Connecticut Memorials || The Names Project Index


U.S. SUBMARINE VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY
GROTON CONNECTICUT
Dedicated on 13 July 2002

U.S. SUBMARINE VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGHWAY.     This is the name approved by the Connecticut House, Senate and Governor Rowland. The section of dedicated highway consists of Connecticut Route 12 starting in Groton at the intersect with I-95, past the SUBASE and approximately 8 miles to Preston CT, just before Route 2A.

Images above contributed by John Wynn - Groton Base USSVI


Copy of original letter to achieve a SubVet Highway designation in Connecticut

 

Story below copied from THE DAY Online

Submarine veterans get a road to call their own
By Robert Westervelt
Published in THE DAY on 07/14/2002

Groton Submarine veteran John Deane, of East Lyme, remembers a time more than 50 years ago when the old Route 12 used to run right through the Groton Naval Submarine Base.

His memory of the old road, still called Military Highway, is as vivid as the day he was first stationed at the submarine base as a quartermaster and signaling navigator.

Deane, 77, was standing at attention Saturday. Tears welled up in his eyes as he and other members of the U.S. Submarine Veterans Groton Base celebrated the renaming of a stretch of the new Route 12 in honor of all submarine veterans. State highway signs are already up from Preston through the Route 2A intersection in Ledyard to the Route 184 overpass in Groton, officially designating the busy route the "U.S. Submarine Veterans Memorial Highway."

"I get awful emotional about things when I think about all the sub vets that came through here," Deane said.

Deane was a founding member and first president of the U.S. Subvets Groton Base group, established in 1957. Today its membership is about 1,780 former submariners from all over the United States and overseas.

"We're a small group and we're very proud of the service that submariners have given this nation over the course of its history," he said.

Dozens of members gathered with their families and representatives from the town of Groton and the submarine base for the unveiling of the new highway sign as cars on Route 12 sped by a few feet away from the ceremony.

The event also included a salute to the more than 52 submarines lost at sea since World War II. The tolling of a bell signified each submarine and crew that never made it back to shore.

"There are many roads in Connecticut named after many organizations and groups, but until now there were none named in honor of submarine veterans," said Capt. Bill Hanson, commanding officer of the U.S. Naval Submarine School.

 
 
Bud Atkins, vice commander of the Groton Base Submarine Veterans, salutes as a bell rings for submarines that have been lost.
 
In the foreground is a sign that marks a section of Route 12 as the Submarine Veterans Memorial Highway. Image: Dana Jensen / The Day

"All submariners " those in the past, those who are currently serving and those who will call Groton their home in the future " should be honored with this official naming."

John Carcioppolo, the current commander of the U.S. Submarine Veterans Groton Base organization, said he first thought of naming the highway in honor of submariners during a trip to Yankee Stadium.

During the trip to the Bronx, Carcioppolo saw many roads named after U.S. Army groups and other military organizations.

When he returned to Groton, he was more determined than ever to get Route 12 named in honor of submarine veterans.

"It's a really special feeling to know that we'll have this honor years and years into the future," he said. "It's an honor that all submarine veterans will share and something that we'll hold close to our hearts."

Speaking as master of ceremonies Saturday, Carcioppolo expressed the reasons why he believes Route 12 is the perfect road to honor submarine veterans.

"It has been traveled daily by thousands of submariners and those who support the submarine force," he said. "On either side of this highway many submarine sailors' families have resided in Navy housing over the years, waiting for their sailors to return."

State Rep. Nancy DeMarinis, D-Groton, helped push through a bill authorizing the naming of the highway. "Many in this community built those boats, and others lived on them and know the stories that go with them," she said Saturday.

TOP