 |
| Lt. Hugh McKnight and the crew of USS Robalo, lost at sea on July 26, 2944. http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-robalo-273.htm |
Hugh Ferguson McKnight, Jr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on December 14, 1917 in Pennsylvania. His parents Hugh and Mabel were also both born in Pennsylvania. His father worked as a hardware works part manager and later as a hardware store merchant. Hugh Jr. had two older half-brothers from his mother's first marriage. By 1940 Hugh was a full-time student completing his fourth year of college while living at home.
I don't know when Hugh enlisted in the US Navy or when he decided to volunteer for submarine duty. He became a lieutenant junior grade on the submarine USS Robalo. The Robalo completed two patrols before it's final patrol that started on June 22, 1944 out of Freemantle, Australia. After a July 2 report, Robalo was never heard from again. It was not until after the war that details emerged about her loss.
It appears that Robalo struck an enemy mine on July 26, 1944 near Balabac Island, Philippines. Only the four men on the bridge survived. They were captured shortly after by the Japanese occupying the Philippines. None of them survived the war. They were either executed by their captors or drowned when a ship they took to Japan was sunk. A total of 81 crewmen from Robalo, including Lt. McKnight were lost.
Hugh is remembered at the Tablet of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Philippines..
Thanks to Darillyn Lamb Starr for recommending that Hugh be profiled.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
No comments:
Post a Comment