During the depths of World War II, in June of 1943, the U.S. submarine Gunnel was attacking Japanese ships in the sea between Japan and Korea when she was spotted by three Japanese destroyers that immediately bore down on her.

There followed 36 hours of violent battle in which the Japanese dropped depth charges that exploded so close under the submarine that they nearly lifted the boat out of the water. A Japanese grappling hook at the end of a chain banged against the conning tower so loudly that, said one submariner, “it sounded like the chains of Marley’s ghost.”

The submarine, forced to surface to replenish air, took fire from the guns of the destroyers but torpedoed a destroyer as she dived to escape. (For a vivid account of this naval battle, see Gunnel’s log.)

In the midst of this life-or-death struggle, the submarine’s torpedo officer, Lieutenant Lloyd “Joe” Vasey, thought: “There has to be a better way to resolve disputes.” He vowed that, if he survived, he would one day look for that “better way.”

Vasey’s conviction and aspiration eventually led to the founding of the Pacific Forum in Honolulu, a think tank that intends to persuade Americans that Asia is important to the security of the U.S. and equally to persuade Asians that good relations with America serves the best interests of everyone in the Asia-Pacific region.

Last week, Ralph Cossa, a retired Air Force colonel who is president of Pacific Forum now, reported at a dinner that the forum had arranged 18 conferences and 14 seminars last year as it brought together political, economic, military, academic, student, and journalistic leaders to seek common grounds—on a modest budget of $2.5 million.

At the same time, Pacific Forum honored its founder, Joe Vasey, on his 95th birthday with guests giving him a standing ovation for his vision in seeking “a better way” to resolve differences. (Full disclosure: This correspondent has been an adjunct fellow at Pacific Forum and personal friend of Joe Vasey for many years.)

After the war, Vasey rose steadily in rank and responsibility, culminating in three years as a rear admiral at the Pacific Command in Honolulu as the staff’s chief strategist and policy planner. The command’s leader, Admiral John McCain, had been skipper of Gunnel in WWII and father of Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona.

Thirty years after the battle with the Japanese destroyers, Vasey, now retired from the Navy and a consultant with Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, began seeking that “better way.” He arranged a seminar on economic development in Vietnam attended by business executives from Hawaii and the U.S. mainland and Vietnamese leaders.

Two years later, he organized a symposium for 50 economists, business executives, and other specialists from 12 nations to examine “The Emerging Era of the Pacific.” Out of that came a call to establish a forum “for a continuing trans-Pacific private dialogue” among developed and developing nations.

The Scaife Family Charitable Trusts, which tends to support conservative causes, gave $30,000 to Pepperdine to support Vasey’s initiatives The university added $15,000 and Vasey became president of newly named Pacific Forum.

Over the next six months, he travelled throughout East Asia to meet with prominent politicians, scholars, and civic leaders whom he persuaded to accept the idea that problems should be seen from the perspective of every nation involved. This led to a network of 21 Asian and American research institutes collaborating with Pacific Forum.

Pacific Forum then began operating along what is known as Track II, which runs parallel to official negotiations. In a non-governmental venue, specialists, scholars, and government officials meet off the record to express personal views. Rarely, however, do officials wander from the party line either in democratic or authoritarian regimes.

Just as China started to emerge as an economic and political power, Vasey was invited by the Beijing Institute of International Strategic Studies in July 1982 to visit China. He brought along several others, including a former chief of naval operations, Admiral Thomas Hayward, and the distinguished Asia scholar, Robert Scalapino.

In 1989, Pacific Forum became affiliated with the influential Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. In essence, Pacific Forum became the Pacific arm of CSIS.

Philip Habib, chairman of the Pacific Forum board of governors and a former US ambassador to Korea, asserted that this was “designed to put both organizations at the forefront of Asia-Pacific policy formulation.”

In recent years, Pacific Forum has included nearly 200 young Asians and Americans in its programs. In 20-25 years, they will be among the region’s leaders who, if Joe Vasey’s vision holds, will find “a better way” to resolve disputes than with guns and torpedoes.