- Glenn Earl Druliner killed WWII was a pilot on the USS Franklin. He was married to Mildred Nadine Anderson, no children. Per Anita Druliner-Kitt on 13 May 2013
Nebraska State Summary of Naval War Casualties
Name: Glenn E. Druliner
State Registered: Hawaii
Death Date: 19 Mar 1945 USS Franklin
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial Cemetery
Burial Plot: Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Cemetery City: Honolulu Cemetery Country: Hawaii
WAR: World War II
Awards: Purple Heart
Title: Ensign
Rank: Ensign
Service: U.S. Navy Service ID: 0-355115
Division: United States Naval Reserve
Data Source: World War II Honor Roll
This note was a Post-Em note on RootsWeb World Connect by Gordon Drollinger on 6 Aug 2010. Thank you Gordon.
B 1922 D 19 Mar 1945
WWII NAVAL WAR CASUALTIES
NEBRASKA SUMMARY
1946
DRULINER, Glenn Earl, Ensign, USNR. Wife, Mrs. Mildred Nadean Druliner, Parks.
ENS, USS Franklin, USN
The USS Franklin (CV-13)
Before dawn on 19 March 1945 the U.S.S. Franklin, who had maneuvered closer to the Japanese mainland than had any other U.S. carrier during the war, launched a fighter sweep against Honshu and later a strike against shipping in Kobe Harbor. Suddenly, a single enemy plane pierced the cloud cover and made a low level run on the gallant ship to drop two semi-armor piercing bombs. One struck the flight deck centerline, penetrating to the hangar deck, effecting destruction and igniting fires through the second and third decks, and knocking out the combat information center and airplot. The second hit aft, tearing through two decks and fanning fires, which triggered ammunition, bombs and rockets. The Franklin, within 50 miles of the Japanese mainland, lay dead in the water, took a 13° starboard list, lost all radio communications, and broiled under the heat from enveloping fires. Many of the crew were blown overboard, driven off by fire, killed or wounded, but the 106 officers and 604 enlisted who voluntarily remained saved their ship through sheer valor and tenacity. The casualties totaled 724 killed and 265 wounded, and would have far exceeded this number except for the heroic work of many survivors. Among these were Medal of Honor winners, Lieutenant Commander Joseph T. O'Callahan, S. J., USNR, the ship's chaplain, who administered the last rites, organized and directed firefighting and rescue parties, and led men below to wet down magazines that threatened to explode, and Lieutenant (junior grade) Donald Gary who discovered 300 men trapped in a blackened mess compartment, and finding an exit, returned repeatedly to lead groups to safety. The U.S.S. Santa Fe (CL-60) similarly rendered vital assistance in rescuing crewmen from the sea and closing the Franklin to take off the numerous wounded. The Franklin was taken in tow by the U.S.S. Pittsburgh until she managed to churn up speed to 14 knots and proceed to Pearl Harbor where a cleanup job permitted her to sail under her own power to Brooklyn, N.Y., arriving on 28 April. Following the end of the war, the Franklin was opened to the public, for Navy Day celebrations, and on 17 February 1947 was placed out of commission at Bayonne, N.J. On 15 May 1959 she was reclassified AVT 8. The U.S.S. Franklin received four battle stars for World War II service. From: Dictionary Of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. II, 1977, pp. 443-444
additional data: Glenn E. Druliner was a son of Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Druliner Sr., and graduated from Benkelman High School in 1940; later attended Wesleyan University at Lincoln. He entered the Air Service of the U.S. navy on July 27, 1942, and his Naval training took him to Mr. Vernon, Iowa; Del Monte, California; Norman, Oklahoma; and Corpus Christi, Texas, where he won his Wings on March 15, 1944. He received his advanced training at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and at Great Lakes, Ill. Glenn was serving in the Pacific Theatre as Pilot of a Gruman Avenger, a large torpedo bomber, operating from the decks of the USS Franklin. His plane was waiting its turn to leave the ship when it was hit by a Japanese bomb. Glenn made the supreme sacrifice for his country on March 19, 1945. He was married to Mildred (Anderson) of Parks.
|
1922 - 1945 (22 years)
