AdministratorThe men of VT-17 are listed below. This page is under development as the names of replacement personnel is still being researched. We have also learned that men who served prior to deployment might have been missed in the compilation of this list.
BUNKER HILL Deployment (officers/pilots)
WHITAKER, LCDR Frank M. (Killed)
BERRY, Ltjg B. F.
BIRKES, Ltjg Newton (MIA)
BR0WN, Ltjg Guy M.
CARBY, Ltjg Henry C. (MIA)
DAVIS, Ens Darold W.
DICKSON, Lt. Paul F.
DITCH, Ens. William E.
HIGLEY, Ens. Robert H. (MIA)
HOOD, Ens. Elmore K. “Kit”
JENKINS, Lt. John C.
KRANTZ, Lt. William F.
KRIDEL, Ltjg James A.
LIEDER, LT. E. H.
MARTIN, Lt. John A.
MORGAN, Ltjg Lindsey
NEWEL, Ens. Edward A.
O’SULLIVAN, Ltjg Arthur (Abe) P.
OWENS, LT. Gordon N. (X.O.)
PALAND, Lt. Richard
PEARSON, Ltjg John K. (KIA)
ROBERTSON, Ltjg David H.
ROLAND, Ltjg Raymond M.
SCHATZ, Lt jg Delmar A.
STACK, Ltjg Edward (Killed)
SULLIVAN, Ltjg Steven G.
TURNBULL, Ltjg G. A. “Bull”
WEBER, Ltjg Ernest
WILSON, Lt. James C.
**Replacement pilots not listed
HORNET Deployment
(Officers)
ROMBERGER, LCDR William M. (C.O.)
BEHL, Ens. Joseph
BEISEL, Ltjg Ivan R.
BUNDGUS, Ltjg Jules J.
CLARK, Lt. Henry E.
COGHLAN, Ltjg Thomas J.
COOKE, Ltjg John S.
DURKIN, Lt. Thomas C. (MIA)
FOOTE, Ltjg Harlan W.
HANLON, Ens. Robert S.
HOOTON, Ens. William A. (MIA)
JOHNSON, Ltjg Hugh C.
JOHNSON, Ltjg Ralph V.
JONES, Ens. Harry D.
LIVENGOOD, Lt. Charles D.
MARTIN, *Lt. John A.
MCCUBBINS, Ltjg Kenneth B. C.
MONAGHAN, Ltjg James F.
MURPHY, Lt. John E.
NICKEL, Ens. Walter F.
NIESLEN, Ltjg Walter D.
O’BRIEN, Ens. Leo (MIA)
REED, Lt. Richard C.
ROBERTSON, *Lt. David H. (KIT)
ROGERS, Ens. Harold J.
ROLAND, *Lt. Raymond M. Jr.
SMITH, Ltjg Francis M.
STRICKLAND, Ltjg John E.
SULLIVAN, *Lt. Steven G.
TEW, Lt. James A.
TRAXLER, Ltjg Arnold C.
TSCHUDIN, Ens. Frederick B.
WESTMOORELAND, Ltjg T. (MIA)
* Turn-around Officers
HORNET Deployment (enlisted)
AKERS, ARM2c (T) Raymond N.
BARKLAY, AOM2c(T) Budd N.
BELL, ACMM(AA)(T) Vern K.
BERRYHILL, ARM1c(T) James H.
BOBBITT, AMM1c Paul M.
BRAUCH, AOM1c Paul (n)
BREZOVSKY, AMM1c Philip S.
CANADA, ARM3c Herman R.
CHASE, AMM2c(T) LeRoy C.
CIMINSKI, ARM3c(Y) Frank (n)
COLOMBINI, S1c William (n)
COLP, ARM3c William E.
CONSTANTINE, ARM3c Pete (n)
CROOP, ARM2c(T) Fred R.
FEURT, AOM1c(T) Donald R.
FIELD, Y1c(T) James J.
FITZGERALD, AMM1c(T) Fred J.
FORBES, AOM1c Ray D.
FRIEZE, ARM2c(T) Robert A.
FUCHS, AOM1c Ernest P.
GEORGE, AOM1c(T) Philip W.
GEYER, AOM1c(T) Jack L.
HAND, ART1c George C.
HELGESON, ARM3c Helge KL.
HERZING, ACOM(AA)(T) Ivan J.
HILBERT, AMM3c Bruce M.
JENSEN, AOM1c(T) Norman C.
JONES, S1c Robert J.
KEENER, AOM3c Frank W.
KEFFER, AOM1c(T) Theodore (n)
KELLETTE, ACEM(AA)(T) Walter B.
KLUNDER, ARM1c(T) Robert “E.”
MANNING, AMM2c(T) Victor (n)
MAZUR, ACMM(T) Walter (n)
MCFARLAND, AMM2c Carl W.
MEYER, AOM2c(T) Jack T.
MULLIS, S1c William B.
NELSON, ARM3c Glenn L.
NICHOLSON, ARM1c(T) James N.
NIEDZWICK, AOM1c(T) Ted J.
PARKER, ARM1c(Y) Frank G.
PODOLAK, ARM2c(T) Paul G.
REDMON, ARM1c(T) Joseph H.
REIGER, ARM Robert E.
ROBSON, ARM3c Donald W.
ROELFSON, ARM2c Roy O.
ROUSH, ACEM(PA) Randall C.
SARTORY, AM1c Joseph G.
SCHNELL, AMM2c(T) Fredrick P.
SENNETT, AOM2c(T) Walter m.
SHUTTLEWORTH, ARM3c Frank (n)
SIMONS, ARM2c(T) Paul E.
