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Contact Info
Home Town Philadelphia, PA
Last Address Vineland, N.J.
Date of Passing Jan 01, 2016
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Last Known Activity:
CE/EM 1/c Robert Earl Loyle, USN
Construction Electrician, Seabees WWII with 22nd Marines
Shipboard Electrician and witnessed the A-Bomb Tests at Bikini Atoll
Also served in the Army as a high speed Morse code interceptor
Bob was born on October 26, 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He left home at the age of sixteen, making his way out to California and finding work with the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey circus. Bob worked as an electrician’s assistant, raising the tents and light poles with the elephants and manning the spotlights during shows.
As soon as Bob turned seventeen he headed back east and joined the U.S. Navy at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. His electrician's experience made him an ideal candidate for the newly formed USN Construction Battalion. In January 1942 Bob shipped out to Bora Bora with 295 of his mates; they were the very first Seabees. His battalion spent part of the war as part of the 22nd Marines and saw action in the Marshall Islands. He reenlisted in the Navy after the war and subsequently was shipped back out to the South Pacific and served on board the U.S.S. LCI(G) 455 (Landing Craft Infantry Gunboat). He served on the U.S.S. Gunston Hall (LSD-5) and took part in Operation Crossroads in the Bikini Atoll. He finished out his enlistment on the U.S.S. Kermit Roosevelt (ARG-16).
Once his service in the Navy ended, Bob spent a couple of years working various jobs out west. In 1950 he enlisted in the U.S. Army with the hopes of being assigned to a construction battalion in Europe. His high scores on the entrance aptitude exam however, resulted in his recruitment into the U.S. Army Security Agency. Bob trained in Carlisle, Pennsylvania as a high speed Morse code interceptor. His assignment after training was Clark’s Air Force Base in the Philippines; right back to the South Pacific.
Other Memories USS Gunston Hall (LSD-5), was an Ashland-class dock landing ship, launched in 1943 and struck in 1970. She was sold to Argentina, renamed ARA Candido de Lasala (Q-43), decommissioned in 1981, and scrapped.
World War II: After intensive shakedown along the California coast Gunston Hall prepared to sail for the Western Pacific, where she was to participate in every major operation from February 1944 to the end of the war, 18 months later. Loading 225 men from the 4th Marine Tank Battalion and 2 amphibious units, as well as 15 LVTs, 15 tanks, 17 LCMs, and 15,000 gallons of gasoline, Gunston Hall departed San Diego on 13 January 1944. On D-Day for the assault on Kwajalein, 1 February 1944, she stood offshore to unload her cargo as the Marines stormed the beaches on Roi and Namur Islands. Gunston Hall remained in the area to repair small craft until 6 February, when she reembarked her former passengers and equipment and sailed to Guadalcanal via Funa Futi. The pattern she set here held for her participation in eight further key invasion efforts in the Pacific as the Navy "Island-hopped" marines and Army troops ever closer to the Japanese home islands.
Through the rest of 1944, the versatile landing ship took part in the initial assault invasions of Emirau Island 20 March, of Hollandia on 22 April, Guam on 21 July, Peleliu Island on 15 September, and Leyte Island on 20 October. The last assault culminated in the momentous Battle for Leyte Gulf, one of history's greatest naval engagements. While not actually involved in an invasion effort, Gunston Hall trained troops and shuttled supplies and men from the rear islands to the staging areas.
In 1945 Gunston Hall participated in the initial assault landings at Luzon on 9 January, Iwo Jima on 19 February, and Okinawa on 1 April. After the first invasion waves went ashore at Okinawa, the Pacific's largest amphibious operation, involving over 1,200 ships and haIf a million men, Gunston Hall remained anchored at nearby Kerama Retto until 1 July to repair small craft. She was untouched by the enemy's fierce kamikaze attacks although she saw several other American ships hit and crippled.
Gunston Hall terminated her Pacific war duty 1 July 1945 as she sailed for a much-needed overhaul reaching Portland, Oregon on 26 July via Guam, Eniwetok, and Pearl Harbor. After a period of shuttling small craft along the West Coast, she anchored at San Diego in mid-December to repair small craft. Gunston Hall returned to the Pacific in 1946 to participate in one of the most significant series of scientific tests of the era. Departing San Diego 17 April, she reached Bikini Atoll on 6 May via Pearl Harbor for duties in connection with Operation Crossroads, the famous series of atomic bomb tests. Departing Bikini on 19 August, Gunston Hall returned to San Diego 3 October via Kwajalein and Pearl. Gunston Hall decommissioned 7 July 1947 at Terminal Island in San Francisco Bay.