The fate of the 118 crew members of the Russian submarine Kursk, lying 350-feet deep on the bottom of the Barents Sea, is not known as I write this. President Vladimir Putin, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, finally asked for international help, though he callously continued to vacation at a Black Sea resort for days as 22 Russian vessels tossed in heavy seas above the downed sub, trying in vain to effect a rescue. The British and Norwegians have sent equipment that may help, though the bow of the submarine is badly damaged, perhaps as the result of an explosion or collision, and at least one attempt to open an escape hatch has failed.

Troubled by this incident on many different levels, I went across the street to talk to my neighbor, John Potter, who is a Naval Academy graduate and former submarine Navy Reserve Commander. (I’ve previously written about John’s AirLifeLine flying.) When I asked John for his initial reaction to the fate of the Kursk crew, he shook his head sadly and said simply, "Those poor bastards."

When John entered the Naval Academy, he wanted to fly. He had hoped to enroll in flight training, but his poor eyesight kept him out of the program. Searching for other adventures, he went one summer to Hawaii where he worked as a midshipman aboard the diesel submarine Catfish. He enjoyed the experience and decided to apply for duty in the nuclear submarine force run by Hyman G. Rickover.

At the time, the irascible Rickover personally interviewed each sailor applying to the program. John, a junior-grade officer, sat in a wobbly, unstable chair, with a captain at his shoulder, as Rickover questioned him with an approach that was more attack than interview. Rickover, who was much admired by the Navy, was an unorthodox, abrasive four-striper, who had developed a supremely competent officer corps, fanatically loyal to him.

After a short period of questioning, John was told to go sit in a small, totally black room, where he was to think about why he wanted to serve on a nuclear submarine. The submarine force served voluntarily, and Rickover wanted John to think deeply and seriously about his desire.

The sinking of the Kursk had raised the same question in my mind: Why would anyone choose to serve for months at a time submerged at sea in an incredibly complex machine, crowded in with other sailors?

As one who served for years in the submarine force, John’s answer came without hesitation: "The desire to serve something bigger than oneself. Patriotism. Camaraderie." While he said that he was initially drawn to submarines by their adventure and excitement, it was his patriotic commitment to serve others and to be a member of the submarine team that drove his desire. As John said, "Once a submariner, always a submariner."

Rickover thought John needed more experience and assigned him to the diesel submarine Clamagore, where he did research on a special project for Rickover while simultaneously and successfully working through his training book, a rigorous, full-time course that took officers through all aspects of submarine operation.

When John next met Rickover, he was again summarily thrown out of his office, which was Rickover’s way, but had obviously passed his tests. He was assigned to the George Washington, a fleet ballistic missile submarine, a ship similar to the Kursk. John would eventually become the weapons officer, one of three on board who held the keys to the ICBMs.

Those who serve on nuclear submarines, men like John and those who are dying or who are already dead onboard the Kursk, perform a very difficult, unheralded task for their nations. Because their operations are done secretly, their accomplishments are rarely recognized outside their elite circles, and their training is demanding and constant, for mistakes can result in the death of a crew, as we are sadly witnessing, with potential nuclear consequences that could reach well beyond national boundaries. (Future historians will surely conclude that the threat of nuclear annihilation, however insane it might have seemed as a strategy, prevented W.W.III in the second half of the murderous 20^th century.)