Prewar Life

Deployed Overseas

Leyte Gulf

Postwar Life

Reflections

Annotation

Robert S. Gibbs was born in December 1923 in Cedarhurst, New York. He had one sister who was older than him. His family moved to Saint Petersburg, Florida when he was four or five years old. He graduated from high school in December 1940 or 1941. His father and uncle had fresh air markets. It was wholesale to the public. This was during the Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. His mother did not work. He was the first one in his family to serve. The Depression did not bother them because his father owned a large food market. He could eat as much as he wanted. He went to the University of Miami [Annotator's Note: in Miami, Florida] and signed up for the Navy ROTC program [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps]. He did this for about two years. In 1943, they finished, and he became an ensign [Annotator's Note: lowest rank of commissioned officer in the US Navy and Coast Guard] at 19 years old. He was good at visual and radio communications. He was sent to Fall River, Massachusetts for radio school in 1943. The USS Boston (CA-69) was under construction. They left Boston [Annotator's Note: Boston, Massachusetts] in 1943 and went on a shakedown cruise [Annotator's Note: a cruise to evaluate the performance of a naval vessel and its crew] to Trinidad [Annotator's Note: the larger island of Trinidad and Tobago]. They stayed there for two or three days and then they went through the Panama Canal. After that, they went to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] where they had liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] for two or three days. Then they left for Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] and arrived there on 6 December 1943.

Annotation

Robert S. Gibbs was assigned to fleet maneuvers at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, aboard the USS Boston (CA-69)]. They had target practice. They had radio drills. Their first mission was at Kwajalein [Annotator's Note: Battle of Kwajalein, 31 January to 3 February 1944 at Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands]. They had to bombard the island. That is where he lost his hearing. They used to wear headphones while they were on the signal bridge. The eight-inch guns [Annotator's Note: 8-inch 55-caliber naval gun] made a lot of noise. They got the Marines ashore and then they moved on to Eniwetok [Annotator's Note: Battle of Eniwetok, 17 to 23 February 1944 at Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands]. After that, they went to Espiritu Santo [Annotator's Note: Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu], to a large Navy supply depot. They went there because they were low on ammunition and food. They had liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] here. Everyone wanted to date the nurses there. They were supposed to go to Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Mariana Islands] on 6 June 1944. It was supposed to be the same day as Normandy [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944]. Nimitz [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Sr., Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet] wanted to get great PR [Annotator's Note: publicity] for this. He wanted to show a Navy that rose up from the mud of 1941 and could do two amphibious invasions 10,000 miles apart in 1944. This did not happen. An LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] caught fire near Pearl Harbor. It had a lot of equipment on board. The equipment had to be replaced item by item. This delayed things by 11 days. His ship participated in the bombardment [Annotator's Note: The Battle of Saipan, part of Operation Forager, 15 June to 9 July 1944; Saipan, Mariana Islands]. They left the invasion force and headed north. A Japanese force was heading south. They knew because they were reading Japanese code in real-time. The planes caught up with the Japanese. They had six fleet carriers and the planes sunk four of them. Two of the carriers headed back to Japan. 424 Japanese planes ended up in the water and the United States lost 29 planes. The planes were low on fuel. The carriers headed to meet them so they would not end up in the water. It was nighttime. Nimitz ordered the carriers to turn on all the lights to make sure his planes landed on the carriers. 47 planes ended up having to ditch because they ran out of fuel. The carriers offered five gallons of ice cream to any ship that brought his pilots back dry. The ships picked them up and a lot of ice cream was being made by the carriers.

