-Jeremy
Patrick Zilliacus was born in Helsinki, Finland. He would emigrate to the United States with his mother and brother in 1940, following his father who become the Finnish Military Attache to the United States in Washington, D.C.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor Zilliacus would lie about his age and enlist in the United States Navy. He would eventually become a torpedoman on the USS Spot (SS-413) and join two other submarines in a hunter-killer group patrolling the Pacific.
During World War II, the submarine force consisted of less than 2 percent of the Navy but had an outsized impact — they destroyed 1,178 Japanese vessels and 214 enemy warships. The cost, however, was high, as more than 3,400 submarine crew members, roughly 22 percent of the force, were killed and 52 submarines were lost.
Interview recorded on February 22, 2025