Guestbook

My grandmother's fiancé, Ermal Robert "Bob" Lynn Pfc 35497704 was a casualty of the Rohna. When I was a child, I helped my grandmother research the disaster (the book and new reports were coming out at the time, around year 2000) and write her recollection of her whirlwind romance in 1943. She kept each letter and postcard that Bob wrote her, newspaper clippings, and photos, as well as a letter from his friend, Kenneth Guilbault Pfc 31213251, who survived. Bob wrote about his training in many locations including Madison, Wisconsin, where he met my grandmother, Ellen Zobrist. He wrote about being on duty for many long hours and longing to be home to visit his family and his love. He also wrote about hanging out with his friends "Kenny" Guilbalt and William "Bill" Norrod whether it was seeing a movie or enjoying time off base in town. Ellen's writing also referenced a man named Manos, who was with Kenny and Bob as the troop ship was in trouble. Bob could not swim, so he certainly was swept under by the large sea swells. However, the telegram Ellen received simply said "missing in action". She looked for answers long after the sinking and has a letter from the Official Historian of the Royal Navy in 1959. She also has a letter from Andrew Fetsko, who saw one of Ellen's articles in a VFW magazine. It was not until 1944 that Ellen met Bob's mother, Margaret. Bob also had a sister named June, and his father passed away in a farming accident when Bob was around 9 years old. From Ellen's writings, it sounded like the Lynn family attended the Church of God in Mitchell, Indiana, and that Bob had an interest in racing cars and farming, like his father, before enlisting in the Air Force. He would send his government checks home to his mother. There are many small personal details in my grandma's writings but seeing that family members of the few individuals Bob knew may see this, I thought I'd write to let them know that my grandma was so moved by the events of 1943 that she shared these artifacts with my family decades later and held on to the memories of her first true love, Ermal Robert Lynn, until her death in 2003.