I have some additional information for your page on my father, Reo Robbins, whom you have just added to your crew list page.

According to my mother, the West Virginia was my father's first ship. Therefore, he would have boarded it first right out of boot camp, in early 1936, at the age of 18. His first enlistment expired while aboard the WV and, apparently due to the world situation, he was not allowed out of the Navy. She tells me the other ships I remember were all subsequent to the sinking of the WV.

Also, she says that when the bombing of Pearl Harbor started my father was asleep in his bunk and, waking suddenly, first of all ran for the signal tower (I believe I mentioned in an earlier communication that he was a signalman) with another signalman, to remove the windows and lay them on the floor. We can only conjecture that this was SOP in an emergency, for one would naturally attend first to those procedures taught one for an emergency. I confess the reason for such an action escapes me, but then I know nothing whatever about life aboard ship. But she says my father was, in later years, amused by the futility of the action, given the subsequent events of the day.

As we have more details and information for you, I will pass them on. My mother, especially, would like to see as much information as we can gather made available to you. These little anecdotes come to her from time to time and we have always tried to record them then.