Last weekend, the trophy wife and I completed back-to-back marathons.  The first was 26.2 miles along Lake Superior, with the second skirting the shoreline of Lake Michigan.  Because I am incredibly compromising, I added one extra day to our trip for the actual tourist stuff the trophy wife insists we do.  Doing nothing on purpose, with no objective, for an entire day is not easy for me, but Monday morning we toured the Manitowoc Maritime Museum.  Honestly, it was time well spent.      

 The museum houses fascinating maritime displays; objects completely foreign to this Montana country kid, and the grand finale is a guided tour through the Gato-class submarine, the USS Cobia.  During World War II, the Manitowoc Shipbuilder Company assembled 28 similar submarines and climbing down steep steps into the fore torpedo room before slowly squeezing through 300 feet of its inner workings was educational, inspiring and humbling.  For the public’s comfort, the Cobia display is equipped with air conditioning, but in 1945, the crowded chambers maintained a muggy 90 to 130 degrees depending on one’s proximity to the engine room.  Back then smoking on the sub was not prohibited.    

 With a crew of 80, the USS Cobia was armed with 24 torpedoes plus deck guns.  Her time underwater was only limited by battery life and the crew’s tolerance to re-cycled air.  Submariners were special volunteers who, having passed extensive psychological testing, repeatedly proved they could fight in the most adverse conditions.  Submarine warfare, like freedom, is an all or nothing game.  Due to the nature of underwater battles, casualties typically included both the vessel plus her entire crew.  Ralph Huston from Parkersburg, West Virginia, was Cobia’s exception to this rule.

 On February 27, 1945, the Cobia found herself in a surface firefight with two Japanese sea trucks.  Even though badly wounded, Ralph continued firing his 20-mm gun until the enemy vessels were destroyed.  Ralph’s wounds proved fatal and his shipmates sadly interred his remains at sea.  As his body sank into the depths of the Pacific, his soul rested in the hands of God.  This young man’s sacrifice inspired today’s point.

 Service men of World War II, especially the submariners like Ralph Huston, were ordinary people with the courage to do extraordinary things.  Our liberty is secured through the selfless sacrifice of courageous patriots; character traits today’s progressives purposely paint as evil.  Once 50 percent of the electorate accept progressivism and embrace sensitivity training, safe spaces and surrender as the supreme ideal, America will be a nation gone under.