Montana
Northwest Montana History Museum exhibit provides glimpse into Silent Service
It was only a year after Kalispell native Harry Anderson graduated college that he was assigned to the USS Perch II’s (SS-313) sixth patrol near the very end of World War II’s Pacific Theater. The submarine would endure two hours of depth charges from a Japanese ship up above during this excursion.
That bone-chilling experience was documented by Anderson in his journals and notes, which were discovered by his son Martin Anderson after he died. Martin, a retired history professor, knew that a good place for his father’s wartime items would be his hometown museum, housed in the building where he graduated high school.
So, he donated the items to the Northwest Montana History Museum in Kalispell.
“I think they (local museums) do a great job of telling stories of people who live in the community and experiences that they’ve had,” Martin Anderson said as he looked at the exhibit recently for the first time.
Museum volunteer Mary Miers was ecstatic to see the items donated. Her husband was a veteran, also serving on a submarine during the Vietnam War. It was one of her first projects as a volunteer at the museum and she jumped at the chance to create an exhibit around the writings.
“This is a guy on a submarine who was young. He was only 23 and experienced all these depth charges. And he came from Montana, it’s so interesting, because Montana has no water around it. How did he become submariner?” Miers said.
ANDERSON GRADUATED from Flathead High School in 1940, where he was the editor of the school newspaper, The Arrow. Though his love of writing is evident in his many notes and journals, his son said, Anderson studied to be a chemical engineer at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. After his service, he had a long career with Chevron.
In 1943 he entered the V-5 program, which allowed students to complete an accelerated degree for officer training in the Navy. It was one year later that he entered the submarine service.
“The main thing my dad would do was pick up aviators — guys that had been shot down and they’ve landed in the ocean. It was important to go save them,” Martin Anderson said.
By far, Anderson’s most harrowing part of his time on the Perch were the depth charges, or explosive bombs, the submarine endured over a two-hour period.
“I mean, he never talked about it, but I can’t imagine, the longest two hours of your life. Being underwater and knowing that they’re trying to sink you,” Martin Anderson said.
Miers said her husband shared knowledge from his submarine service helped her decipher what Anderson went through during his time in World War II. In particular, with visualizing what it would have been like to be inside of the submarine while the explosions landed all around.
“The pipes were bursting, lights were flickering, and you had to stay quiet too. You couldn’t yell or anything, because sonar would pick that up,” Miers said.
This got even more complicated with a furry friend on board. One hallmark of the Perch was their mascot, a lap dog named Duchess. She had to refrain from barking while the submarine survived the bombing.
“I would never visualize that submarine crew would have a mascot, like a little dog. I mean, it’s underwater, running around, stuff like that. It’s not something you’d think about. But I think they had pets to humanize themselves a little bit,” Martin Anderson said.
The display sits to the left of the front desk when visitors enter the museum. Because it is one of the first things people see when they come in, it has already caught the eye of several veterans who get to talking to their families about their own wartime experiences.
Museum volunteer Sharon Bristow, who helped put together the exhibit, said she overheard a visitor strike up a conversation with his family about his own submarine service after spotting the exhibit.
“I could hear him say that he was in a submarine, and I don’t even know if this family knew about it … But he was explaining all his service that he did to his whole family,” Bristow said.
Martin Anderson was excited to hear that his father’s display was already inspiring others to share their stories of serving in the military. Pulling from his career as a history professor, he said museums and their exhibits allow people to put the past in perspective.
“People lived in the past. They did things in the past. And it’s these kinds of exhibits that make it easier for people to relate to it, versus what we have to do in history class,” Martin Anderson said.
For Miers, putting the exhibit together was one exciting find after another. From the photos of Duchess the Dog to the journals of surviving the underwater bombing, she hopes the items will help people understand the sacrifices those service members made.
“Here’s a young fella right out of college who went through this harrowing experience. To me, I think people should know how, from a war standpoint, just how much people gave to the country,” she said.
The exhibit will be on display through Veterans Day. Several pages of journals, photographs and relics from the Perch can be viewed by visitors.
The Northwest Montana History Museum is at 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell. For more information, go to www.nwmthistory.org/
Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.
Casey Kreider
A handwritten account of Harry Anderson’s real-time submarine depth charges at the Northwest Montana History Museum’s new exhibit titled “The Silent Service: A WWII Diving Denizen of the Deep, Harry Martin Anderson” on Thursday, Aug. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
KALISPELL, Mont. — Country music star Walker Hayes will headline the 2026 Northwest Montana Fair concert, opening the Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo in Kalispell.
Hayes is scheduled to perform Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. The 2026 Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo runs Aug. 12-16.
Hayes is known for hit songs including “Fancy Like,” “AA,” and “You Broke Up With Me.”
“We are thrilled to bring Walker Hayes to the Northwest Montana Fair,” said Sam Nunnally, Manager of the NW Montana Fair & Rodeo. “Our goal each year is to create unforgettable experiences for our community and visitors, and this concert will be a highlight of the 2026 Fair.”
Tickets for the Walker Hayes concert will be available through the Northwest Montana Fair website at nwmtfair.com.
The Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo welcomes more than 80,000 guests annually and is one of the largest summer events in the region, featuring concerts, PRCA ProRodeo action, carnival rides, exhibits, food vendors, and family entertainment.
BOZEMAN — Aaron Flint and Al Olszewski, Republican candidates for Montana’s Western District U.S. House race, squared off Tuesday in their party’s only scheduled debate before the party primary.
