A native of Jefferson, Steward’s Mate Second Class Willie Daniel Young had been deemed missing since 1943.
He was included in a list of 42 sailors entombed in a wreckage of a World War II submarine off the coast of Key West, Florida. The wreckage of the USS R-12 (SS-89), the WWII submarine on which Young was assigned, was discovered in 600 feet of water off Key West on Oct. 10, 2010, by an exploration team lead by Tim Taylor aboard the expedition vessel “RV Tiburon.”
In making the discovery, the team deployed a state of the art autonomous underwater robot which collected first ever imagery of the remains of the R-12.
Young was the son of now deceased George and Maggie Young of Jefferson.
The R-12 foundered on a training mission June 12, 1943, sinking in less than 15 seconds.
According to reports by submarinebooks.com, the R-12 began its career as a World War I era sub that was re-commissioned for service in World War II. At the time of the sinking R-12 was engaged in war time patrol operations near Key West.
Only two officers and three enlisted men survived the disaster that claimed 42 lives.
For many years the Young family presumed that Willie Daniel was killed or missing. His mother prayed and had hope that their son would come walking up in the yard some day. Ernest Young, his nephew, would always ask his grandmother about the Navy man in the picture hanging on the wall “what happened to Uncle Daniel.”
The discovery of the wreckage was unknown to the family until June 6, 2011.
The family will always remember the sacrifice 18 year old Willie Daniel Young and his comrade sailors made for their country, and he will never be forgotten.
Information for this article was obtained by www.oneternalpatrol.com. and an article by Kerry Easley of the Texas Veterans Commission. It was originally published in the Jimplecute in 2011.