Photo By Elizabeth Fraser | Service Members from the U.S. Coast Guard, along with family and friends of the...... read more read more
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The worst loss of life in United States Coast Guard history occurred on the night of Jan. 29, 1945, when the cargo ship USS Serpens exploded and sank off the coast of Guadalcanal, in the Pacific Theater of World War II. More than 250 men lost their lives. On Jan. 29, 2025—the 80th anniversary of the tragedy—descendants of crew members, along with Coast Guard members, gathered to attend an annual remembrance ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery’s USS Serpens Memorial.
Casualties included 197 Coast Guard active-duty members and reservists, 51 U.S. Army stevedores and a U.S. Public Health Service physician. Crews had been loading depth charges into the ship’s hold when the massive explosion suddenly occurred. Only two men on board survived. The cause of the explosion was never definitively determined.
The remains of the dead (of which only two were identified) were initially buried at the U.S. military cemetery on Guadalcanal until World War II ended. After being returned to the United States, the Serpens crew members were buried together at Arlington National Cemetery on June 15, 1949. A granite memorial, dedicated on Nov. 16, 1950, now stands at the site, bearing the names of those lost.
The names on the memorial include Coast Guard Seamen 1st class Lester Brandlen, whose descendants attended the ceremony. Brandlen grew up on the Mississippi River, where he tended boats for wealthy owners. He was also an expert with a rifle, making him an ideal anti-aircraft gunner on the Serpens. “The Coast Guard seemed to fit who he was,” said Erik Brandlen, his grandson, who traveled from Houston, Texas, to honor his grandfather and all those lost on the Serpens. Other Brandlen descendants, some from Arizona, also attended. Erik Brandlen said his grandfather’s sacrifice inspired him and his brother to serve his country. “He retired from the Navy, and I spent time in the Air Force, the Army, the National Guard and the Air National Guard,” he said.
The ceremony included a flyover by a MH-65 Coast Guard helicopter, the singing of the national anthem, the sounding of Taps, a moment of silence, a prayer and the laying of four wreaths around the Serpens Memorial—commemorating the active-duty Coast Guardsmen, Coast Guard reservists, Army soldiers and the physician lost on the ship.
“The crew was completing their mission, loading munitions aboard, vital to the ongoing efforts in World War II,” Master Chief Petty Officer Phillip Waldron told the gathering. “In an instant, that mission was cut short by an unfathomable explosion and rapid sinking that claimed nearly every single life onboard.”
Waldron also spoke about the enduring significance of the Serpens tragedy. “It reminds us of the profound cost of service and the unwavering commitment of those who put duty above self,” he said. “They answered the call, not for recognition or reward, but for the greater good, a call that unites all who serve in uniform.”
| Date Taken: | 02.12.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.18.2025 09:56 |
| Story ID: | 490934 |
| Location: | ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 309 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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