Thresher Memorial, Eureka, MO

One of the few memorials to the nuclear submarine Thresher, which sank and imploded 200 miles off Cape Cod in 1963, killing all 129 men aboard. This tragedy has haunted me ever since it was featured in the June 1964 National Geographic. So confident was the Navy in this new kind of boat that it had neglected to establish rescue procedures. Stone is at the base of the flagpole in the Eureka, MO post office parking lot, on Thresher Drive. What this memorial is doing so far from any oceangoing activity isn’t clear – probably the street was created and named when the tragedy was news. YouTube has footage of Thresher in the water and at its christening ceremony.