Remembering Local World War II Heroes: Robert Rocktaschel, Harry Ryan
Tom Ryan was one of the top athletes at Gardner High School during the mid to late 1950s, he was quarterback and co-captain of the undefeated 1958 champion football team. In the winter, he was a standout basketball player, then on the diamond a fine infielder with the baseball team.
However, what many people did not know about this Wildcat Hall of Famer was that he grew up without a father. Throughout his sporting exploits, there was never that presence in the stands proudly watching a son perform for the local high school team.
In 1944, when Tom Ryan was only 2 years of age, his father, Harry Ryan, died in World War II when the warship he was aboard, USS Spence, sank in a Pacific typhoon. His mother, the former June Maroni, came from a large family in Athol who were well-known owners in town of Maroni’s Cafe.
“Unfortunately, what I would later learn, was that Harry Ryan didn’t know how to swim,” his son, Tom, noted. “The stories I heard about my dad was that people liked him. My Uncle Joe told me everyone loved Harry Ryan.”
Tom Ryan would spend his early years in Athol before his mother remarried Arthur Gallien, who would later operate Sunrise Donuts on West Street, and they moved to Gardner.
His story was just another unique tale in the continuation of the series Remembering Local World War II Heroes.
Lt. Robert M. Rocktaschel (1917-1944)
Robert M. Rocktaschel was born in Worcester on Oct. 28, 1917, the son of Hugo and Laura (Miles) Rocktaschel. His father was a native of Fitchburg and well known for his work with the New England Power Association.
Rocktaschel attended Wellesley High School and then matriculated at Northeastern University.
When Rocktaschel was 17 years of age, his father was stricken with a heart attack while leaving a restaurant in Boston and was dead on arrival at Boston City Hospital at the age of 44.
In 1940, Rocktaschel was listed as being employed by the Gardner Electric Co. and lived in the city at 47 Lincoln St. He would enter the naval service on Aug. 10, 1940, at Boston and was commissioned an ensign in March of 1941 in Chicago, Ill. He was sent to the Pacific in April 1941.
Rocktaschel was present at the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He later took part in the Mariana Islands campaign in the Philippine Sea, as well as the Leyte and Luzon campaigns in the Philippines.
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Rocktaschel, now a lieutenant, was killed on Nov. 8, 1944, when his plane crashed while on a reconnaissance flight from the USS West Virginia in Leyte Gulf.
He is listed on the Manila American Cemetery Memorial in the Philippines. There is also on a stone at the family plot in Hope Cemetery in Worcester.
Among his decorations were the American Defense Ribbon with fleet clasp and engagement stars, the Asiatic-Pacific Area Ribbon with two engagement stars, American Area Ribbon and World War II Victory Medal.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Harry J. Ryan (1918-1944)
Harry John Ryan was born in Gardner on Sept. 1, 1918, the son of John T. and Florence (Allard) Ryan. He attended Sacred Heart School, Gardner High School, and later Worcester Boys Trade School. He lived at 15 Limerick St. while his father was employed by B&M Railroad.
After high school, Ryan worked as a chauffer’s helper in Fitchburg. On June 21, 1941, he married the former June Maroni of Athol. After living in Gardner for a year, the couple moved to Hapgood Street in Athol. He was employed in June’s family business Maroni’s Cafe in Athol. Their son Thomas P. Ryan was born the following year.
Ryan entered the naval service at Boston on Nov. 5, 1942, and was assigned to the Great Lakes, Ill., Naval Training Station for boot training. As a machinists mate third class, Ryan was assigned to the newly commissioned Fletcher-class destroyer USS Spence. The ship departed in March 1943, making a trial run to Cuba before being sent to the Pacific combat zone.
In all, Ryan served on the Spence in engagements off Casablanca in the North Africa region, and also participated in campaigns in the Solomon Islands, off Saipan and Guam in the Mariana Islands, at Biak off Papua New Guinea, and the Marshall Islands. He also saw action at Leyte in the Philippines and Truk in the Caroline Islands.
After 16 months aboard the Spence, the ship arrived in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 1944. While it was docked, Ryan returned home to Athol to see his wife and 2-year-old son.
While at home, he gave an interview to a reporter of the Athol Daily News relating a mass suicide he had witnessed of five Japanese soldiers who had survived a bomber crash in the water. Aboard the life raft, they watched as Ryan’s ship advanced toward them. Not wanting to be captured, the officer in charge placed a machine gun muzzle into the mouths of his four other men killing them before turning the gun on himself.
After the leave was over, Ryan returned to California, and this time the Spence was ordered to Ulithi, an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific. Later, it launched attacks against Luzon in the Philippines in November and early December.
On Dec. 17, 1944, the ship prepared to fuel and pump out the excess salt water from her tanks, but rough seas prevented the refueling from happening.
The next day, the weather got worse as the storm turned into a typhoon. As the ship began to take on great quantities of sea water, the equipment got wet. Suddenly, all of the lights went out and the pumps stopped. After the rudder jammed, the ship began a deep roll to port as a crushing wave hit the Spence and it began to capsize.
A total of 315 lives were lost as the Spence, along with two sister destroyers, were sunk in the Pacific storm called Typhoon Cobra. Only 24 crew members survived.
Unfortunately, Ryan, who was unable to swim, went down with the ship and was lost at sea on Dec. 18, 1944, at the age of 26.
He is listed on the rolls at the Manila American Cemetery Memorial in the Philippines.
Among Ryan’s decorations were the Asiatic-Pacific Area Ribbon with six engagement stars, Presidential Unit Citation and World War II Victory Medal.
His wife, June, later remarried Arthur Gallien, and together they had three more children, John, Martha and Joseph Gallien.
Comments and suggestions for Remembering Local World War II Heroes can be sent to Mike Richard at mikerichard0725@gmail.com or in writing to Mike Richard, 92 Boardley Road, Sandwich, MA 02563.
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Remembering Local World War II Heroes: Robert Rocktaschel, Harry Ryan
