The Utah Chapter of the U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II will dedicate a memorial at 2 p.m. today to friends and shipmates who lost their lives during the war.
Visitors are welcome to attend the ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park, located south of Bluffdale and along U-68, an extension of Redwood Road.The memorial has been constructed primarily to honor 79 officers and crew members who lost their lives Aug. 24, 1944, when the USS Harder (SS 257) sunk near the west coast of Luzon, Philippines. It also honors some 3,600 men who died aboard 52 U.S submarines.
Two former Harder crewmen who were transferred off the submarine before the ship went down are expected to take part in the ceremony. Other participants include the Taylorsville High School Band and members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The memorial features a Mark 14 steam-turbine-powered torpedo, bronze plaques and a flagpole.
The national submarine veterans organization, which held its 1995 convention in Salt Lake City, has assigned each state chapter a submarine to memorialize.