ROBERT A. GALLAGHER, LT, USN

Robert Gallagher '33

Date of birth: February 21, 1910

Date of death: October 24, 1944

Age: 34

Lucky Bag

From the 1933 Lucky Bag:

ROBERT ANTHONY GALLAGHER

West Pittston, Pennsylvania

"Red" "Bob" "Toth"

Believe it or not" Toth is a red-headed Irishman who hails from the center of the mining district—West Pittston, Pennsylvania. Having passed his entrance exams with no more than two weeks' notice, he proceeded to show the boys how it was done in the way of academics.

Always ready to help anyone in distress, Red has found his way into many hearts; classmates and others. He is serious when the situation calls for such an attitude, but is always ready and willing to get into the fun.

The girls have had little or no success as far as breaking down his resistance is concerned. He entered the ranks of the "red mikes," when he donned the "Navy blue" —except on leave, of course.

It might be mentioned here that one of his hobbies is reading good books; he abhors trash. He hates to be interrupted while reading a novel, and sometimes refuses to be disturbed. He also has a strange dislike for that old gripe of stepping out to formation or for being hurried in any manner.

Whether or not Red stays in the Service, he will always remain true and loyal to his friends —past and present. He is a true gentleman—never growling at anyone for his or their mistakes.

Class President 1; Class Boxing 3; Star 4, 3, 2, 1; C. P. O.

ROBERT ANTHONY GALLAGHER

West Pittston, Pennsylvania

"Red" "Bob" "Toth"

Believe it or not" Toth is a red-headed Irishman who hails from the center of the mining district—West Pittston, Pennsylvania. Having passed his entrance exams with no more than two weeks' notice, he proceeded to show the boys how it was done in the way of academics.

Always ready to help anyone in distress, Red has found his way into many hearts; classmates and others. He is serious when the situation calls for such an attitude, but is always ready and willing to get into the fun.

The girls have had little or no success as far as breaking down his resistance is concerned. He entered the ranks of the "red mikes," when he donned the "Navy blue" —except on leave, of course.

It might be mentioned here that one of his hobbies is reading good books; he abhors trash. He hates to be interrupted while reading a novel, and sometimes refuses to be disturbed. He also has a strange dislike for that old gripe of stepping out to formation or for being hurried in any manner.

Whether or not Red stays in the Service, he will always remain true and loyal to his friends —past and present. He is a true gentleman—never growling at anyone for his or their mistakes.

Class President 1; Class Boxing 3; Star 4, 3, 2, 1; C. P. O.

Loss

Robert was lost when the Japanese "Hell Ship" he was aboard, Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine on October 24, 1944.

Other Information

From the 1953 edition of the book "Double Three Roundup," published by the class of 1933:

As we all remember, Red was the savviest man in our class. Also at the time of our graduation he was elected President of the Class and even though he has since passed to his reward we have not seen fit to elect a successor. He will always be the President of '33.
Red entered the Construction Corps in 1936 after two years on the NEW MEXICO, receiving his degree from MIT in 1938. After duty in the Bureau of Construction and Repair and at the Navy Yard, New York, he reported to the Sixteenth Naval District at Cavite in April of 1941 and was taken prisoner by the Japanese after their attack the following December. Red was retained in various prison camps in the Philippines until the Fall of 1944, when the Japs decided to remove him to Japan proper, He never arrived there, but died on the way, on 24 October 1944. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal.
In the Woman's Home Companion of January 1943 is an article entitled "I Can Take It" with a picture of Red's wife, Susan Downing Gallagher and young son, Robert Anthony, Jr. Quoting from the short article (with the permission of The Crowell-Collier Publishing Co.), the baby is supposed to be imagined as saying, "My name is Robert Anthony Gallagher, Jr. That's my Mother, Sue Downing Gallagher, smiling at the Red Cross nurse in the picture. And I want to tell you something about the stuff my parents are made of. My mummy was a Red Cross army nurse in Manila — she enrolled in the Red Cross First Reserve in 1936; my dad, a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, is listed as missing in action.
"When Mummy married Dad she sent in her resignation, but before it could be accepted war was declared. Even after I was on the way she stayed to care for the victims of Japanese bombings. She finally escaped from Corregidor to Australia and got back home last August in time for me to be born at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington the first baby to be born to two veterans of the heroic fight on Bataan.
"So now I guess you understand why I'm so extra proud of these parents of mind and why I want to grow up to be the kind of fellow who can take it, too."
Susan, whom Red married in Manila in September 1941, has been taking postgraduate work in Public Health Nursing and education at George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Robert graduated from West Pittston High School in 1929. He entered the Naval Academy by competitive examination.
In June 1931, Robert won first honors in his class at the Naval Academy for the second consecutive year. He was awarded a pair of binoculars from the Daughters of the Confederacy.
His father George was a coal mine superintendent for the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, mother Julia, sisters Helen and Jean, brothers George, Frank, Fred and John. In June 1945, Frederick was a lieutenant in the Army in the Pacific, and John was a captain with the Army in Germany.
From the Wilkes-Barre Record, June 13, 1942

A letter from a fellow officer, a captain, to Mrs. Gallagher reveals that Lt. Gallagher fought to the bitter end in the Philippines and saw action in many sections of the besieged islands.
The unidentified captain wrote that he was on duty with Lt. Gallagher in the Philippines on May 1. Gallagher was serving with the Army forces in Mindanao in the Southern Philippines.
“After Cavite was bombed,” the captain wrote, “Robert spent 10 days in Manila and on Christmas Day left for Bataan where he served approximately for two months. After that he served a few days at Corregidor. He then went back to Cebu, where he served with the Army until it was invaded April 10 by the Japanese.
“He then made his way to a port in the southern end of Negros (another island in the archipelago) and took a cargo of sugar to the Army forces in Mindanao. He then served under General Fort, who in turn was under General Sharp. The Tokyo radio announced the force of General Sharp capitulated May 12, which, if true, would mean most likely Robert is a prisoner. If he is not a prisoner, he is most likely with the Army force that might have gone to the hills back of the second plains of Mindanao where sufficient food is available.”
The captain said he was the only one in possession of the information, and felt he should reveal it to Gallagher’s mother.

His wife was listed as next of kin. He has a memory marker in Pennsylvania.

Photographs

From the Pittston Gazette on July 2, 1943

Prisoner of War Medal

From Hall of Valor:

Lieutenant Robert A. Gallagher (NSN: 0-72301), United States Navy, was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor, Philippine Islands, on 6 May 1942, and was held as a Prisoner of War until his death while still in captivity.
General Orders: NARA Database: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947
Action Date: May 6, 1942 - Died in Captivity
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant
Division: Prisoner of War (Philippine Islands)

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.