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March 21, 2007
42 Days
Today is March 21. I want you to think back for a moment. Back to February 7, to be specific. That's six weeks ago, although in the midst of a hectic life it can seem eons. Can you remember what you were doing that day? Can you even begin to recount all that you have done between that day and today. All the nice meals, the car trips, visits with friends, lazy Sunday mornings, etc etc.
Now imagine that you spent all that time sitting in one spot. And imagine that spot is in an open lifeboat on the Atlantic Ocean with 28 other guys. That’s what Don Zubrod (my dad’s “kind-of-cousin”) did in 1943. The Roger B. Taney, a Liberty Ship on which he was the Purser, was sunk by a U-boat on February 7th, and he spent 42 days in a lifeboat. They sailed more than 2500 miles before they were rescued on March 23rd. Friday will mark the 64th anniversary of his rescue. The 6’1” Zubrod weighed only 140 when the ordeal began—by the time it was over, he was down to 85 pounds.
Don is alive and well and living outside Atlanta. He's 83 now. I talked to him yesterday, to tell him that an article I wrote about Liberty Ships (with a prominent sidebar about him) will appear in the May/June issue of The History Channel magazine. He mentioned that his memories are particularly strong this time of year, as he once again counts the days that he spent on the lifeboat. After the war he tracked down the U-boat captain who sunk his ship and had lunch with him! Don probably didn't eat a lot at that meal--he says that his stomach must have shrunk on his lifeboat journey, he's never really felt hungry again.
The image at left is a picture of the Taney at the Bethlehem-Fairchild Shipyard in Baltimore, awaiting it's final fittings before setting out on the brief seagoing career that would end on the bottom of the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. (If you click on it you can see a larger version).
Posted by rickbeyer at 06:01 PM | Comments (1)