My granddad passed away friday. He was an extraordinary man, and an honor to have known him. He will be missed deeply. I tried to keep my mind off things this past weekend with having friends over, playin' the Stones and rockband, but tomorrow reality will finally hit me and realize he's in a better place. To anyone who has any family or friends overseas or in the military at home, I have the most respect for you and your friends, it's nice to know there's more decent people in the world than we think.......sorry for ranting, just felt like sharing this. This is an article from today's paper.




COLUMBIA — Capt. Pemberton Southard, 90, USN (Ret.), died Friday, October 24, 2008, in Wildwood Downs Assisted Living in Columbia, S.C.

He was born in Augusta, Maine, a son of the late Frank E. and Edith Pemberton Southard.

Capt. Southard graduated from the Naval Academy in 1941 and was commissioned an ensign. His first duty was on the USS Lang, March 1941 to June 1944, “George” to executive officer in charge Destroyer Fire Control School in Norfolk, Va., for six months. He went on to commission the USS Myles C. Fox, one of the first radar picket ships, as executive officer in March 1945, and to the Pacific for the invasion of Japan. WWII ended and he took command of the USS Doran and assisted in mine-clearing duties for Kobe Harbor, Japan. He then went on to the Vermilion as executive officer in March 1947 and finally to shore duty at the Bureau of Naval Personnel in August 1948. A stint at the Naval War College in the Command and Staff course class of 1951 followed. He spent two years as plans officer and then commander of Amphibious Group TWO and in July 1953 he assumed command of the USS Turner, home-ported in Newport, R.I. In 1955 he was assigned to the Naval War College staff and went back to sea in April 1958 as commander of Escort 18, the Atlantic Barrier DERs. After a year as executive of the Naval Station, Key West, Fla., he reported as C.O. and professor of Naval Science of the N.R.O.T.C. unit at Princeton University, N.J., in August 1960. Next he was the commanding officer of the USS Grand Canyon, Newport, R.I., from August 1964 to October 1966. He then became chief staff officer of the Fleet Training Group at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The next two years were spent on the staff of the Commandant First Naval District Boston as deputy chief of staff for Naval Reserve and completed active duty after three years as C.O. Fleet Training Center, Newport, R.I., where he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.

As one who went to the east coast from Pearl Harbor during fleet maneuvers in the spring of 1941 to patrol out of Bermuda during President’s Roosevelt’s undeclared war, he made two trips to the Mediterranean via Scapa Flow and Gibralter, escorting the carrier USS Wasp in the spring of 1942 for Spitfire plane reinforcement of Malta.

In July 1942, USS Lang made its way to the South Pacific to assist Guadalcanal invasion. There he was awarded the Silver Star Medal for the Vella Gulf action as executive officer of the Lang in August 1943.

With 15 years of shore duty and 15 years of sea duty, he traversed about 200,000 miles of ocean with about 17,000 underway hours.

After the commissioning of the USS Myles C. Fox in March of 1945 at the Boston Naval Shipyard, Capt. Southard wrote a letter to Hirohito, Emperor of Japan and told him that he was executive officer of the USS Lang which had sunk three of his destroyers in the night action of Vella Gulf in 1943. He told him he was now coming back in a new Radar Picket Destroyer to sink more of his ships, shoot down his planes, and assist in the bombardment and landing on the shores of Japan. He told Hirohito that if he was real smart and carefully analyzed the future of Japan, he would immediately surrender to the United States of America.

And do you know what happened? As the Myles C. Fox was steaming to Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean as part of a large carrier task force, en route to the invasion of Japan, Hirohito surrendered. It wasn’t the “A” Bomb - he had received Capt. Southard’s letter. That was the real story of how WWII ended.

Capt. Southard made 17 moves in thirty years of service with the last one, 1971 retirement with his wife Jane to Lady’s Island in Beaufort, S.C., and spent 15 years as treasurer for the Lady’s Island-St. Helena fire district and was very proud of the accomplishments that were made during that time. He was an outstanding husband, father, grandfather, friend and a leader of men.

Capt. Southard is survived by his son, Joseph Southard, a 1969 graduate of The Citadel, an Army lieutenant, Vietnam veteran and survivor and his wife, Mary Evelyn Southard, of Cayce, S.C.; a grandson, Joseph Christopher Southard of Lexington, S.C.; a step-granddaughter, Renee Pound of Gaston, S.C.; and two stepgreat-grandchildren, Cory and Chase Pound.

