Albert James Roberts 1918 - 1996.
BRIEF PERSONAL HISTORY
Al Roberts was born in Cleveland (Euclid), Ohio in 1918. Growing up he was a regular kid who enjoyed hopping freight trains for a free ride and some fun, sledding in the winter and all sorts of other fun kid things. Later, as a teenager, he got his first Harley and would visit local pool halls where he began his life-long passion for the game. He was also mechanically inclined, which would later serve him well in World War II when he trained as a Bomb Site Mechanic at Norden Bomb Site school in Denver, Colorado. I’ll backtrack for a minute here and mention that Al was inducted in August, 1942 in Cleveland, Ohio at age 23 into the Army Air Corp. He attended boot camp in Atlantic City, New Jersey and then, as I mentioned above, started to train at the Norden Bomb Site school and later at the Instrumentation & Computing Gun Sight school in Pendleton, Oregon. After he finished his training, he was assigned to the air base at Great Falls, Montana.
Al in Cleveland after homecoming party, 1945
Al and a Jap anti-aircraft gun, 'somewhere in the Pacific'.
Al and friends 'posing' for the camera.
He married Margaret Adair, on April 21, 1943, and soon after "shipped out" overseas. He served in the 69th Service Squadron in the 5th Air Force as a Staff Sargeant and was a Bomb Site and Instrument Mechanic. The 69th Service Squadron was comprised mainly of men from Texas and New Jersey. Al first went to Sydney, Australia, then on to Port Moresby, New Guinea. After that he served on Saidor , followed by the Trobriand Islands, Hollandia and Biak. (Please see the "war stories" page for personal stories, photos and recollections of the War) On these island airfields, recently taken from the Japanese, Al sometimes had to put down his tools and grab that other Soldiers "tool" his rifle, to help the Marines repel attacks from the Japs intent on taking back "their" airfield! Somewhere between battles, he was sent to Mackay, Queensland, Australia for some much needed R&R. He later contracted malaria and "jungle rot" dermatitis, was hospitalized in New Guinea and returned to the U.S. aboard the hospital ship, 'The Sea Devil', docking at Pittsburgh, California on December 24, 1944. He was discharged at Lawry Field in Denver, Colorado in 1945. After the war, he settled down with his wife, Margaret, had three children and made the big move to Southern California in the 1950’s where he had two more children. He worked in the aerospace industry at Aerojet General in Azusa, CA and worked on projects related to the Apollo moon landings and other space-related projects until he retired in the mid 1980’s.
I first met Al in 1990. I was on a trip to California to visit a penpal of mine. We had written to each other several times and I decided to visit. That penpal was Laura, Al's youngest daughter. Al welcomed me as a friend and showed me the sights of Southern California and Mexico (one of his favourite 'cultural centers' being the Tecate brewery!) I was able to stay in the US as a resident and I spent 6 good years having fun with Al and his family. Weekends on the boat at Dana Point Harbor, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays etc, were all spent with my 'second family'. Al devoted much time and energy to converting me from European beer to his favourite "tipple" Budweiser!! I was also schooled in the delights of Tequila, which Al often "smuggled" back during his Mexico "educational" day trips with me. I was with the family when Al passed away, coming only a year or so after my Dad's passing it was a great blow to me personally. I miss his dry humor and there's a big void in my life that will never be filled. It was an honor to have known Al even for those few years and his sharing this website with my Dad is the greatest tribute I can pay him. I will never forget you Al, you were a great pal and you're sadly missed.
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