Howard Gilmore: The boy from Meridian - Meridian Star

Howard Gilmore: The boy from Meridian

Published 11:00 am Monday, September 14, 2026

There are stories hidden in the history of Meridian that deserve to be told. Some are about places. Some are about battles. And some are about ordinary young men who leave home……and become heroes. This is one of those stories. His name was Howard Walter Gilmore. Born in 1902, Gilmore was raised here in Meridian and attended high school here. At the time, no one could have known what the future held for the young man growing up in Meridian. He would leave Mississippi and enter the United States Navy. He would become a naval officer. Then a submarine commander. And eventually, he would take command of the USS Growler. But World War II was raging. The Pacific was a deadly battlefield. For the men aboard a submarine, the ocean wasn’t simply water. It was a battlefield where danger could appear without warning—and where there was often nowhere to run. Commander Gilmore and his crew went to war knowing that every patrol could be their last. Then, on one February night in 1943, the Growler encountered the enemy. What happened next would transform a submarine commander from Meridian into a Medal of Honor hero. But there was something no one aboard that submarine knew yet. Before the night was over, Howard Gilmore would have to make a decision that would define his legacy forever. Would he save himself…or save his men? The answer would come in the darkness of the Pacific.

February 7, 1943.Somewhere in the Pacific, the USS Growler was on patrol. Aboard her was Commander Howard W. Gilmore—a man raised right here in Meridian. Then the enemy appeared. Japanese vessels were closing in. There was no time to hesitate. Gilmore ordered the Growler into action. The submarine moved toward the enemy. Then came the order that would change everything: Ram them. The Growler struck the enemy vessel at high speed. But the enemy answered with machine-gun fire. The bridge became a storm of gunfire. Commander Gilmore was hit. Mortally wounded. His crew rushed to him. But Gilmore understood something that his men didn’t want to hear. The submarine had to go below the surface. And there was no time to get him safely inside. The men faced an impossible choice. Stay on the surface and risk losing the submarine and everyone aboard…or submerge immediately. Gilmore knew the answer. He ordered his men to leave him. Then came the words that would become part of American naval history: “Take her down.”

The crew obeyed. The Growler disappeared beneath the Pacific. Howard Gilmore remained behind. The submarine survived. His crew survived. But Commander Gilmore did not. His body was never recovered. Think about that for a moment. A man raised in Meridian…thousands of miles from home…mortally wounded…knowing he was about to die…gave his final order not for himself—but for the men under his command. But the story wasn’t over. Because America was about to learn what Howard Gilmore had done. And Meridian was about to gain a hero whose name would become permanently connected to the Cost of Freedom.

Howard Walter Gilmore never came home. But his story did. When America learned what happened aboard the USS Growler, there was no question about the courage of its commander. Howard Gilmore was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. His final act became a powerful example of military leadership:Put your men first. Even when the price is your own life. But here’s the part of the story that makes this more than a World War II story. Howard Gilmore was connected to Meridian. He was raised here. He attended high school here. Before he became a Navy commander…before he commanded a submarine…before he earned the Medal of Honor…he was a young man from Meridian. And although his remains were never recovered from the Pacific, Meridian gave him a place in his hometown. A memorial honoring Gilmore stands in Magnolia Cemetery. His hometown remembers him. His Navy remembers him. And his name lives on through the USS Howard W. Gilmore, a Navy vessel named in his honor. One man’s decision in the darkness of the Pacific became a legacy that reached across generations. So when we talk about the Cost of Freedom, we aren’t talking about an idea. We’re talking about people. People who left their homes. People who said goodbye to their families. People who went into places most of us will never see. And people who sometimes made the ultimate sacrifice so others could live. Howard Gilmore gave his tomorrow…for his crew’s today. His final command was only three words:

“TAKE HER DOWN.”

The submarine went beneath the waves. Howard W Gilmore did not come back. But his courage never disappeared. And right here in Meridian, Mississippi…we still remember his name. HOWARD W. GILMORE MEDAL OF HONOR MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI NEVER FORGOTTEN. And perhaps that is the greatest lesson of the Cost of Freedom:T he names may fade from the headlines…but they should never fade from our memory.