Even among the brave, silent men of the submarine fleet, 38-year-old Commander Samuel D. Dealey was a hero. As skipper of the submarine Harder, he had won four Navy Crosses, two Presidential citations. General MacArthur had awarded him the D.S.C. (for reasons withheld because of security). His force commander had recommended him for the nation's highest award, the Medal of Honor.
The Harder made history, though most of it was the Navy's guarded secret. Of one of her exploits the Navy Department wrote officially: "The most brilliant submarine patrol of the war." That was her next to last run. Last...