The two debated for about 90 minutes at Bozeman’s Calvary Chapel before an audience of about 120 people. Bozeman anchors Gallatin County, which is second in Republican votes only to Flathead County within the 18-county district.
Natural resource jobs, affordable housing and U.S. military attacks on Iran dominated the discussion. Each question drew 12 minutes of response. Both men called for an end to stock trading by members of Congress, and for federal budgets to be passed on time through regular procedures.
The Montana GOP sponsored the debate. Candidate Christi Jacobsen, Montana’s secretary of state, was unable to attend, according to state Republican Party Chair Art Wittich. State Senate President Matt Regier moderated.
Among the highlights: Flint mentioned no fewer than eight times that he is endorsed by President Donald Trump. Olszewski mentioned Trump by name only a couple of times.
Never too far from Flint’s talking points were “far-left socialists,” whom he credited for “gerrymandering” the Western House District (which has delivered comfortable wins for Republicans since first appearing on the ballot in 2022). The 2026 election cycle was the target of Democrats on the state’s districting commission, Flint said. (Both Democrats on the commission that drew the district in 2021 voted against its current configuration.)
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The near faux pas of the night came during Olszewski’s discussion of good-paying jobs in trades and natural resources: “Trades jobs, natural resource jobs, you know, high-dollar, white-collar jobs, our remote workers who have moved into Montana, and we’ve adapted an economy around them. You know, these are the people, and those are the jobs that will bring our kids home, those high-paying white-collar jobs, or a good natural resource job in western Montana, in one of those mines, or, you know, you know, a sawyer or a hooker” — big pause — “as in timber, not the other way around.”
The line that didn’t land: Flint tried and failed to get audience applause for the 2024 defeat of Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester by Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy — an unseating Flint campaigned for.
“How many of you out there are so glad that we finally got rid of the flip-flop, flat-top liberal senator, Jon Tester? How many of you are so glad we finally did that?”
After a silence, Flint explained to people watching the debate on Facebook that the audience was just being polite.
“They’re waving because we can’t have disruptions. See, they’re good rule followers here in the Republican Party,” Flint said.
Asked how to alleviate Montana’s housing affordability crisis:
Olszewski: “The only way you can afford an expensive house is you’ve got to have a job that pays good money. Tourist jobs provide rent and roommates. Trades jobs, natural resource jobs, high‑dollar white‑collar jobs … those are the jobs that will bring our kids home.” Dr. Al, as Olszewski is widely known, said Wall Street investment buyers are distorting housing prices and the federal government has weakened the dollar.
Flint: “Thirty percent of the cost of a home is all due to red tape and regulations … It costs $100,000 to build a home before you even put a hole in the ground.”
Flint said reviving Montana’s timber industry would lower home values and added, “I support President Trump’s ban on these big Wall Street firms buying single-family homes. I think that’s something that we’ve got to get across the finish line.”
“We can deliver when it comes to making the Montana dream affordable again by delivering affordable housing. But another piece is promoting trades and trades education to build up our workforce.”
Asked how Congress should respond to the Iran conflict:
Olszewski: “I supported our president with what happened in Venezuela. There’s a $25 million bounty on basically someone that was killing our people through drugs, right? I’m not so happy with what’s going on in the Iran war. I’m not a warrior. I’m a physician from the military that fixed military people … What my perspective is, is that countries can win wars, but people do not. They don’t come back.” Olszewski said Congress will have to decide whether to authorize further use of military force and set terms in about 10 days.
Flint: “Let me just say this. We are sick and tired of these forever wars, and we do not want to see a long-term boots-on-the-ground Iraq-style nation-building exercise, and I think President Trump shares that mission as well. Let me also say this about Iran. First off, [former Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro is behind bars. [Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei is dead, but the far-left socialists are on the march in Montana.”
Asked about reforming Congress:
Olszewski: “What our congressmen and congresswomen have to understand is that if you’re in the House, the House belongs to the people, and they need to, first and foremost, represent you, not themselves, not special interests. It’s not about sound-bites. It’s about actually getting work done and governing.” Olszewski said the House needs to pass a budget based on 12 agency appropriations bills before the end of each federal fiscal year, a process known as “regular order.”
Flint: “We need to return to regular order and get single-subject bills and get these appropriations bills done one by one. If they can’t get a budget done, they shouldn’t get paid. And we need a ban on congressional stock trading. Because I think part of the reason why the American people are so frustrated with Congress right now is because … they believe that Congress is so useless, because we’ve got some of these politicians back there that are getting rich off the backs of taxpayers.”
Neither candidate offered a plan for cutting taxes, once a staple of Republican platforms. Both supported reductions in federal spending without identifying particular cuts.
Voting in Montana’s 2026 primary election begins May 4 and ends June 2.
POLSON, Mont. — Two motorcyclists crashed on Highway 35 near Polson after failing to negotiate a left-hand curve, leaving one man dead and another hospitalized, according to the Montana Highway Patrol.
Two motorcycles were traveling southbound on Highway 35 when both drifted into a guardrail. Both drivers were separated from their motorcycles and ended up on the other side of the guardrail.
A 58-year-old Polson man was confirmed dead at the scene. The second driver, a 45-year-old man, also from Polson, was taken to the hospital with injuries.
Alcohol is a suspected factor in the crash, according to the Montana Highway Patrol.
The crash is under investigation.
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