Navy Capt. Paul "Bud" Rogers to be buried at sea

Navy veteran, who was supposed to be on USS Thresher, to be buried where submarine sank
The Day
By Julia Bergman Day staff writer
November 26, 2016

Groton — A Navy veteran will soon be laid to rest at the bottom of the ocean, more than 200 miles off the New England coast. A submarine from the Naval Submarine Base will fulfill the wish of deceased Navy Capt. Paul "Bud" Rogers to be buried at sea. During routine operations, the submarine will transport Rogers' cremated remains to where the USS Thresher (SSN-593) sank. The Navy is not releasing the name of the submarine or the date the burial will take place, since it does not discuss submarine operations.

Rogers, who spent much of his 41-year career serving on submarines, was supposed to be an observer on the Thresher during the boat's sea trials, but his supervisor, at the last minute, decided that he didn't have enough experience and replaced him with someone else.

It was just a day or two later, according to Rogers' wife, that on April 10, 1963, the Thresher sank — killing all 129 men aboard.

Rogers was devastated, and felt survivor's remorse for much of his life.

"Bud felt that he should've been the one to go down with the Thresher, not this other man," his wife, Barbara "Bobbye" Rogers, 86, said from her home in Wernersville, Penn. "All those years, it bothered him."
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Reporter Discovers Naval Burial At Sea Not Easy For Families

Get Marty: Family’s Quest To Bury Navy Veteran At Sea
CBS Pittsburgh
Marty Griffin
February 5, 2015

Meanwhile, our investigation has turned up a significant number of families in the same predicament.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The family of a deceased Navy Veteran caught up in a horrible bureaucratic nightmare reached out to KDKA to “Get Marty.”

Cheryl Beeman served in the Navy for 15 years. Her wish was to be buried at sea.

“She loved the ocean. She always loved the ocean. She wanted to be buried at sea,” says her son, Bob.

As it turns out, Navy Police allows for burial at sea. In fact, the Navy suggests the ceremony at sea should take place within a few months of the death of a Navy veteran.

Well, after waiting for nearly a year-and-a-half for the Navy to allow for the burial at sea of Cheryl Beeman, family friends reached out to Marty Griffin.

Meanwhile, our investigation has turned up a significant number of families in the same predicament.

We are trying to determine if the Navy will streamline policy and procedure so folks don’t have to wait more than a year to have a loved one buried at sea.
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