Honolulu Advertiser January 8, 2019

Recently as I was strolling around the USS Bowfin Museum grounds at Pearl Harbor, I ran across a plaque listing the 300 plus crew members who served on her during the course of World War II. I barely glanced at it as I passed, but a name leaped out at me. Eugene Gaito. He was our Chief Engineman on the USS Tiru (SS-416), aboard from January 25, 1966 to October 15, 1967. I had known he served during WW II, but not on which boats. He was part of the commissioning crew of the USS Bowfin (SS-287) and made all nine war patrols between August 1943 and July 1945, one of six crew-members to do so.

That ’66-’67 WestPac trip we made with him on Tiru was memorable, to say the least. Gaito was a great chief, knew his stuff, and gave us young, wild Machinist Mates and Enginemen plenty of slack if we did our jobs, and a royal chewing if he thought we didn’t. He could make us laugh, too. On St. Patrick’s Day 1967 he dyed his white beard green! He was called “Green Gene” for awhile after that.

Gaito was a golfer. While underway he would practice his putting in the Forward Engine Room. Some of the balls would drop down through the hatch in front of the distilling units. Us young squids would have to go down to the lower level and retrieve them. The ones we couldn’t find floating in the bilge would absorb oil and get as big as softballs.  A couple of times during Pearl Harbor local operations COMSUBPAC Admiral Fluckey sent a helicopter to pick him up so they could go golfing. ‘Alligator’ Gaito must have been really good at that game.

About a month ago I was cleaning off my bookshelf and found something I had not read, “Bowfin” by Edwin P. Hoyt. I ran across Gaito’s name on page 182. While in the midst of reading the book I watched the History Channel documentary “USS Bowfin – Pearl Harbor Avenger”. About halfway through this guy pops up on my TV screen. It was him, same round face, same curly hair (but black, not white as I remember). What a thrill it was to see him again, though a twenty some years younger version then the picture stored in my memory.

After so many intrusions in such a short time I felt he was saying to me, “Remind the world that I existed, served my country, lived loved laughed, and then died, as all men do.” Or maybe something like that. So here it is, going out to some who remember him, and to others who I think may find something of interest in these few stories of his life and exploits. And to a couple of golfers.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a Motor Machinist Mate on March 7, 1940. Besides Bowfin and Tiru, he rode the USS Bonita (SS-165) from September 27, 1940 to November 26, 1942, USS Queenfish (SS-393) in ’47, USS Sea Dog (SS-401) in ’48, USS Caiman (SS-323) from ’52 to ’56, and was Chief Of The Boat on the USS Cusk (SS-348) between ’60 and ’62.

He lived in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and died on December 31, 1991, a day short of his 76th birthday. Born January 1, 1916 in New York. Survivors listed in his obituary included a sister, five grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren.

He is buried in Punchbowl National Cemetery, Section CT 1-B, Row 300, site 321. The next time I go to Punchbowl I’ll pay him a visit and say hello.

I am sending this out today, January 1st 2019, because it has been 103 years since his birth. Happy Birthday, shipmate.

Nelson Greer

(Thank you to my USS Tiru shipmates Les Hampton and David McCune for some stories, and to Charles Hinman, Director Of Education Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum, for some hard to find information and the photo of Gene.)