A black granite stone etched with the names of submarines and crews lost during and after World War II, that has been added to the existing memorial at Veteran's Park in South Toms River, will be dedicated this Saturday.

Photo courtesy of Robert M. Cloupe, Plaques and Memorial Committee
Photo courtesy of Robert M. Cloupe, Plaques and Memorial Committee
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Robert M. Cloupe, a subvet from the Forked River section of Lacey Township and member of the American Legion Post 517, said the memorial also honors submarine inventors, including two men with ties to New Jersey. John Holland is considered the father of Naval submarines and Simon Lake graduated from Toms River High School.

"He always wanted to be on submarines and work with submarines, and his actual thought on submarines is he would build a submarine for salvage and for mining," said Cloupe of Lake.

Some of Lake's early submarine designs include wheels, according to Cloupe.

"A few of the things that he did, early inventions while he was in high school fooling around, he'd turn a boat over and stay underneath there to see how long he could breathe and a lot of his stuff is still incorporated in submarines. He was actually a better designer than Holland, who won the first contract from the Navy, and eventually they bought some of his submarines, the Navy," Cloupe said.

Submarines lost through World War II are etched on the front of the memorial and those post-WWII on the back. The back also includes names of submarine service and submarine rescue divers who are Medal of Honor recipients, according to Cloupe.

Photo courtesy of Robert M. Cloupe, Plaques and Memorial Committee
Photo courtesy of Robert M. Cloupe, Plaques and Memorial Committee
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Cloupe launched the fundraising initiative over a year ago to secure more than $10,000 to make the memorial become a reality. The project honors Cloupe's friend Harry Lang, a WWII subvet, who wanted such a monument in New Jersey and got the torpedo placed. Lang passed away in 2014, prompting Cloupe to get the ball rolling.

Saturday's dedication begins at 10:30 am.

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