RIP Tony Curtis

Long before Tony Curtis became a gay icon known for his cross-dressing onscreen with Marilyn Monroe and of course, "Spartacus," (and also for being the father of Jamie Lee Curtis), he was Bernard Schwartz, a Jewish kid from New York City. At 17 he joined the Navy, and he wanted to be a submariner.


Bernard Schwartz, 1943.

He was assigned to be a tender to submarines on Guam, where he would scrape off the barnacles and clean the sub up when it came back from war patrol. Dirty work for sure, but Curtis never qualified for permanent duty aboard a sub. He was however onboard the USS Proteus when she steamed for the Japanese submarine base at Yokosuka where he witnessed the historic signing of the famous Document of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri.



He was standing on the signal bridge and actually got to witness the formal surrender of the Japanese, thus closing WWII into history.

He died in his home in Las Vegas Sept. 29, 2010.

The Mosquito Fleet

An unsung part of WWII naval history is the role the PT boats played. Basically there to harass the Japanese and hunt subs, PT boat crews were home to 12-15 men on an 80-foot-long wooden boat. They carried torpedoes, depth charges, and 50mm and 20mm machine guns. They were dirty, non-regulation squids that were WWII's equivalent to pirates.



Crew of PT-190 in the South Pacific. The broom signifies a successful mission.