On Veterans Day, remembering Burlington native Frank Latta, lost at sea during World War II

World War I ground to its bloody halt at the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month of 1918.

As a silence settled over those apocalyptic killing fields of Europe, the victorious allied nations moved to honor those that served in the “war to end all wars” with an observance then known as Armistice Day.

But World War I failed to be the end of war and bloody conflicts continue to unspool. The list of battles and war dead grew. In 1954, Armistice Day faded away to be replaced by Veterans Day – a national holiday to honor those that had served in all our country’s armed conflicts.

Iowa should be especially sensitive to the respect owed the members of the military because the state has long been in the forefront of citizenry willing to serve.

This began with the Civil War - when Iowa was the northern state that sent the highest percentage of its young men to the battlefield. It was especially true in 1941 as the distant battlefields of World War II called Iowa’s young to the flag. And Burlington was not exempt as the world conflict upended lives.

A review of those that fell in the battles that would follow call forth familiar names. Families that were business leaders, professional stalwarts, and the men and women the drove the community forward saw their sons and daughters step forward. Many of those that served did not return.

More:Burlington-area Veterans Day deals and activities on Friday

Frank DeVere Latta was from one such family. The Lattas had long been one of the more prominent families in southeast Iowa. A church along Irish Ridge Road and train station near Sperry held that name.

But Frank was not to have an opportunity to burnish that family name because he had opted to follow a military career. In 1932, the 23-year-old Burlington man graduated from the Naval Academy.

The Navy was a logical choice for the athletic young man who had grown up rowing and sailing on the nearby Mississippi River. He flourished at the academy. After World War II began, Latta was in command of the submarine Narwahl.

In 1943, he conducted six patrols into enemy-held waters and “assisted materially in planning a series of extremely hazardous mission.” That service earned Latta the Navy Cross and Silver Star medals.

Latta was later given command of the submarine USS Lagarto, and there his story played out to a tragic end.

More:From honoring veterans to enjoying your day off, here are ways to celebrate Veterans Day

The Lagarto was built in Wisconsin, and in 1944 floated down the Mississippi River past Latta’s boyhood home to join the fleet at New Orleans. The ship was then brought to the Pacific and command was given to Latta, who joined a wolfpack searching for Japanese shipping in the Leyte Gulf.

On May 2, contact was made with enemy shipping and shortly before 10 p.m. the American ships maneuvered for the attack. The Japanese escort vessels utilized searchlights and withering gunfire from 4.7-inch guns and drove off the U.S. ships.

The next day, the Lagarto resumed the attack. A sister ship in the attacking wolfpack, Baya, was to report that later in the afternoon it arrived at an agreed spot but was greeted only by an empty sea.

The following day, the Baya sent messages every half hour to Latta’s craft, but there was no response. The Lagarto and its 86-man crew had vanished.

On Aug. 10, 1945, the Lagarto was listed as “overdue from patrol and presumed lost” and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. Shortly after, a telegram was delivered to Frank’s grandparents' home reporting his loss.

Latta and his ship may have remained among the lost had not a British diver, Jamie MacLeod, reviewed a post-war examination of Japanese records and found mention of a May 3, 1945, attack against a submerged submarine in the waters where the Lagarto was last reported.

On May 20, 2005, a group of private deep-sea divers followed directions in those war records and found the wrecked Lagarto sitting in 230 feet of water mostly intact and upright on the ocean floor. The mystery of the Lagarto’s disappearance was over.

Frank Latta and his crew never returned from the war and he never had the opportunity to once again ride his beloved motorcycle through Burlington streets. Latta family members would eventually leave the community and the memory of the young man that was willing to serve slowly fades.

Veterans Day is one of the few opportunities that the nation should pause and remember those that have given so much to its defense.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Remembering World War II veteran, Burlington native Frank Latta