Tags
Brazil, Brazilians, navy, submarines, training, world war II
By Shawn Daley
Staff Writer
As a teenager in his native Brazil, John Tumblin would watch with admiration as breathtaking German airships majestically glided across the picturesque South American sky.
It was the mid-1930s and the world was still largely unaware on the sinister nature of Nazis. The large black swastikas emblazoned on the bright red tail fins of the blimps were, to a young boy like Tumblin, simply political decoration.
“When I was a kid I saw both the Graff Zeppelin and the Hindenburg going over the city of Salvador,” said Tumblin. “It was an example of outstanding German technology. They were beautiful crafts and looked gorgeous. They moved so slow that you could get a really good look at them.”
