V5202

Medals of Honor

Navy & Marine Highest and Prestigious Decoration

Collins Cover Announcement 

MEDAL OF HONOR

Howard W. Gilmore

Gilmore enlisted in the Navy at age 18 in 1920 and in 1922 was appointed to Annapolis by competitive examination. He finished the Academy ranked 34":' in a class of 426 and in 1930 underwent submarine training. The day after Pearl Harbor was attacked, he was assigned to take command of the USS Growler.

During his first patrol, the Growler encountered three enemy destroyers. One was sunk, and the other two were heavily damaged. Gilmore received the Navy Cross for this action. On the sub's second patrol, four ships totaling 15,000 tons were sunk in the East China Sea.

On the Growler 's fourth patrol, the sub approached an enemy convoy at night for a surface attack. Suddenly a Japanese escort ship, the Hayasaki, appeared out of the darkness. The enemy crew fired machine guns, killing the junior officer and a lookout. Three were wounded including Commander Gilmore. Everyone still alive made it inside except the skipper who knew he couldn't _get to safety in time. He gave the order, "Take her down" as he chose to make the supreme sacrifice to save his shipmates and the Growler. Commander Howard W. Gilmore was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

My individually hand painted cachet shows the submerged Growler firing a torpedo. It joins the Curtiss P-40 •Flying_ Tiger previously offered as a fine pair of World War II cachets for the two Medal of Honor stamps. The USS. Growler is now ready. Collins #V5202 — $14.00.