FOREST LAKE, Minn. — Sharon Abbott has very few memories of her uncle, Navy Sailor Robert Baber, who died fighting in the Pacific back in 1944.
"I was just 5 years old when he died," Abbot said.
But for the past 80 years, she's never forgotten the day her family learned that he would never return from the war.
"There's not too many things you remember when you're young, but I remember the knock (at the door). His two sisters go open the door and there's the two military men there, and then they just screamed. It was awful."
Baber was just 19 years old when he died aboard the USS Harder (SS 257) on Aug. 24, 1944, but he and the other 78 souls on board had already made their mark on World War II. The Harder sank the most Japanese war ships in World War II and it received the Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy during its fifth patrol.
Its sixth patrol would be its last. The Harder was struck by a depth charge and wasn't seen again until a discovery by The Lost 52 Project last week.
"We specifically went out this year looking for the Harder," said Lost 52 founder, Tim Taylor, during an interview with NBC News Now about the discovery. "It is such an iconic submarine."
Taylor is a renowned ocean explorer and entrepreneur who founded Ocean Outreach and The Lost 52 Project in order to research and locate the 52 submarines lost on patrols during World War II.
Taylor and his team finally located the Harder using remote technology that scanned and captured video of the wreckage nearly 4,000 feet below the surface of the South China Sea. The U.S. Navy confirmed the discovery on May 23rd.
For Abbott and her family, the news came just in time.
Abbott: "We just found out (Sunday)."
Erdahl: "What was that like when (you found out)?"
Sharon: "Oh it was wonderful, we were laughing. That's what we do when we get really happy and excited. We had no words, we just laughed and just... wow! I'm so happy, it does bring closure. It's put to rest now. That's the period at the end of the sentence."
But it's not the end of the story.
"We're writing the last chapter of these heroic guys and hopefully re-telling a story of these men and these submarines that will resonate with the next generation," Taylor said.
Abbott couldn't agree more. More than 20 years ago, she wrote a poem to help process her uncle's sacrifice and help her family remember his service.
Abbott: "I feel like I have to do something."
Erdahl: "Maybe a new poem?"
Abbott: "Maybe a new poem! That would be good. A victorious poem."
This time the end is already written.
"His life was spent to keep us free," she said. "I must never forget what he did for me."
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