Dick Neelan

A dream out at sea during WWII leads to 64 years of marriage.

By Matthew Fleishman, BucksLocalNews.com


While working outside of Pittsburgh in the 1940s, Dick Neelan did not have to fight in World War II, but while out at sea, a dream changed the rest of his life.

Neelan was a machinist on his second deferment in 1943, but his younger brother, Robert, got drafted, so Neelan enlisted to fight.

“I had deferments because I was working in the defense industry,” said Neelan. “I got out of my second deferment because my brother was drafted. Fortunately or unfortunately, I had tried to get into the Marines, but they were filled, so I joined the Navy.”

Neelan tried to stay with his brother, but he graduated two weeks ahead of Robert, and volunteered for the submarine service, which sent Neelan to the Pacific Ocean. Robert did the same two weeks later, winding up in Florida.

“When I graduated, they gave me three choices – Southwest Pacific, Atlantic or Florida,” said Neelan. “I chose Florida but wound up in the Pacific Ocean. He chose the Pacific and wound up in Florida.”

After graduating as a gunner’s mate, Neelan was sent to California to train, and then took a converted carrier to Pearl Harbor. From there, he was assigned to a sub-tender, which would go from island to island repairing American ships.

While this type of duty took Neelan throughout the South Pacific, including Guam, Majuro and Atoll, it did not last long, as he was assigned to the USS Kingfish as a gunner’s mate in 1944.

Aboard the Kingfish, Neelan was part of several patrols, taking out Japanese convoys, which would have brought vital supplies to Japanese troops in the region.

“During one of the patrols, we picked up a Japanese convoy on radar and tracked it all day,” said Neelan. “We fired and took out a few of their ships, and they were dropping depth charges to hit us, but we had already made it out to the horizon and just watched them looking for us, but we were nowhere around.”

After the patrols, the USS Kingfish and its crew were assigned to lifeguard duty in the Pacific, meaning they were the rescue crew for pilots that were shot down or forced to eject from their planes.

“We went on flier guard duty, and picked up a few pilots during that time,” said Neelan. “One was on a raft for two days when we found him. Another barely even got wet because he landed right near us.”

While his tour of duty in the Navy sent Neelan throughout the Pacific Ocean, one night out at sea set up the rest of his life. One night, Neelan had a dream about a girl he had dated before enlisting to fight. The two went out a few times but nothing came of it until the dream.

“My wife and I dated before the Navy and then stopped for some reason,” said Neelan. “Then out at sea, I had a dream about her, so I wrote her a letter. We got married in April 1946.
“It worked out good for me,” continued Neelan. “It was the best thing that happened to me. Marrying her is the one thing I did right in my life.”

Dick and Ruth moved to Yardley in 1965, and have three daughters, eight grandchildren and “two-and-a-half great-grandchildren.”

“One is on the way,” said Neelan.

Despite a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy, and more than 30 years working for U.S. Steel, Neelan says that he is doing his most important work right now – taking care of Ruth, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008.

“This is my time to take care of her,” said Neelan. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I hope everybody is as lucky as we are because we grow closer and closer each day.”