Grenada
Author Joe C Comb 2nd
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2010
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Dedicated
To
The
19 men
Who died in
Service to their country
During Operation Urgent Fury
~~~
Grenada
If the Korea War is the forgotten war, Grenada is the lost war, even the name of the Grenada invasion is forgotten, Operation Urgent Fury. In Korea, we faced the other great communist nation, China. We did not know we were going to fight the Chinese. We thought we were only helping the South Koreans defend themselves against the North Koreans. Desert Storm was a war whose length was 100 hours, Grenada a war of 51 days. During Desert Storm, we faced the fifth largest military in the world (stop laughing, we are talking quantity not quality) with the whole world on our side (except Israel, Iran, and Russia). In Grenada, we were virtually alone (the other Caribbean nations asked for us and joined us) facing a handful of Cuban troops and we used a lot fewer troops than we did in Desert Storm. When we look back at Grenada, it seems more like a weekend of maneuvers than a war.
We look back in time and are sometimes awed by the heroic stands of Generals Washington, Lee, Patton and the men they led. Sometimes we forget that heroism is not just hardships that we face and overcome. Heroism is also the hardships we believed we were facing, hardships we did not want to face. Heroism is made in that moment when we ask ourselves “Why didn’t I go to college instead”, but we go forward. We go forward because of the ones we love. We go forward because of the buddies standing beside us, the buddies who are depending on us. We go forward because we know that if we do not go, no one else will. We do not want to be in this place and time we want to run. If that place and time is Grenada October 25, 1983, when the danger is over, we give a sigh of relief, smile at our buddies and say, “that wasn’t so bad”. No, that was not so bad. However, in the beginning, it looked bad it looked very bad.
Submarine operations are always classified. I cannot say which submarine I was on, our exact location or even the dates we were in the Caribbean. However, Grenada was my war. I never set foot on Grenada; we were patrolling the eastern Caribbean Sea. Just days before the war, we took onboard every torpedo we could cram into our torpedo room. If you wanted to go from the back of the torpedo room to the front, you crawled over torpedoes, or went up one level and came down at the front of the torpedo room. We had never had that many torpedoes onboard. I thought it was odd to have that many weapons just for a training exercise, but hey, the navy does many strange things. We pulled out of port and headed south at high speed. This seemed odd too, submarines are noisy at high speed, but in the navy, you learn to shrug it off.
The United States invaded Grenada just before we got to our patrol area. The news took me by surprise, but the real surprise was when I got to the sonar shack. Any sonar contacts we found, unless we knew they were not Soviet ships, we were to send a position report to the fleet. Submarines do not transmit at sea; it gives away your position. So, that was it. A full load of torpedoes, transmitting position reports, and looking for Soviet ships, we were going to war and Washington expected the Soviets to join the party. I remember being scared. I remember wondering how many Soviet submarines we would sink before one got us. I remember wishing I had gone to that music college in Massachusetts. I also remember thinking how much luckier I was than those marines on Grenada. It would be over quick for us, the sea is deep and our submarine would implode before it hit the bottom. No mud, no dirt, no blood, no mess one second you are watching the depth gage, the next you are gone.
Those marines were being shot at and dying. I am sure those marines were keeping one eye on the sky looking for Soviet paratroopers. Was Grenada really worth world war three? No, Grenada was not worth world war three, but China came to the aid of North Korea and Cuba was certainly just as important to the Soviet Union. Castro would not have invaded Grenada without getting Andropov’s approval. If the Soviets did come, they would move swiftly and with enough troops to overwhelm those marines. We are not talking about some third world nation; this is the Soviet Union, the other superpower. When the Soviets did come, they would air drop in troops to take the island and the Soviet fleet would be bringing more troops and supplies. Those marines had to act fast. They had to take the island before the Soviets had a chance to send in paratroopers. If they did not, the Soviets would have a safe place to land troops to reinforce the Cubans.
Thirty years later, I look back and think, “Boy was I silly, all that worry for nothing”. I am sure that many of those marines, the ones wondering if the Soviets were coming, also look back thinking “I was worried for nothing”. However, those concerns were not for nothing. Those marines did not know that the Soviets were not coming, none of us did. Therefore, when I think of heroes and heroic stands the marine expeditionary force that took Grenada is high on my list. Not because they fought an epic battle, but because we all believed, they were facing an epic battle against the Soviet Union. When you are climbing into a landing craft, you do not have next year’s history book to tell you what you are facing; climbing into that landing craft, you have your buddies, your training, and what your gut tells you. If Washington had the navy loaded for war and out looking for Soviet ships that was enough for my gut to tell me this was a war between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Today our worst fears are terrorism and economic collapse. In 1983, at the height of the cold war, our worst fear was war with the Soviet Union. A war with the Soviet Union was a war that could lead to nuclear war. The Soviet Union was not a nation to be trifled with; they crushed allies who dared to think of democracy (look at the handful of revolts in communist Eastern Europe). President Reagan was not going to boycott the Olympics, right or wrong he stood toe to toe with the Soviets and looked them in the eye. President Reagan was enlarging the military to counter the Soviet Union around the world. On that day so long ago in 1983 we faced the very real possibility that war with the Soviet Union was only days away. Therefore, I honor those marines, not because they defeated a few Cubans, but because they faced the Soviet Union. They did not run, as I wanted too. Underpaid, underappreciated and even disrespected by some Americans (this was not too many years after Vietnam); those marines went forward into a battle they would not survive if the Soviet Union joined. They did not flinch or cower they did their job and they made it look easy.
Those marines are my heroes, everyone one of them.
~~~
Joe & Elizabeth Combs
THE AUTHOR
Joe Combs served in the United States Navy from Jan 25, 1980 to Nov 8, 1988 serving aboard the USS City of Corpus Christ SSN 705 and the USS John Marshall SSN 611. Joe also spent considerable time at sea on the USS Dallas, USS Philadelphia and the USS Boston. He now lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and daughter.
Elizabeth Combs attends kindergarten and dance classes. She lives with her parents in Columbus, Ohio.
Joe is also the author of:
Titanic, A Search for Answers
Christmas Patrol
The Art Teacher
One last Thought
A Grandfather’s legacy
How To Connect With Me.
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