Pvt. Robert Peter Gruebel
United States Marine Corps Reserve
Flight 19 Radioman on FT-117
Robert Peter Gruebel was born in 1927 in Long Island, New York. Robert Joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 1944. By April of that year we find him training with the Third Recruit Battalion, at Parris Island in South Carolina; and by October, he was training in Memphis, Tennessee, with Squadron 31 of the Marine Aviation Detachment.
Intensive training continued for Robert, as he was transferred to the Marine Corps Air Station in Eagle Mountain Lake, Texas. Here, he was part of the Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 931, with Marine Aircraft group 34. Another transfer and we find him in October of 1945 at NAS Miami, and by December, at NAS Fort Lauderdale, training as Radioman/Bombardier aboard TBM/TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. The radiomen learned international morse code, and USN communication and radio theory. As Bombardier, Pvt. Gruebel also practiced with a single .30 caliber hand-fired machine gun mounted ventrally (under the tail), which was used to defend against enemy fighters attacking from below and to the rear. This gun was fired while standing up and bending over in the belly of the tail section, though the Bombardier usually sat on a folding bench facing forward, to operate the radio, and to sight in bombing runs. On the fateful day of 5 December 1945 at NAS Fort Lauderdale, Robert (along with 13 other crewmen), was assigned to a training squadron of 5 Avenger aircraft that would be known as Flight 19. The squadron was to perform a routine navigation exercise, and mock bombing run over the Hen and Chickens shoals in the Bahamas, and then return to the NAS Fort Lauderdale. The planes never returned. Neither did a PBM Mariner rescue seaplane with 13 crewmen aboard, that was dispatched to search for their lost colleagues. In total, 6 aircraft and 27 men disappeared that afternoon. A massive search was organized, and nothing was found. Their disappearance launched one of the largest air and sea searches in history, and began the legend of the Bermuda Triangle. To this date, Flight 19 remains one of the great aviation mysteries. Pvt. Robert Peter Gruebel was the Radioman on FT-117. The Pilot was Captain George William Stivers Jr., USMC. The Gunner was Gunner Sgt. Robert Francis Gallivan, USMCR. Aircraft was a TBM-1C with BuNo 73209. |
Flight 19 Project Research by Matthew J. Bloom,
Curated by Benjamin Walter-Range & Minerva Bloom
Curated by Benjamin Walter-Range & Minerva Bloom
- Flight 19 Complete Naval Report: Get the naval investigation from original microfilm, published in book form (proceeds go to Museum).
- Support Project Mariner: An Expedition of the NAS Fort Lauderdale Museum.
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