Annotation

Robert S. Gibbs was shipped to Leyte [Annotator's Note: Leyte, Philippines, aboard the USS Boston (CA-69)] in October 1944. They were in the 5th Fleet and then shifted to the 7th Fleet. MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] was in charge of the 7th Fleet. The Army was in charge of the Navy. It was a divided command. The landing was made at Leyte because of the beaches with soft sands [Annotator's Note: Battle of Leyte, 17 October to 26 December 1944 at Leyte, Philippines]. They were reading the Japanese codes. The Japanese were planning on annihilating the United States by trapping them in the Leyte Gulf. They were going to utilize their large battleship with 18-inch guns [Annotator's Note: 46-centimeter/45 Type 94 Japanese naval gun]. They were worse than a tank. Halsey [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey] was supposed to stay on station to provide protection to the landing group. His carriers could not function there. In the middle of the night, he gave the signal to move out. They followed him out into the Pacific Ocean. Then they headed north as fast as they could go. They were after two Japanese carriers that were parked 700 miles north. They attacked the carriers and sank them. Then they turned south to attack there. Gibbs' ship could not keep up with the carriers. When the Japanese made it into the Leyte Gulf, they found two destroyers and sank them both then turned south. When the Japanese went south, they met several Colorado Class destroyers that had been sunk at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] and resurrected and refitted for battle. The Japanese carriers were supposed to come down and release their kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese Special Attack Units, also called shimbu-tai, who flew suicide missions in aircraft] on Halsey's fleet. Admiral Jesse Oldendorf [Annotator's Note: US Navy Admiral Jesse Barrett "Oley" Oldendorf] brought in his five battleships at the Leyte Gulf and had them all firing at the same time. A Japanese cruiser could only come in one at a time. The first cruiser was sunk and blocked the inlet. Oldendorf sank all three cruisers. The first cruiser notified the armada [Annotator's Note: the Japanese armada] that they had met five destroyers. The armada turned back and went to Japan. The Japanese lost five cruisers. Halsey headed south back to the Leyte Gulf and the battle was over. Halsey did not communicate with Nimitz [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Sr., Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet]. Nimitz was trying to figure out where he was the whole time during the battle. Nimitz relieved Halsey of his command and sent him back to Pearl Harbor. He was going to go through a board of inquiry, which is the Navy version of a court-martial, but the trial never happened. Photographers got a hold of him, and he was the hero of Leyte Gulf. Halsey ended up on the cover of LIFE Magazine [Annotator's Note: an American general-interest magazine known for the quality of its photography; 1883 to 2007]. Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] got wind of the board of inquiry and asked Nimitz to have Halsey write a detailed description of everything he did before, during, and after the battle. Halsey was supposed to stay on station for 24 hours, but he left and that was in violation of the rules of engagement. Halsey was like Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.], he was a loose cannon, but he was a fighter. When Roosevelt got the details of what Halsey wrote he was awarded a 30-day Christmas leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. Halsey went back to Pearl Harbor in January [Annotator's Note: January 1945], and he was given the task group for Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 26 March 1945 at Iwo Jima, Japan]. He was also in command of the Okinawa invasion on 1 April 1945 [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945 at Okinawa, Japan]. The situation at Okinawa was a disaster. The Navy was being destroyed by kamikazes. They were essentially fighter planes with a 500-pound bomb strapped to them. The pilots had very little training and if they got through the anti-aircraft fire, they would make it to the carriers. It was a miserable 15 to 20 nights. A typhoon broke up the group and Halsey let them out of Okinawa. Gibbs was stuck in the typhoon for five days and nights. They lost three destroyers to that as well.

Annotation

Robert S. Gibbs was separated [Annotator's Note: discharged] in November 1945. He entered college in January 1946 at George Washington University [Annotator's Note: The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.]. He took two years of prelaw then entered law school and graduated in 1951. He took a course in government contract law, and he did not want to take the course. This course dealt with the Defense Department [Annotator's Note: United States Department of Defense]. Only about five students signed up for the course and it was going to be canceled and this meant he would not graduate. He was able to take the course one-on-one. He had to read 25 cases per night, and the class met three times a week. He read 75 cases a week. He had to put all his focus on this course. His other courses were relatively easy. He started to like government contract law. They dealt with mostly war situations. Everything they were talking about he had dealt with in the Navy. The professor was also a Navy man. He finished and went on interviews with different companies. He had an offer from Pittsburg [Annotator's Note: Pittsburg, Pennsylvania] and he did not want to go to Pittsburg. He wanted to go to California. His professor had a cousin at Howard Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City [Annotator's Note: Culver City, California] which was 15 miles from Hollywood [Annotator's Note: Hollywood, California]. The professor called his cousin and gave a good recommendation for Gibbs. Gibbs was hired. Gibbs had never had a real job. He got into a carpool so he could make it to work. Eventually, he got his own car. It was a used car, and it was not reliable. He never made it to work on time. He made up for it by staying late. The courses he took made him good at his job. The other people in the legal department would come to him and ask questions. He stayed there from 1952 to 1977.

Annotation

After the war, Robert S. Gibbs told his boss he was getting married, and he asked for a raise. His pay went up to 200 dollars a week. He enjoyed his job [Annotator's Note: he was a lawyer for Howard Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City, California]. He left his job in 1977 and then went into private practice as a consultant to smaller companies that were dealing with the Defense Department [Annotator's Note: United States Department of Defense]. His partner got cancer and died. He had a wife and family, and things were not going well. Gibbs closed up shop and retired in the 1980s. He was a lieutenant junior grade when he finished in the Navy. He grew up quickly because of his service. He went from a kid to an officer. Communication was the heart of the ship [Annotator's Note: the USS Boston (CA-69)]. He had to understand the signals. He had to keep his books current. He had to keep the men happy and make sure they did their jobs. He bonded with other officers and the captain. In the war room, they were not allowed to sit down until the captain got there. His seat was right next to the captain. Many people have forgotten about the war unless they are veterans. The history is distorted in the books. Leyte Gulf [Annotator's Note: Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23 to 26 October 1944 at Leyte Gulf, Philippines] was an important battle against the Japanese. After Leyte Gulf, there was no Japanese fleet. During World War 2, it was either total surrender or keep fighting. They had no battle casualties. They had decent food, clean clothes, showers, fresh sea air, and it was an adventure. If he made friends on board, it was like a fraternity. If they had liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], they wanted to see girls and go to the clubs. They had money in their pockets. He had a good experience.

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