USS Vermont Support Group

05/31/2026

We were represented at the Vermont Army National Guard Deployment Ceremony at the Fort Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho on Friday grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for 3+ hours for the Soldiers and Families from the 3-172 Infantry Battalion being deployed to the US Central Command region. Guard Commander-in-Chief Governor Phil Scott was on hand with Adjutant General Hank Harder for the ceremony. There were more attendees than anticipated so we ended up doubling the serving lines and carried the food prep canopy over to keep the rain off the second line. General Harder and Rep. Balint recognized the USS VERMONT tee shirt and stopped by to say hello when the cooking was done.

05/25/2026

From the USS VERMONT Support Group, please take time today from your parties and BBQs to express your thanks to service members. Memorial Day is about respect for those who serve, have served, and those who gave their lives so that we may live with the freedoms and privileges we enjoy.

05/21/2026

What's even better than our "better late than never" images from USS VERMONT Day 2026 at the State House? Pictures received from one of our favorite family members of the celebration of USS VERMONT Day on board Big Sugar! Our CSS's did a great job on the cake. Good to know that the celebration of the 6th anniversary of the VERMONT's Commissioning took place at both ends of the 5,000 miles between us. Hooyah VERMONT!

05/15/2026

Better late than never, following are images from the April 18th USS VERMONT Day celebration at the State House in Montpelier. The Concurrent House Resolution reaffirming the April 18th sixth anniversary of Big Sugar's Commissioning was included with the reading of H.C.R. 220 during the March 17th visit by CDR Matt Lewis and LTJG Dhiren Lutchman. The event was held on Friday the 17th with an exhibit in the State House Card Room. Key attractions to bring the Legislators and Staff to our display were "Big Sugar" maple sugar cookies from Michelle's Sweet Creations in Castleton, Lake Champlain Chocolate squares from Williston, and most importantly, having former Legislator and Submarine Captain of the USS Spadefish, Albert Perry with us. Thanks to VSG's Dale Pontius for the pictures.

05/15/2026

We continue to work closely with our partners and supporters in the Vermont National Guard. When the call went out from the National Guard & Veterans Affairs Caucus to support a diaper/wipe drive at the State House for families of the deployed Army and Air Force Guard service members, we were glad to help out with a contribution from the VSG. Pictured are Vermont Sergeant-at-Arms Agatha Kessler and the VSG's Gary Frymire in the State House lobby.

05/15/2026

News from CT about Henry Breault Day, the first and only enlisted submariner to earn a Medal of Honor. His award was presented by President Calvin Coolidge and attributed to Vermont. Nicely done Ryan Walker!

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=992651596456700&id=100071356071876&mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=5kBkAGsV8LtSKrDC #

🚨BREAKING NEWS 🔔 now recognizes March 8, the anniversary of when Putnam, Connecticut native Henry Breault — the first and only enlisted submariner — was be awarded the Medal of Honor, as “Henry Breault Day”

As Ryan Walker, author of The Silent Service's First Hero and the executive director of USS Henry Breault Association said “𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺”

Following the lead of Putnam, CT, the State Senate advanced SB 458, which established:

“The Governor shall proclaim March eighth of each year as Henry Breault Day, to remember the late Medal of Honor recipient from Putnam who was the first submariner to be presented the Medal of Honor on March 8, 1924, for his actions aboard a United States submarine that was sinking, when he returned to the torpedo room to the rescue of a shipmate and remained trapped in the submarine for thirty-one hours.”

Walker added, “𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭, 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟖, 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝.

𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞.

𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐔𝐒𝐒 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟐𝟖𝟕𝟎 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐀-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒𝐍'𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲.

𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 "𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬," 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 "𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝."

To Read about Ryan Walkers Efforts:

https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/windham/campaign-pushing-for-submarine-to-be-named-after-putnam-medal-of-honor-recipient-folk-hero/amp/

https://theday.com/news/711156/petition-seeks-to-name-submarine-after-the-silent-services-first-hero/

To Read The Connecticut Native’s Interview of Ryan Walker: https://theconnecticutnative.substack.com/p/interview-naval-historian-and-ct

To Purchase The Silent Services First Hero:
https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Services-First-Hero-Submariner/dp/1036100413

To Read Ryan Walkers Testimony:https://www.cga.ct.gov/2026/gaedata/TMY/2026SB-00458-R000313-Walker,%20Ryan-Supports-TMY.PDF

To Support Naming A Submarine After Henry Breault (Sign The Petition) https://www.change.org/p/name-a-virginia-class-submarine-after-medal-of-honor-recipient-henry-breault (ALMOST 3,000 Signatures Already!)

゚

05/10/2026

Not specific to the USS VERMONT, but interesting. During a recent visit to the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, I saw something completely unexpected amidst the WWI and WWII aircraft, almost all of which still fly. A fully restored Jaguar XK120. What made it worth sharing was the last line on the museum label. Zoom in to read it! Some A-Gangers knew how to curry favor with the Captain for sure!

04/22/2026

As promised, the link below will take you to the video shown at the State House on April 17th celebrating the USS VERMONT's 6th Anniversary of her Commissioning on April 18th 2020. Next year, April 18th will be on a Sunday and we'll likely celebrate on the 19th.
Also, more to come with scenes from the Officers and Enlisted Submarine Birthday Balls as we track down those videos. For now, sharing the CO's introduction picture with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (with Mountain in green) playing in the background.
Enjoy!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p2DIkfFpRDzC_3jFY6_DbW6PaCuCbsmB/view?usp=sharing

I would guess most of you haven't seen the Broken Lizard comedy group's Super Troopers movie (1, 2, or 3 which is due out in August) so the end of the USS VERMONT Day video might lack context. It's a long story, but suffice to say the boat has the DVD on board for Super Trooper 1 and perhaps 2 signed by the actors.

04/16/2026

Hope to see as many Vermonters as possible in the Card Room at the State House tomorrow to visit the USS VERMONT Support Group exhibit and join in with the celebration of USS VERMONT Day. April 18th is the actual 6th anniversary of the Commissioning of the USS VERMONT, but the State House is closed on Saturday.
If we can't get them with our message, mission and video, we'll have maple sugar cookies, chocolate squares, and former Legislator and Submarine Captain Albert Perry to draw them in. He's well renowned by the Administration and has a wide range of acquaintances within the House and Senate. Seen here with Rep. Lisa Hango, one of the Tri-Chairs of the National Guard & Veterans Affairs Caucus and one of our strongest supporters in the House!

04/13/2026

Must've been distracted by the Masters in Augusta to miss such an important birthday. We've come a long way since the USS Holland (SS1) was acquisitioned by the US Navy on 11 Apr 1900.