"They gave me no tests, no nothing. I was a radar tech, they needed me, they took me. And, fortunately, I had the attributes they needed." (Audio Interview, 28:10)

Marion L. Shinn

Marion L. Shinn, Ed.D. [2002] War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Navy Unit: USS Guavina (SS 362) Service Location: Boise, Idaho; Bremerton, Washington; New London, Connecticut; Mare Island, California; Marshall Islands; Palau; Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); Australia; Philippines; South China Sea; Pacific Theater Rank: Radar Technician Second Class Place of Birth: IN

Marion Shinn trained on radar in sub school in New London, CT, but had never even seen a sub while there. He boarded his first submarine, the USS Guavina (named for a fish), as it lay harbored in a Pacific atoll. He didn't have long to wait for action; on his first voyage the Guavina sank a Japanese ship and endured a barrage of depth charges. Even scarier was a nearly seven-hour depth charge attack in the South China Sea; as the Guavina lay on the bottom, 130 feet below the surface, Shinn was the only man on board working, as he monitored the movements of the attacking destroyer and whispered the information to the skipper. Despite his lack of on-boat training, Shinn adapted well to the claustrophobic life of the submariner.