HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL PUBLICATIONS
By Bill Wolfe, Editor of POLARIS

The official publication of the U.S.Submarine Veterans of WW-II had it's start in January 1957 when Vol.1, No.1, a four-page pamphlet, was published under the name "Quarterly Bulletin" - a member's $2.00 annual dues entitled him to a years subscription to this publication.

Andy Stark was the Bulletins editor until 1959 when Bill Taylor assumed the editorship. About this time the executive board tried to get advertisements to help in the expense of publication but found that no one was interested in placing ads in a "Bulletin."

After some research into the name "Polaris" (by ladies aux. president Gloria Unrein) it was decided to rechristen the publication and put it on a bimonthly schedule. The first issue of Polaris appeared in August 1960. Frank Hamilton became editor in 1961, serving until 1963 when George Hamilton (no relation) took over until relieved by Ed Bland in 1965. Bland served two years. George Hamilton returned as editor in 1967, followed by Paul Stolpman in 1968, Ernst Rosing in 1969 and 1970. For reasons not explained in records, Polaris was published monthly through 1969, returning to the bimonthly schedule in 1970. The editor in 1970-72 was Don Levange. Harry Fisher relieved Levange and served until Hugh Lowder was appointed in 1980. Bill Wolfe relieved Lowder in 1985 and is still serving. However, the $2.00 annual subscription rate is long gone.

Polaris publishes a wide variety of items, primarily items sure to be of interest to SubVets. Items of personal wartime experiences predominate, but chapter activities, human interest and humorous stories also are frequently found in Polaris, also . Each of the officers writes a column for every edition and there always seems to be a reunion or a memorial service to report. A full page obituary column is now necessary to report on our shipmates who have gone on "eternal patrol." Oh yes, we do publish bits of advertising from time to time. Nearly 8500 copies of each issue are mailed to subscribers in the United States, as well as those in Australia, England, Belgium, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand and Israel.