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Thurlow Wauchope at Fort Casey in Pudget Sound

This picture was taken at Fort Casey in Pudget Sound and is of the type of coast artillery used at Fort Stevens and elsewhere. Uncle Thurlow Wauchope is on the left and self (Bruce Stennett) on the right. Virginia took the picture and a great friend and true American John Heinz took us there from Port Angeles. This was back about 1998 and Thurlow passed away in February, 2000. Yesterday, Nov 11, 2009, being Veterans’ Day brought this all back to me, being the family historian. Thurlow was like a little kid at Christmas around that giant gun.  The guns were first designed in 1895 and used up through WWII. The one here was acquired by the Washington State Parks Dept. from the Philippines, where Uncle fought the enemy.

The sub, I-25, that shelled Fort Stevens on June 20, 1942, went on down the Oregon coast and launched a small plane which bombed the area just to the north of the California border and east of the city of Brookings. The pilot dropped incendiary bombs to start forest fires but our rainy weather didn’t allow for that. The sub also torpedoed 2 freighters and sank a Soviet sub with an American liaison officer on board. I-25 then went down to Australia on recon missions and was sunk in 1943 by the USS Patterson. The pilot of the plane which bombed us came to Oregon a few decades ago and presented his family samurai sword to the City of Brooking, which is just a few miles north of the California border. He came in peace and was welcomed warmly and rode in the annual Brookings Memorial Day Parade.   His sword is on display at the city hall. The pilot passed away a few years ago.

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