Brief life of man who perished on sub not forgotten
A few months after his birth in November 1967, Russ Fennick's father, William, got some shore leave from the Navy and came home to Butler to collect his young family and move them to the naval base in Norfolk, Va.
He then boarded the nuclear attack submarine, the USS Scorpio, and headed east to the Mediterranean with 98 fellow sailors.
His wife and 6-month-old Russ would never see him again.
William Fennick remains on “eternal watch” some 9,800 feet below the waves near the Azores.
Neither the damaged sub nor any bodies were ever recovered, although the Navy knows the location of the sub and searched it with a submersible vessel.
That wife and son — and the two grandchildren Bill Fennick never met — will travel to the Naval base in Norfolk this weekend to attend a 50th anniversary memorial of the Scorpion's loss on May 21 or 22, 1968.
Now 40, Russ Fennick is a blues musician in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
He obviously doesn't remember his father, but his mother tells him he acts just like the old man.
Russ Fennick wrote a song about the Scorpion called “Brandywine,” which his band, Sons of Legend, recorded and are working to release.
“My mom said he was a wonderful guy,” Russ said, “sweet, caring and with a great sense of humor.”
A full story will appear in the Butler Eagle.
