND THE 'GALLOPING GHOST OF THE CHINA COAST.' IN ADDITION TO THE MEDAL OF HONOR AND NAVY CROSSES (SECOND ONLY TO THE MEDAL OF HONOR), HE RECEIVED THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL, THE LEGION OF MERIT AND A HOST OF LESSER DECORATIONS. HIS GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT, HE OFTEN SAID, WAS THAT NO ONE UNDER HIS COMMAND EVER RECEIVED ANOTHER WELL-KNOWN MEDAL: THE PURPLE HEART.