[Baltimore Sun] Dayhoff: John and Nina Price, American classics
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Friends, family and colleagues filled the Westminster Fire Department John Street Quarters social hall last month to help Navy veteran John Price and his wife, Nina, celebrate their birthdays. John Price served in the Navy during both World War II and the Korean War.
On Feb. 25, he celebrated his 100th birthday. He shares his birthday with his wife Nina who celebrated her 97th birthday on the same day. John Price was born Feb. 25, 1924, in Bayonne, New Jersey. Nina was born the same day three years later, also in Bayonne.
On Feb. 25, 2024, World War II Navy veteran John Price celebrated his 100th birthday. He shares his birthday with his wife Nina who celebrated her 97th birthday on the same day. In this picture, John and Nina Price stop for a picture with their six children at the Westminster Fire Department John Street Quarters in Westminster. (Kevin Dayhoff/Courtesy photo)
After graduating at 17 from Bayonne Technical High School in 1941, John enlisted in the U.S. Navy with his parent’s permission on Sept. 16, 1941, several months before the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
He entered the submarine service and was trained as an electrician’s mate. During World War II, he served three war patrols on submarines in the South Pacific Ocean and received several awards including the Submarine Combat Insignia. In 2016, he received the Navy Combat Action Ribbon for service during depth charge attacks on the U.S.S. Piranha in 1944.
He first served from March 1942 to October 1943 on the vintage World War I submarine, the 0-6 (SS-67,) an O-class submarine in commission in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1931 and from 1941 to 1945. It served in both World War I and World War II. It had an operational depth of 200 feet, and carried a crew of two officers and 27 enlisted personnel.
The officers and crew of the U.S.S. Piranha salute the colors as the submarine is launched at Plymouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME on Oct. 10, 1943. John Price served on the U.S.S. Piranha during World War II. (Courtesy U.S. Navy)
To put John Price’s service in WWII in a greater perspective; according to an article, “Submarines in World War II,�? written by the National Park Service, “The success of American submarines during the second World War “came at a cost … In World War II, 52 US submarines were lost, with a total of 3,506 officers and enlisted men killed. The U.S. Navy Submarine Service had the highest casualty percentage of any American forces in the War: about 20%.�?
John Price also served on the U.S.S. Piranha. On July 12, 1944, the U.S.S. Piranha torpedoed and sank the Japanese tanker Nichiran Maru off the northeast coast of Luzon, Philippines. It was a result of this engagement that the U.S.S. Piranha endured a serious depth charge attack at 250 feet underwater. On July 16, 1944, the U.S.S. Piranha torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Seattle Maru in Luzon Strait. After the U.S.S Piranha was decommissioned, her conning tower was preserved at Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial Naval Museum, Fredericksburg, Texas.
After the war, John and Nina Price were married in 1949 at the Navy Chapel in Key West, Florida. John Price was stationed on the U.S. submarine Chiro at the Key West Naval Base. He remained in the Navy in the submarine service after WWII, retiring in 1962 as a Chief Warrant Officer W3.
According to an article in the Carroll County Times by Thomas Goodwin Smith on Feb. 26, 2024, “John and Nina Price both grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey, but the two lived on opposite sides of town and did not meet until John visited his cousin while on shore leave. John’s cousin happened to be Nina’s best friend at the time, and after the two met, they stayed together. Nina and John have been married for 74 years.�?
On Feb. 25, 2024, John Price celebrated his 100th birthday. He shares his birthday with his wife Nina who celebrated her 97th birthday on the same day. Friends, family and colleagues filled the Westminster Fire Department John Street Quarters social hall to help Price and his wife Nina celebrate their birthdays. John Price served in the Navy during both World War II and the Korean War. (Kevin Dayhoff/Courtesy photo)
After retiring from the Navy, the family moved to Connecticut where John helped build submarines for 15 years as an employee of the Electric Boat Company in Groton. He held several positions at Electric Boat and was a program coordinator in the Trident Project, which equipped the subs with powerful ballistic missiles.
After graduating from Bayonne High School in 1945, Nina Price was employed by the War Department in the office of Dependency Benefits in Newark, New Jersey. When the department relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, she found employment at the A.T.T Company in New York City.
While she was in Waterford, Connecticut, Nina volunteered in the U.S. Air Force Ground Observer Corps as an observer spotting planes. In 1978, the family moved permanently to Maryland, where . John was employed by Navy contractors until his final retirement in 1985. Nina found employment at the Hecht’s Co. in Gaithersburg.
According to Frank Batavick, a friend and community leader who attended the Feb. 25 event, “Nina and John are parishioners of St. John Catholic Church in Westminster. Nina is a woman of deep faith and was an active member of the Wisdom Club, a social group that also performed a variety of charitable works.
World War II Navy veteran John Price recently celebrated his 100th birthday. He is an active member of the American Legion Post 31 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 467. VFW commander Gil Muse and American Legion Marc Fisher attended the Feb. 25 tribute to Price and his family. (Kevin Dayhoff/Courtesy photo)
“She was one of the co-founders of the church’s Wednesday Soup Kitchen, which prepares weekly lunches served at Ascension Episcopal Church’s Fellowship Hall,�? Batavick said. “Nina took the monthly lead of chef, buying ingredients and supervising meal preparations for over a hundred.
“Nina cared deeply about each client, and was often observed in quiet conversations with them inside the hall during the meal’s service. She said that sometimes the most important thing you can do is just listen.�?
John Price is a member of the American Legion Post 31 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 467. VFW commander Gil Muse and American Legion Marc Fisher attended the Feb. 25 tribute to the Prices.
Nina and John Price’s daughters, Cathy Moore and Barbara Price, greatly contributed to this tribute to their parents.
Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. His Time Flies column appears every Sunday. Email him at [email protected].
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