Guestbook

My uncle Ernie was one of the men lost. I never knew him but through my father's stories about him as he was Dad's closest brother. Dad passed on never learning of his little brother's fate.

Until I found this website the stories of my Uncle Guy Tramontano were just that, stories. My Mom passed 6 months ago and she never forgot her brother or the story about how he parrished. I wish I'd only have found this website before she died so she could have some closure over her precious brother's death.

My uncle Loyal Smith was on the Rohna. He was married with a new baby when he left for war. He was washed ashore at Algiers. My 87 year old mother wonders if any of the survivors remember him.

My uncle, Lawrence Lukasevicius from Gardner Massachusetts was one of the many who died on the Rohna. He has one surviving sister, Monica L Lukasevicius (Hakkinen), who will be 102 in April 2017 and still lives in Gardner MA. One of my cousins, James Kraskouskas, from the same home town has organized a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in honor of our Uncle Larry for June of this year. We will be thinking of the families of all those who perished along with our uncle on the HMT Rohna. I appreciate reading the accounts of the survivors of this tragedy. Thank you.

On the anniversary of this awful event my thoughts and prayers are with you all. Dennis Hume Grandson of Captain T.J.Murphy, Master of HMT Rohna

I ran into a man last night who told me a story about the Rohna Disaster. He said he was posted to the prow of the ship one moment and in the water the next. On his next posting he was pulled aside by commander, and he was asked where he had been wounded. He replied he was unable to speak about it. The Capt. Pushed for an answer it was the same. The Capt. was able to learn something and put the man up for a Purple Heart. The soldier told him he could not accept the medal -- he would not be able explain it.

My grandfather, Edward \"Pete\" Willeford was on the Rhona and survived the attack. He passed away some years back but our family still honors his service and sacrifice along with all those who served on the Rhona. I hope to some day visit the memorial in his honor. Thank you for continuing to honor those that served on the Rhona.

Hi. my relative, Walter J. Mazanka (possibly service # T/5, 36555153 CE or technician fifth grade serv ) served on the Rohna._ Does anyone have pictures, please?_ they would be the only pics we\'d have of him._ Or stories if anyone knew him. _all relatives of his have passed, so I want to get as much info as I can._ {I did buy the Rohna book} Thanks much

My great uncle Clyde Lerand died on the Rohna. I recall many stories from my grandmother of her five brothers, but Clyde dying and a second brother dying 7 months after was heartbreaking for a little sister. She shared the details of the men coming to the door to tell my great grandparents the news. She told me he drown while trying to save another. I don\'t know if this was fact or something the family was told to help comfort them.

My father was a survivor of the Rhona his name was Anthony paternoster he\'s no longer with us but I\'m sure he would have appreciated this website

My father, Frank Bryer, was a Rhona survivor. I had hoped to come to the reunion this year, as it is closer to me than other years, but I cannot. My father had nightmares and relived his experience for many years, although able to share it with high school students up until 5 years ago when his memory started to fade and speech became more difficult. He died in January this year and I honored his Army service and Rhona experience in his eulogy, showing his strength and faith from this experience making him the man he was. A Grove City College professor attended the funeral and after hearing the story, he wrote an article for a the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. I have attached the link to this email. (http://triblive.com/opinion/featuredcommentary/10556968-74/frank-rohna-survivors) and the article is below: Remembering the Rohna By Paul Kengor | Saturday, June 4, 2016, 9:00 p.m. A reunion will be held this month at the Crowne Plaza in Dayton, Ohio. It will be unlike any of your family reunions this summer. Very few will know about it, and fewer still will attend, including the tiny number of remaining survivors. The survivors probably will not include many (if any) of the 19 men from Allegheny County who served in the 322nd Fighter Control Squadron and 853rd Engineer Aviation Battalion — who experienced the horror of the event. The reunion will be for the survivors of something called the Rohna. The Rohna was a huge British ship that on Nov. 26, 1943, the day after Thanksgiving, was transporting an American crew to the Far East. It went down in the Mediterranean, the victim of a German missile. It was not just any missile. This was the first successful “hit” by a radio/remote-controlled “glider” bomb. It was a guided missile, and the Nazis had achieved the technology first. More than 1,000 soldiers perished, rivaling the loss at the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. But these boys would get no memorial. Their government kept the entire episode secret out of fear of information being leaked about the Germans\' new weapon. “The U.S. government placed a veil of secrecy upon it,” states the Website of the Rohna Survivors Association. “The events which followed were so shameful that the secrecy continued for decades until recently, when documents were grudgingly released under pressure of the Freedom of Information Act. The government still does not acknowledge this tragedy; thus most families of the casualties still do not know the fate of their loved ones.” It is sad that only now, long after the few survivors are even fewer, that the Rohna survivors are attempting to hold reunions. One who will not be attending is Frank Bryer of Grove City. “Dad was haunted frequently by this,” Frank\'s daughter, Mary Jo, told me, “but it was not so much the sinking of the ship, but his inability to save many men that haunted him.” As the ship burst into a fireball, Frank was directed toward a lifeboat packed with injured soldiers. He was ordered to single-handedly lower the boat. This was no simple task, especially in a chaotic situation. A craft filled with men isn\'t light, and the engulfing flames didn\'t help. The ropes broke and Frank watched the men below him fall into the sea to their death. Frank soon was forced to abandon ship as it quickly submerged. For his own crowded lifeboat, he and five other men seized a passing wooden bench. As the darkness slowly enveloped them, and with fear of more German missiles — and deadly sharks — Frank led the group in reciting the Lord\'s Prayer. The crew of six clung to their floating device. To their great fortune, they were in the water only for about six hours. A mine-sweep picked them up. They were taken to a facility in Algeria to recover. But for Frank, there was little comfort: “All I could think about was … the wounded soldiers that I could not save…. I couldn\'t sleep and had bad dreams, sometimes jumping out of bed and yelling for help.” Worse, Frank was not permitted to share what he went through. The survivors were ordered not to write or talk about the Rohna with their family or even among themselves. The military censorship was so strict that they were threatened with court martial if they disobeyed. But not anymore. This month in Dayton, the few survivors of the Rohna will talk openly at long last. But Frank Bryer will not be there. He died in January at age 92. May Frank Bryer rest in peace. And may the few survivors of the Rohna find some measure of peace. Paul Kengor is a professor of political science at Grove City College. His column appears on the first Sunday of the month. He plans to write another article closer to Veteran\'s Day with more information. I have made a scrapbook of dad\'s story. I hope someday in the near future to get to a reunion. Mary Jo Bryer Palmer daughter of a Rhona Survivor, Frank E. Bryer

My great-uncle was Clifford Nulton who was a casualty of the Rohna. Sadly we have only one photo of him in his military clothing. He received a purple heart and too is sadly missing. My grandmother (his sister) said when he was leaving, he told their mother \"If the ship goes down, I am going to die. I do not know how to swim\".