Sailors lost on USS Thresher remembered in memorial service nearly 60 years after sinking

JAMES CORRIGAN WAS AT THAT SERVICE AND HAS THE STORY... BLAKE BILLINGS/SON OF USS THRESHER SAILOR 49-1:01 SENATOR JEANNE SHAHEEN/D-NEW HAMPSHIRE (PIANO MUSIC) A SONG FROM THE SON OF A SAILOR, WITH ITS WORDS STEMMING FROM THE SCARS HE STILL BEARS AFTER 60 YEARS, ALONG WITH MANY OF THE ATTENDEES AT THE MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR THE USS THRESHER SUBMARINE IN KITTERY NEARLY 6 DECADES TO THE DAY THAT IT SUNK DURING DEEP DIVE TESTS OFF THE MASSACHUSETTS COAST, KILLING 129 PEOPLE. "IT WILL NEVER CHANGE FOR ME. IT'S JUST BECOME A PART OF MYSELF AND IT'S MOVING TO SEE HOW MANY OTHER LIVES MY FATHER'S LIFE BECAME ENTWINED WITH." FOR BLAKE BILLINGS, THE SON OF LIEUTENANT COMMANDER JOHN BILLINGS, THE VERY ACT OF REMEMBERING AFTER 60 YEARS SPEAKS TO THE LEGACY OF THOSE WHO DID NOT COME HOME, INCLUDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUBSAFE, THE SAFETY PROGRAM THAT HAS LED TO NO CERTIFIED SUBMARINE SINKING SINCE. "IT'S A VERY POWERFUL SERVICE, BOTH IN TERMS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THRESHER TO THE NAVY AND TO ITS PROGRAMS AND SAFETY AND ALL OF THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE ADDRESSING THOSE QUESTIONS." IT WAS A LOSS THAT REVERBERATED THROUGHOUT THE SEACOAST, WHERE THE SHIP WAS BUILT AT THE PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD AND LEFT FROM PORTSMOUTH HARBOR ON ITS FINAL JOURNEY, BUT ALSO ALL OF AMERICA, AND THE DIGNITARIES, WHO SPOKE RECOGNIZED THAT THE SACRIFICES WERE NOT IN VAIN. (SHAHEEN) "EVERYONE ON BOARD THAT SUBMARINE THAT DAY KNEW THE RISKS AND DANGERS ASSOCIATED WITH DEFENDING OUR NATION. THEIR LEGACY OF SERVICE AND DEVOTION TO DUTY IS AN INSPIRATION TO ALL OF US." AND FOR BILLINGS, HE KNOWS THAT EVEN AFTER 60 YEARS, HIS FATHER'S PRESENCE WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. "MY FATHER WAS A PIANO PLAYER AS WELL, AND I GUESS I FEEL REALLY GREAT THAT HE'D PROBABLY BE REALLY PROUD TO BE SITTING HERE TO LISTEN TO THAT. A SONG FOR A SHIP THAT WILL BE SUNG FOR ALL THE YEARS T