A U.S. submarine prowled around a Jap-held island. From the bridge her commander watched Navy planes raiding enemy installations ashore. One of the planes was hit by flak. A parachute bloomed, and the pilot, Ensign Donald Brandt of Cincinnati, flumped into the water two miles offshore.
When the sub moved in for a rescue, Jap shore batteries opened up on it. Shells landed so close that the skipper was forced to submerge. Then & there, he invented a brand-new rescue technique.
With only the top of his periscope above water, the skipper eased his craft close to the airman. Twice Brandt paddled away,...