Aviation Metalsmith, Second Class ROBERT ELMER (BOB) RYAN

Aviation Metalsmith, Second Class ROBERT ELMER (BOB) RYAN, U. S. Naval Reserve. Husband of Mrs. Mildred B. Ryan, of Providence, R. I., and son of Mrs. Ethel D. Ryan and the late Robert E. Ryan of Benton. He attended Benton High School and Northwestern Louisiana State College. Entering the U. S. Naval Reserve on November 1, 1940, he was assigned to the U. S. Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia, and the U. S. Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida, Aviation Metalsmith School. On graduation he joined the famed carrier USS Wasp and on March 3, 1942, went to the British Isles to ferry planes to Malta. From Sand Point NAS, Seattle, he joined the Pacific Fleet and served with the Wasp until she was sunk at Guadalcanal. From temporary duty with Fleet Air Wing 6, he joined the USS Coral Sea on her commissioning at Astoria, Ore., and served in the capture and occupation of Makin in the Gilberts and Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls. He served with the USS Essex in the Western Carolines and at Leyte, Luzon, Iwo Jima, in the Marianas, and with the Third Fleet off Tokyo. He has the European African Middle Eastern Theater (ETO) and Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon with five Campaign Stars (PTO) and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with two stars.

Source:

1- THE FIGHTING MEN OF LOUISIANA – LOUISIANA HISTORICAL INSTITUTE – 1946