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Author: ShookGenealogy
Surnames: Ruge Proffitt Dye Twa Bate Pumroy Birky Chambers Smith Goldstine Marquart
Classification: queries
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http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.indiana.counties...
Message Board Post:
Here is additional information concerning Robert Franklin Ruge from the following
website:
http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Military/WWIIList/RugeRobertFranklin.html
Robert Franklin Ruge
Major, US Marine Corps
Date of Birth: January 5, 1914
Date of Death: October 24, 1944
Cause of Death: Missing in Action (perished when a Japanese prisoner of war ship, the
converted cargo ship Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine when transferring
American POWs from the Philippines to Japan)
Monument: Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines
Awards: Purple Heart
Hometown: Valparaiso
Newspaper Notices:
Ten Porter County Men Dead Or Missing Since U. S. Went Into War Against Japan
(BY ENG ZIMMERMAN, Sr)
"Remember Pearl Harbor" Today Valparaiso and Porter county citizens remembers
that event which transpired just a year ago today when a Japanese air squadron, more than
100 strong, roared out of a peaceful sky to deal destruction and death to American
warships, air dromes and U. S. fighting men at Pearl Harbor.
With quietness and an air of solemnity, citizens recalled dastardly Japanese sneak attack
and resolved to "Remember Pearl Harbor" as their battlecry to retaliate in full
measure to the Japanese for their treachery in causing the unwarranted deaths of several
thousand brave members of the U. S. fighting forces.
Not until yesterday was the full extent of the carnage at Pearl Harbor revealed to the
public on the theory that such information would have proved valuable to the enemy.
Local Youth Wounded
Porter county had only one casualty at Pearl Harbor. He was Harold Lenburg, of Valparaiso,
who was critically wounded in the onslaught. Lenburg spent considerable time in hospitals
recovering from his wounds before he was able to return home. He is recipient of the
Purple Heart award.
Since that eventful day a year ago in the Pacific, ten Porter county men have been
included in the government's casualty lists as killed in action or missing.
First to answer the summons was Charles McKindred Proffitt, gunner on the U. S. destroyer
Jacob Jones, which was torpedoes in the Atlantic in September.
DeForest Dye, a member of the Navy, was next reported missing in the Pacific in March.
Then in May, Capt. Robert F. Ruge, of the Marine Corps, was reported missing. Ruge had
been on Bataan and Corregidor just before U. S. forces on those points capitulated to the
Japanese. Later he was promoted to the rank of major.
Hebron Youth Missing
Another Porter county man stationed at Corregidor, Joseph Twa, of Hebron, was also
reported missing. In both the Ruge and Twa announcements it was not known whether they
were killed or captured. No further word has been received.
Next to be added to the honor roll of Porter county was the name of Glen Owens, of
Valparaiso. He was reported killed in action in the Pacific in June. His body was buried
at sea.
Soon after the announcement of young Owens' death, came word that John Hales Bates of
Hebron was missing from a carrier in the Pacific. He was a member of the U. S. air
service.
Another man to pay the supreme sacrifice was Howard L. Pumroy, of Kouts. Pumroy was
reported killed in the Solomons while fighting with the marines.
John Jacob Birky, student pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force residing on Valparaiso RFD
3, was killed at Centralia, Ontario, in October when a plane which he was flying during
night practice crashed. The body was brought to this city for memorial services.
Capt. William H. Chambers of the U. S. air force was reported missing in action since Oct.
19. He was believed to have been in Alaska region.
The latest casualty reported was Pvt. First Class Edward Smith of Valparaiso. He was
reported killed in action in the South Pacific on Nov. 18.
___________________________________________________
Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; December 7, 1942;
Volume 16, Page 1 Column 6
Capt. R. Ruge Dead, Marine Chief Wires
Officer Lost Life When Jap Prisoner Ship Was Sunk Last October.
Captain Robert F. Ruge, U. S. Marine Corps, of Valparaiso, today was enshrined on Porter
county's Honor Roll of American heroes who have given their lives for their country.
A telegram has been received by his brother, Atty. Mox Ruge, of Chesterton, from General
A. A. Vandegrift, commandant, U. S. M. C., announcing that Robert lost his life on October
24, 1944 when a Japanese ship, on which 1,800 American prisoners were being transported
from the Philippines to Japan, was sunk.
A son of the late Dr. Marx Ruge, Valparaiso dentist, who died on Aug. 9, 1944, and Nellie
Grise Ruge. Captain Ruge was born in Valparaiso on January 5, 1914. He attended the public
schools and was graduated from Valparaiso high school in 1932, where he was active in
basketball, football and baseball.
From 1933 to 1937 he attended the United State Naval Academy at
Annapolis, Md., from which institution he was graduated and received a 2nd
lieutenant's commission in the U. S. Marine Corps. At Annapolis he was captain of the
basketball team in his senior year, and then served as assistant basketball coach at the
Academy.
After his graduation he was stationed at Philadelphia for a short time, and then returned
to the Naval Academy, remaining there from 1937 to 1940. In 1940 he was assigned for duty
with the 4th Marines at Shanghai, where he served until the outbreak of war with Japan on
Dec, 7, 1941.
When the American forces left Shanghai for the Philippines, he participated in battles
against the Japs on Bataan and Corregidor. When Corregidor capitulated to the Japanese
forces on May 6, 1942, he was taken prisoner.
He was held captive by the Japs at Bilibid prison in Manila from May of 1942 until Oct.
11, 1944, when he was shipped out of Manila on a Japanese prison ship which was sunk by an
American submarine about 200 miles off the China coast in South China sea.
During his internment by the Japs his parents received a number of cards from him
indicating he was well. However, most information concerning him was received from some of
his fellow prisoners who were not shipped to Japan but were liberated by American forces
when they retook the Philippines.
___________________________________________________
Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; July 3, 1945; Volume
15, Page 1, Column 5
Officer Died On Jap Ship
Mrs. Berna Goldstine, of Chesterton, Tuesday received a telegram from the war department
stating that her husband, Capt. Mark T. Goldstine, Jr., a Japanese prisoner of war, had
lost his life when a Jap prison ship enroute from the Philippines to Japan was sunk in the
China sea on Dec. 15, 1944.
Capt. Goldstine, a member of the 24th Field Artillery in the Philippines, was captures by
Japanese on Corregidor when that American stronghold fell to superior Japanese forces on
May 6, 1942.
He is the second Porter county casualty in the Jap war to lose his life in the sinking of
a Jap prison ship. Capt. Robert F. Ruge of Valparaiso, U. S. Marine Corps, was recently
reported lost when a ship carrying U. S. prisoners from the Philippines to Japan was sunk
on Oct. 24, 1944.
Capt. Goldstine had been stationed on the Philippines since April, 1941. Previous to
entering military service he held an executive position with the American Red Cross.
Surviving are his widow, the former Berna Marquart of Chesterton; two sons, Mark T.
Goldstine III, and Jerry, and his father, Dr. Mark Goldstine, Sr., of Chicago. Mrs.
Goldstine is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Marquart of Chesterton.
___________________________________________________
Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; July 25, 1945; Volume
19, Page 1, Column 1
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