AUGUSTA – “AOOGAH” on the veterans registration plate, the bell tolls for lost hands, and the men wearing dolphin insignia were unmistakable signs of a gathering of submariners Sunday.

At Veterans Memorial Legion Post 205 they honored one of their own, Maurice “Bud” Scribner Jr., who had earned Holland Club membership because he qualified as a submariner more than 55 years ago. The Holland Club is a division of the United States Submarine Veterans Inc., a group of veteran submariners.

Scribner, 76, of Clinton, passed his sea trial in 1955 on board the USS Tusk (SS-426).

“The first six months I spent qualifying,” said Scribner, who was a sonar technician aboard the submarine.

He joined the service while attending electronics school in Key West, Fla. “I found out submarine work was hazardous duty and hazardous duty paid $97 more a month,” he said. With his marriage pending, he signed on.

The couple married on Dec. 1, 1954, at New London Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Conn. Records from the USS Tusk show Scribner joined the crew on June 2, 1955.

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After Scribner left the service in 1957, the couple raised three sons and a daughter. They spent about 19 years living in Indiana, where Scribner worked as a maintenance supervisor and safety consultant. They later returned to Maine, and Scribner retired in 2000.

Family members and other Holland Club members, as well as veterans belonging to the USS Maine Base of United States Submarine Veterans, Inc., attended Sunday’s ceremony honoring Scribner.

John S. Starbird Jr., the base commander who installed Scribner, invited a half-dozen other Holland Club members to join him in seats of honor.

He said Holland Club membership in Maine numbers between 50 and 55, and that those eligible in the state probably numbers between 600 and 700.

Information about the Holland Club and the United States Submarine Veterans, Inc., which reports 13,592 members, is available at www.ussvi.org/home.asp.

 


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