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Websites Directory, my drawings,
Aloha & Mahalo

Image from Worldcon .org

Mae Govannen! and Aloha Kβkou!

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Links of Relevance
to Lt. J.G. Robert Sterling

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Battle Links related to Robert
and
Island Information, Maps

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Task Force 58
– New

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Planes & Pilots

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STORIES and ANECHDOTES of WWII
(On Topic)

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Award Links

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Aircraft Cariers

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Pacific War of WWII - General

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Other Battle Links related to the Marianas

Gramma's Account of Robert's Battle
In the Marianas Islands







Bob (on the left) in his pilot's gear.




Reference Links of Relevance to Robert

Uncle Bob was the eldest son of 5 children in Dad's family. He graduated from Michigan State College (now University) with a degree in engineering and was working for General Motors of Grand Rapids, Michigan when WWII broke out. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and was a Lieutenant JG Helldiver Pilot where he flew off the aircraft carriers Yorktown, Intrepid and Bunker Hill.

Helldivers were two-man torpedo attack planes with a pilot and a navigator/gunner. Bob's plane was lost at sea when returning from an attack on the Japanese fleet in the Battle of the Marianas (referred to as the Marianas Turkey Shoot) as a part of a combined American Fleet designated Task Force 58. It was one of the major attacks launched against the Japanese in the Pacific since the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and it was a turning point in the war. Of the 430 enemy aircraft involved in the battle, 35 were left operational with three carriers and two of their finest ships sunk. Of the hundreds of American planes launched, losses were 23 aircraft shot down and 6 aircrew lost operationally with 31 fatal injuries on the ships from enemy attacks.

Bob in the cockpit of his Dauntless Torpedo Plane

This battle took place on the night of June 19, 1944. Our planes had to travel over a great distance to engage the Japanese fleet. All the while our planes were flying towards the enemy, the U.S. commander (Admiral Spruance) ordered the fleet to travel "away" from the battle in fear of German U-boats... widening the distance for our planes' return late in the evening. This was one of many bad decisions the non-flyer commander made against the counsel of his flight-experienced Admirals; the most respected and experienced being Admiral Mitscher.

Reference Links of Relevance to Robert

Orders for ships at sea during wartime are to travel with no lights running so they won't be spotted by the enemy. Our air forces were in a brutal fight, diving at the enemy ships while flying through gunfire and avoiding enemy aircraft. When the battle was over, our planes (crippled and running low on fuel) tried to find their way back to their carriers in the dark; which were now a much greater distance away than when they had left. Admiral Mitscher finally convinced Spruance to turn the fleet and steam back toward the returning planes. Against orders and at great risk to themselves from enemy submarines and night-flying scout planes, Mitscher also convinced Spruance to light up the carriers as a beacon for our planes. After flying a total of 275-300 miles to engage the enemy and then return to the US fleet, the aircraft landed nearly out of fuel. Most of those lost never made it simply because they ran out of fuel and ditched. Some pilots were recovered the next day in an exhaustive search, but Bob and his navigator were never found.

A fellow pilot who was with Bob during that battle contacted my Grandmother after the war and told her he saw Bob's plane dive through the enemy flack over and over, attacking the enemy ships. When the attack was broken off, he saw Bob pull out of his last dive and turn with the rest of the aircraft as they headed back to the American fleet. Bob's plane was shot up, yet he was still in control... but he never made it back. It's unknown if the plane finally failed from multiple hits, if Bob succumbed to injuries, or if they ran out of fuel. A year and a day later, he was declared dead. Grandma received the Purple Heart posthumously for her son. He was cited as being responsible for sinking one of the enemy ships during that battle. It's sad, but we never knew what his navigator's name was. All we know is that he was from New Jersey. Their records were lost in a government office fire along with thousands of other military/veteran's records in the mid-1960s.

Reference Links of Relevance to Robert

Grandma was widowed when Uncle Bob was 14. She raised 4 sons and 1 daughter alone since the beginning of the depression. She lost 2 of her 4 sons during WWII while the other two both served as Marines. Bob went into the Army Air Corps, Dad and Uncle Jimmy went into the Marine Corps, and Uncle Andy died while awaiting orders from the Army.


In 1997, I visited the family farm in Ohio for the first time in over 25 years. I also visited the graves of my Uncles, Aunt, Grandparents, and Great Grandparents... generations of my Dad's family. But it was then I noticed there was no marker for Uncle Bob. We grew up knowing his story, but since my visit to the farm (abandoned for over 30 years and now being restored by our family) he has become someone very real to me.

Even though I never knew Uncle Bob, I've noticed that in every picture I've seen of him... he's smiling. I'm told he was brilliant. Studies and challenges came easily to him. He was very tall... 6'4". I would think that it would have been quite a challenge for a pilot in such a confined warplane. He was also a consummate joker. His brothers and he were incredibly close and always did things together. I would have loved to hang out with him and hear stories that, I'm sure, would have me riveted for hours and hours.

Grandma and Bob during his last stateside visit in 1942.

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