Sailors who died in submarine attack honored at south Georgia ceremony

BRUNSWICK: Five fallen World War II Merchant Marine sailors are being remembered for their sacrifices.

The men were honored this week in a ceremony in Brunswick’s Palmetto Cemetery, The Brunswick News reported.

A German submarine sank the SS Oklahoma and the Esso Baton Rouge off St. Simons Island in an early-morning attack on April 8, 1942.

Twenty-two civilian sailors and Navy Guardsmen were killed. Five who could not be immediately identified were buried in Brunswick. Their identities remained unknown until local historian Michael Higgins began working to identify them and contact their family members.

Tuesday’s memorial service to honor the men coincided with National Maritime Day, a recognition of the maritime industry and sailors who died at sea.

While some may say that the men of the torpedoed tankers failed in their mission 70 years ago, Higgins said that’s not the case.

“True, their ship was sunk, lives were forfeited, their mission to deliver the fuel was not completed,” Higgins said. “But, more importantly, in the larger sense, they sent a message. The message they sent to the Axis powers was simple: You will not intimidate us.”

Sonja Olsen Kinard was 8 years old when the two cargo ships were hit. Her father, Olaf H. Olsen, who captained a yacht for Charles Chandler, an owner of Cocoa-Cola, picked up survivors in Chandler’s 42-foot Fairform Flyer, the Florida Times-Union reported.

There were 54 survivors who were brought around St. Simons to the U.S. Coast Guard boathouse on the Frederica River, Kinard said.

“They were on the ramp wrapped up in blankets,” she said. “People took them into their homes.”

The sailors honored at this week’s ceremony are Charles Rivette, Osswald Ryder, Alfredo Carmona, Joseph Geary and Arthur Genter.