"They were Expendable"

     Of late there has been a resurgence of interest in World War 2 which has naturally led to a rekindling of interest in the role of Motor Torpedo Boats in that conflict. There are even several PT related sites on the Internet. I have had numerous e-mail inquiries from college professors, novelists, historians and the children and grandchildren of those who rode the boats--- one combat artist even wondered what the radar mast was.

     In answering those queries I have gathered pictures and information that deserve some resting-place; a repository that will preserve them for the future. With that in mind I asked permission of the directors of Peter Tare to create a website on the Internet and they approved the idea.

     Peter Tare was formed in 1947 in the Nelson Room of the New York Yacht Club as an informal organization of those officers who served in PT’s so they could keep in touch and gather each year to renew old friendships and tell sea stories.

   To navigate, simply click on any of the bookmark "tabs" at the top of the screen.

    Robert C. Ruark, who had just attended the annual gathering of PT Officers in New York wrote in his May 3, 1950 column.

     "It was just a little shock to sit down with the PT skippers --- and remember that these bald-headed, gray-haired, mild looking men once represented the top in glamour as you fought the war...They were expendable men, like the book said, and reckless men, and daring men, and today they look just like you and me."

     "It is tough to remember that they wore stained khaki, and stole everything that wasn't nailed down to keep their craft operable, and that they sank Jap heavyweights with toy boats." 

     "It is a poignant sight, indeed, to see the dashing, swashbuckling heroes grown older, and chained to job and family, and to see the sentiment that attaches to the brave retrospect, when they have nearly forgotten the individual recklessness that made them invaluable at the time."

      One lasting conceit is that if the total tonnage reported sunken at our annual meetings actually happened, the war in the Pacific could have been over in 1943. We have met every year since 1947. Our final gathering will be in New Orleans in April of 2007.  

     I welcome pictures, articles, and letters from those who served in the boats and those interested in PT's and will consider using them on the site.  I can be reached at epb@bakerbrown.com

- Earle Palmer Brown (Ron8)