‘OC Reads’ Celebrates Veterans, History; Author Tells of Divers Finding Nazi Sub

OCEAN CITY – What better way to stimulate the sheer pleasure of reading than by offering up a non-fiction best-seller – “Shadow Divers” – that reads like a riveting mystery coupled with World War II intrigue, historical detective work and heroism 50 years later to delve into, discuss and savor? Couple that with enjoying such a book with a few thousand friends and neighbors from the local community and that defines what the “Community Reads” program is all about.
The Ocean City “Our Community Reads” inaugural event was based on a national movement that other towns, cities and even states have collectively embraced and which is promoted by the American Library Association.
Ocean City, through its public library, has taken this initiative to heart and made it into its own.
“I was not looking for another event to organize,” said Karen Maher, the library’s energetic community outreach director. “But when I heard about the ‘Community Reads’ movement, then read “Shadow Divers,” I realized what great reception it would have by our town, no matter what age or gender, and there was nothing that would have stopped me!”
On Nov. 9, “Shadow Divers” author, Robert Kurson, explained to a library auditorium of hundreds of listeners the genesis and personal importance to him of writing his first book in 2004. Kurson attended the University of Wisconsin for his undergraduate degree in philosophy and then Harvard Law School. After practicing real estate law, Kurson realized what he really wanted to do was write.
Starting as a data entry clerk at a publication in his hometown of Chicago, Ill., Kurson eventually had actual writing assignments directed his way. Since that time his work has appeared in various newspapers in Chicago, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone and Esquire magazines, among others.
But it’s “Shadow Divers” that became for Kurson his “defining moment” of a lifetime and 2004 and that attained number two position on The New York Times Bestseller List for 24 weeks (eclipsed on that list only by Bill Clinton’s “My Life”).
Kurson shared in his lecture that he frequently travelled as a young boy on multi-state business calls with his father. On one of those trips, Kurson said he heard his father say, in reaction to a shocking story about an acquaintance’s embezzlement, which put the family business into bankruptcy, “You never really know what you’re made of until you’re tested. For me, personally, and for the two main characters, the heart of the book is all about staying true to that sentiment and not giving up despite the peril and daunting obstacles,” the author emphasized.
The real-life story behind “Shadow Divers” is the almost accidental discovery in 1991 by a New Jersey weekend deep-sea diver. John Chatterton, later joined by Richie Kohler, sailing out of Brielle, near Manasquan, and just 70 miles north of Ocean City, could not abandon the story behind the Second World War German U-boat 60 miles off the coast and 230 feet down they had found.
Such a finding of an unknown U-boat is the “Holy Grail” among divers. Moreover although it was manned by the war’s enemy of the U.S. it is still considered a sacred “war grave” since it contains the skeletons of 56 German crewmembers, many of whom were just teenagers.
Kurson recounts that Chatterton and Kohler, who are as opposite in character and principles as imaginable, became close allies and best friends in the dangerous pursuit of learning more about their discovery. Chatterton was the man of principle, the son of a military veteran and a vet himself who insisted on the riskiest duty, point man, even though a medic while on patrol in Vietnam.
Kohler was into deep-sea diving for the thrill and spontaneous fun of the sport while Chatterton saw diving as equal to life’s highest ambitions. “They are ordinary, yet extraordinary blue-collar guys,” recounts Kurson. “They wagered their lives, ruined their marriages to the point of divorce, and lost their financial security in pursuit of the true story behind their find.”
Over the course of six years, Chatterton and Kohler painstakingly researched and invested everything they had to unlock the shadowy details of this military relic. Their lives were always on the line given the ever-present threat of diving narcosis, decompression sickness or “the bends” and the precarious condition of the wreck, which could cave in at any moment.
No record of the boat Chatterton and Kohler found, either from American military documents or German, listed the sub as operational let alone on a mission in N.J. waters or destroyed (probably by the explosion of one of its own torpedoes).
“In fact,” revealed Kurson, “I certainly had no idea that German vessels ever came so close to American shores during World War II.”
Several participants from the audience noted that while growing up along the N.J. shore, they would see German U-boat periscopes.
The allure of mythical gold from Hitler’s vast trove that could have been onboard was quickly discounted. The actual mission and identity of this U-boat was eventually uncovered and recognized as U-boat 869. That discovery however became secondary to the combined intangible goal of Chatterton and Kohler to not shirk from the challenge of putting the U-boat back into its rightful place in history and doing right as well by the sub’s anonymous denizens.
“I get two complaints about my book,” admitted Kurson. “One is the level of profanity which is simply a reflection of the language these men use. The other is the familiarity I have with the German crewmembers, which is linked to the relationships we developed with them even though our enemy from a half-century ago.”
Kurson and Chatterton travelled to Germany and visited the now-elderly family members of the German crew, not to tell them what happened but to relate that their loved one had been found and which, according to Kurson, made the most profound effect on both the Americans and Germans.
Linked to “Shadow Divers” is a PBS documentary, “Hitler’s Sub,” one of its most watched programs ever, which “OC Reads” integrated into community preparation for Kurson’s lecture.
Kurson is working on a new book “Pirate’s Bounty“ where Chatterton again plays a role that is due out June 2015. Chatterton and Kohler hosted Nova’s popular “Deep-sea Detectives” for five years and have returned to their ordinary occupations and extraordinary memories.