(End of VT-17 personnel)
Commanding Officers & first date of command
- LCDR Frank M. Whitaker 1 Jan 1943
- LT Gordon N. Owens 2 Feb 1944
- LT Jack Martin (acting) 18 Apr 1944
- LCDR William M. Romberger 2 May 1944
- LT Arnold C. Traxler (acting) 18 Aug 1945
- CDR Rubin H. Konig 11 Oct 1945
Donations appreciated.
James Nelson
April 7th, 2015 at 09:25
Description posted to facebook on April 7, 2015, 70th anniversary of Yamato sinking based on story told to me by my father. NELSON, ARM3c Glenn L. Also posted scan of log book he kept.
Today, 70 years ago, my father flew his biggest mission during the naval battle of Okinawa, aka the Last Sortie of the Japanese Fleet, operation Ten-go. His squadron, Torpedo 17, reached the superbattleship Yamato first. When they arrived, the pilot told him to turn the torpedo’s depth lower because it was set to heavy cruiser. He crawled back to the bomb bay and began turning the wrench. The pilot opened the bomb bay doors and dad dropped the wrench. How deep the torpedo setting was, he couldn’t say.
Yamato had an enormous number of AA guns. Dad’s plane took some damage during the torpedo run and even though they had dropped the torpedo and its great weight, they couldn’t gain altitude. About 75 feet above the water, the pilot Mick Monaghan cried, “We’re gonna have to ditch”. Dad and the gunner Geyer could see hundreds of Japanese sailers swimming below as a DD or maybe the CL Yahagi had already been sunk.
“Don’t ditch!” they cried. Fortunately, they didn’t have to.
Kenneth Stewart
June 8th, 2015 at 16:08
Disappointing that I do not see the my brother’s name on your list of VT-17 enlisted personnel. He was a turret gunner who flew with Lt. Turnbull (on the Bunker Hill) and later Lt. T. C. Durkin (on Hornet II). His name is Cecil W. Stewart. Along with Durkin and their radioman, he was shot down at Kanoya (southern Japan) in early May, 1945 and was a prisoner of the Japanese until the end of the war. He went on to serve 32 years with the Navy.
Administrator
December 12th, 2015 at 09:12
Thank you for your message. The crew members list was compiled word-for-word from the VT-17 book put together in 1945. Any names left off were likely a matter of timing or oversight. I’ve posted your message as a comment to the crew lists. Once I can confirm his participation, I will add him to the alphabetical list on the page.
TJ Meyer
May 19th, 2016 at 09:29
Hello I work at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island Va, which is the former US Navy Naval Auxiliary Air Station where VT-17 trained from Feb 1943 – July 1943. I have been compiling the US Navy history prior to NASA ownership in 1959. All former servicemen and family are welcome to visit and tour the base. Additionally, I would be happy to hear from and exchange information with any former servicemen or family members. Please contact me at : theodore.j.meyer@nasa.gov
Robert R. Heath
January 1st, 2017 at 12:15
Thank you for this personell list I have finally found my uncles name Ted Keffer AOM1c I saw him in a training film in Navy boot camp in 1952 . He was leaving the ready room to go on a mission & I spotted his flight jacket ,painted on the back was “Pappy Ted “. I remember creating quite a stir when I blurted out “There’s my uncle Ted” Now i hope I can find out much more of his Navy History . He was a tail gunner on a torpedo plane , TBF or TBM, hopefully I will soon find out . Thanks again .
Robin TRAXLER clinton
September 8th, 2020 at 02:17
My dad was Arnold c TRAXLER a torpedo bomber pilot on the uss hornet torpedo squadron 17.
I leant his cruise book to a man who had been on hornet, he was suffering from cancer and sadly died but I never could obtain my dad’s cruise book back and feel awful about losing it.
Is there any way I could replace it???
Thank you so much!
Robin traxler
Administrator
September 8th, 2020 at 06:13
Robin, I would reach out to his family members and explain the situation. I doubt it would have been thrown in the trash. Alternately, maybe a visitor here has a way of copying a VT-17 cruise book. If I come upon one, I would scan it and have the PDF ebook offered here. If somebody loans us one, I would be happy to copy it.
If you have an account on ANCESTRY.COM be aware they have U.S. Navy Cruise Books. Though most are ships, there are some groups among them. I did not find VT-17 specifically, but I hope to find Air Group 17 and go from there.
Here is the link to U.S. Navy Cruise Books:
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2348/
ANCESTRY.COM has the USS Hornet CV-12 Cruise Book 1943-1945 here:
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2348/images/33032_649080_0618-00000
ANCESTRY.COM has the USS BUNKER HILL CV-17 Cruise Book 1943-1944 here:
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2348/images/33032_1020703348_0920-00008
Best wishes, Dave.
Larry Arvel Cummings
January 24th, 2021 at 15:04
Also disappointed in not seeing my brother, Wayne Edward Cummings, AO2, listed as an enlisted member. He was the turret gunner on the TBF Avenger and took part in the fight for Rubal. He was stationed at the Alameda base after returning from the South Pacific and was killed in a practice dive in the San Francisco Bay on May 23, 1944.
Administrator
January 24th, 2021 at 17:32
Larry, The names were from “war histories” on the FOLD3 web site and some research online in naval archives. It is a long process that I want to get back to at some point.
I found two items that could be your brother, can you confirm either of these is him?
#1 Draft Registration
State Headquarters Indiana
Contact Person Cummings, Ed
Birth Date 20 Mar 1923
#2 There is also this in record for next of kin
CUMMINGS, Wayne Edward, Aviation Ordnanceman 2c, USNR, Wife, Mrs. Jean Lucille Cummings, 105 Walnut St., Salisbury, Maryland.
I have been wanting to list the men killed and not listed in the book as crewmembers. I’ll look through the documents I have and plan to update. I welcome anyone with additional names to share them. If I can confirm, I will add to the personnel page.