This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A memorial service for the crew of the USS Harder — a celebrated submarine that fought in World War II — is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Utah Veterans Memorial Park at Camp Williams.
The Harder executed five successful war patrols in the Pacific and was sunk on its sixth, struck by enemy depth charges in Dasol Bay in the Philippines, according to the Naval History & Heritage Command. Commander Samuel D. Dealey was particularly remembered for leading the fifth patrol in June 1944, when the Harder sank five Japanese destroyers with five short-range torpedo attacks off Tawi Tawi in the Philippine Islands, it adds.
Walker Neal Snyder, a 19-year-old torpedoman's mate from Salt Lake City, was among those lost August 24, 1944.
The Submarine Veterans of World War II erected a memorial to the USS Harder at Camp Williams Memorial Park in 1997, part of a project to put a memorial in each state to the 52 U.S. submarines lost in the war. The monument, a tribute to the Harder crew and other U.S. Navy submariners, lists the 52 subs.
The park is at 17111 Camp Williams Road in Riverton. The service is an effort by members of the U.S. Submarine Veterans Inc. and the Submarine Veterans of World War II, which have joined forces in Utah. It will also be attended by the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps and U.S. Navy Sea Cadet Corps.