Monument to Howard Walter Gilmore

Located within the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park and erected by the U.S Submarine Veterans, World War II - Alabama Chapter, this monument commemorates the military service of Commander Howard Walter Gilmore. Gilmore distinguished himself in a series of attacks against Japanese vessels in the Pacific Theatre and is best known for quick decision-making and self-sacrifice that saved the lives of numerous sailors. Gilmore was the first submariner to receive the Medal of Honor in WWII. This monument stands along side three other submariner monument in the USS Alabama memorial park as part of the USS Drum Submarine section commemorating the brave exploits of Alabaman submariners during WWII.

Howard Walter Gilmore was born on September 29, 1902, and enlisted in the Navy after finishing high school in Texas. In 1922 Gilmore joined the Naval Academy and graduated as an ensign and began training as a submariner in 1931. One year later, Gilmore married Hilda St. Raymond and the couple had two children. After climbing the ranks of the Navy throughout the late 1930s, Gilmore was named the commander of the the USS Growler in 1941, a submarine that served in the Pacific Theater of WWII.

Gilmore and his crew successfully eliminated or critically damaged seven Japanese vessels while evading enemy countermeasures during their service. On February 7, 1943, Gilmore faced his greatest challenge. The USS Growler surfaced somewhere around Micronesia in order to attack a Japanese convoy. Gilmore's crew were spotted by Japanese gunboat that was disguised as a merchant ship. The Japanese gun boat turned to ram the Growler, but in a moment of quick decision-making, Gilmore ordered the submarine to ram into its attacker. The now sinking gun boat turned its machine guns to the men on the bridge. It was at this time that Gilmore realized he did not have enough time to make it back into the submarine and still save his men. He turn to his crew and told them to "Take her down!". The sacrifice Gilmore made gave his crew enough time to submerge their damaged but operational submarine and escape.

Gilmore was the first submariner to receive the Medal of Honor in WWII along with the Navy Cross with one gold star, Purple Heart Medal, American Defense Medal with Fleet Clasp, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal and the Submarine Combat insignia with three stars. Despite his crews trips out to where they believed their commanders body was, Gilmore's body was never recovered so his name is listed on the Wall of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. 

Lange, Katie. Medal of Honor Monday: Navy Cmdr. Howard Walter Gilmore, US Department of Defense. February 7th 2022.

Accessed July 22nd 2022. https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/story/Article/2921185/medal-of-honor-monday-

navy-cmdr-howard-walter-gilmore/.

Miller, Richard E. "Take Her Down!" Howard Walter Gilmore, Commander, U.S.N., HMdb.org. February 3rd 2022. Accessed

July 22nd 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=74811.

Howard W. Gilmore (AS-16), Naval History and Heritage Command. July 22nd 2015. Accessed July 22nd 2022.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/howard-w-gilmore-as-16.html.