Mike Mehallo (1923–2006). My dad, the decorated WWII veteran.
Also, the guy who once tried to sink a German submarine with a potato.
North Atlantic, merchant ship convoy with Navy escorts.
Radio silence. A periscope appears in the water next to the ship. Obviously a German sub, close quarters. Too close to fire a torpedo.
And because it was a supply ship: No weapons on board, just a few tons of potatoes.
My dad’s plan: Try to hit the periscope with a potato, break the mirror, blind the U‑boat, force it to surface. Then maybe one of the Navy ships can take a shot at it.
Seemed like a good idea – things like that always worked in the movies – and they didn’t have much else to do anyway.
War involves a lot of just sitting around, waiting for hell to break loose. But pretty much, it is A LOT of sitting around.
So,
the crew unloaded on the periscope with every single potato on board.
The periscope just followed along. No one hit the mark.
Eventually, the sub simply left the convoy.
But word got out that there was some crazy navigator on a merchant ship hell bent on trying to sink a German sub with a potato. Said he heard about it for pretty much the rest of the war.
Potato guy.
Potato guy who got everyone on board to throw their entire haul of potatoes into the Atlantic Ocean.
He said it would have all been worth it if he could just have seen the looks on the faces of the German crew as the barrage of potatoes flew at them.
Extremis malis extrema remedia
[desperate times call for desperate measures]
Hug a veteran today.
Maybe they have a potato story too.
—steve mehallo
Flommist Steve Mehallo is a graphic designer, illustrator, font designer, educator, foodie and gadfly. He is the creator and founder of FLOMM! Image sources: Wikipedia and WW2Today.
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