He was predeceased by a brother, Frank E. Southard, Jr.

A graveside service will be held Wednesday, October 29, 2008, at 12:30 p.m. in Beaufort National Cemetery with full military honors.

The family will receive friends following the service.

Copeland Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.

All my thoughts to you. I have lost my father-in-law, his sister (the aunt of my wife, therefore), two cousins and a former colleague from work this year. The Queen would say this is our annus horribilis.

X



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-09-10 19:31 by UrbanSteel.

Hey man...be well. You and your family are in my thoughts

My condolences CrazyDadda

I am sorry for your loss.

sad news, I am so sorry. my deepest sympathy to you.

sorry to hear your news.

i lost my mother 3 years ago, as time passes i miss her more and losing a parent isnt something people really come to terms with.

life goes on though and you will always find the strength to roll on with it.

Please accept my condolences. What a great man your grandfather was! I am certain that I speak for others too when I express how thankful I am for men like him, who served our country well, and bravely and honorably defended our freedoms.

I hope you are consoled not only by the memories you have of him, but by the knowledge that he lived a very long and meaningful life.

God bless.

RIP.
One love

What an incredible life your grandfather lived. He was one of the greatest of the Greatest Generation.

May he rest in peace.

On the positive side, he seemed to have an active life which he lived to the full leaving behind a lot of folks with fond memories of him.

I know exactly how you feel, my dad passed away just over a year ago. He was in Poland when war started, managed to escape to fight in France & then escaped to Scotland. These guys experienced a sort of life that makes mine look pale by comparison.

Hang in there, the pain softens but the memories stay hard as ever

I see it hard to deal with , but i'm not SORRY for you , I see he was a great man , he really loved you and was an important person for you.
he died , but i assume he died with happiness .
So , you should be happy man!!
I think that dying happy means you trascended in your life and you won the life's race , he's on heaven now.

Anyway , who am I to say that? I'm only 15.
Get happy
Greets



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-10-29 04:56 by mexicostone.

My condolences...lost my dad to cancer 10 years ago this month (he was only 62 and had been fighting it for five years) and I still haven't got over it. Fortunately there is always a positive side as my mom is turning 78 and still going strong. Remember the good times and keep your head high!

Sorry to hear. My condolences CrazyDadda

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Keep On Rolling

Quote
mexicostone
I see it hard to deal with , but i'm not SORRY for you , I see he was a great man , he really loved you and was an important person for you.
he died , but i assume he died with happiness .
So , you should be happy man!!
I think that dying happy means you trascended in your life and you won the life's race , he's on heaven now.

Anyway , who am I to say that? I'm only 15.
Get happy
Greets

wise words from the kid...it sounds like your g'dad had some good stories to tell...

sorry to hear your news- hang in there
best wishes.

Sparing a moment to think of you mate.
We've many of us been there and we all will at some time or other.
Your friends and family will get you through it.. and you'll be left with many warm memories.

Sad to hear your news - it sounds like your granddad was a great person who had a long and interesting life, so of course you'll miss him - but be thankful that you knew him, and for all the things he taught you and the happy memories.

may his memory be eternal .my sympathy and condolences to you and your family !

Sorry to hear your news.

DaveG posting, says it all for me.

All I can say is, get out of bed in the morning, look at the sun rising, drink a nice hot cup of coffee and smile. Life is good. It's wonderful to know someone lived their life like that. That is what it's about in the end - what someone did. Not really so much what they did, but that they did it, whatever it is. Sorry to read about it. I would like to think he saw a lot of sunrises with a hot cup of coffee. When you think about how busy our lives are, a cup of coffee and a sunrise is a nice pause before the day.

So...a toast to your grandfather, whether he liked coffee or not. It's just a metaphor I guess. Sunrise, sunset - it's all nice no matter what. Hope you're doing well.

Thanks for all the wonderful sympathies, means alot, many thanks

Sorry for your loss. "Hero" is a greatly overused term in this day and age. Your grandfather certainly fitted that description.

I will certainly keep you and your family in prayers during this time.

They can take everything away from you, except your love and memories

All love and sympathy to you, my Stones friend. Believe me, I know what you are going through.

Your grandad was the business. What a great man. Condolensces and sympathy.

grandparents are special. you were lucky to have them in your life. precious memories.