15087 | iii. | Grover Bartlett Coffey was born circa 1921 in Oklahoma. Grover enlisted in the US Army Air Force on 4 January 1943 at Tulsa, Tulsa Co., OK.25173 Grover went missing in action when his ship, the HMT Rohna was hit by a German bomb in the Mediterranean off the coast of North Africa on 27 November 1943. He is remembered at the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia .25174,25175 Grover was a Private in the 853rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation. He was declared missing in action and his remains have not been recovered. He is enrolled on the Tables of the Missing at the North Africa American Cemetery at Carthage, Tunisia. "GROVER B. COFFEY, Private, U. S. Army Air Corps. Home address: Spiro, Le Flore County. Mrs. Mamie Coffey, Mother, Spiro. Born March 5, 1921. Enlisted January 4,1943. Decoration:Order of the Purple Heart. Died November 27, 1943, in action over European waters."
PFC Grover Bartlett Coffey 1943
Contributed By WoodJeannie1 · Sep 13, 2014 "US Army Air Corps WORLD WAR II
Passenger PFC Grover B. Coffey MIA/KIA
853rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation
Hometown: Oklahoma
Ship: HMT Rohna
Service # 38327052
Awards: Purple Heart
Captain: Capt. T. J. Murphy (name missing from original)
Mission: Troop Transport Convoy KMF-26
Loss Date: November 26, 1943 Location: Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Algeria.Cause: German guided missile Crew: On Board 2000 · Saved 606 · Lost 1138 This was the first successful "hit" of a merchant vessel at sea carrying US troops by a German remote-controlled, rocket-boosted bomb, thus giving birth to the "Missile Age", and it resulted in the greatest loss of troops (1,015) at sea in U.S. history. Combined with the loss of ship's crew and officers, and three Red Cross workers, more lives were lost than on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.The "hit" was so devastating that the U.S. Government placed a veil of secrecy upon it. The events which followed were so shameful that the secrecy continued for decades until recently (1967), 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. In 1995, over fifty years later, a group of survivors, next-of-kin and rescuers, came together for the sole purpose of enabling the creation and dedication of a Rohna Memorial.On November 26, 1943 nearly two thousand American soldiers faced the most traumatic experience of their young lives. They woke up that morning aboard a vessel that some described as unfit for human habitation. Just a bunch of kids, mostly only a year or so out of high school. Exhibiting the expected Yankee cockiness, they were ready to take on anything the war had to offer. Having survived a Thanksgiving Day dinner the day before, things just had to get better. The sad part of it was, this would be the last Thanksgiving for over half of them!The minesweeper USS Pioneer rescued 606 survivors of the sinking.Visit the virtual cemetery of the HMT Rohna Crew at findagrave.com" Note: Some of the information concerning release of information is inaccurate. In Feb., 1944 the US Govt acknowledged loss of more than a thousand troops at sea but did not release the name of the ship. In Jun., 1945 the government released more info, identified the ship and identified cause as a German bomber. The US released the full story in 1967. |