In Memory of Thomas A Ganer Lost at Sea
Thomas 'Tom' Arthur Garner graduated from High School in 1942. That summer, after graduation he took a hands-on course in machine shop, and then joined a section gang on the nearby Pennsylvania Railroad. Knowing that he could be drafted into the Army any day, so preferring the Navy, he decided to enlist.
After boot camp he was given training as an Aviation Mechanist Mate at the Whidbey Island Naval Base near Seattle, Washington. As a teenager, Tom had been a natural sharpshooter with a rifle and when he was training at Whidbey Island he broke the base record for firing a 50 caliber assigned to the naval seaplane base at Banana River, Florida for further training.
On July 9, 1945, Tom was a crew member of a U.S. Navy PBM Martin Mariner that left its Banana River base that evening for a routine night training flight. At 9:15 p.m. its routine position report was picked up, stating that all was well and that they would be at base at 2:15 a.m. the next morning. After it failed to arrive, the Navy began a search. Sometime after dark it disappeared in the Caribbean Sea, one large seaplane with twelve young men. It will never be known why, how, or exactly where. An extensive search with both surface vessels and aircraft was started immediately and continued for ten days, but nothing was found. They were all gone without a trace.
What happened to him from there will always remain a mystery. Some puzzling still exist. The Mariner was a large seaplane and if in trouble could land at sea. It was lost suddenly with out a SOS or radio message of any kind. No debris was ever found. To further add to the mystery a Privateer helping in the search operation vanished over the Bahamas on the eighth day of the search. No clue was ever found for either incident. This area has been involved in other disappearances including "Flight 19"
Thomas Garner, AMM3, USN, along with eleven other crew members, was lost at sea in a US Navy PBM3S patrol seaplane, Bu. No.6545, Sqd VPB2-OTU#3, in the Bermuda Triangle. They left the Naval Air Station, Banana River, FL. at 7:07 P.M July 09, 1945 for a radar training flight to Great Exuma, Bahama Islands. Their last radio position report was sent at 1:16 A.M., Lat/Long 25-22N 77.34W, near Providence Island, after which they were never heard from again. An extensive ten day surface and air search, including a carrier sweep, found nothing. A memorial stone is placed for Tom at the Garner family plot in Dodge Grove Cemetery, Mattoon, Coles Co, IL. [It is engraved incorrectly, showing him as being born in 1925.] Thomas Arthur Garner, a student of Mattoon schools until 1941, graduated as a member of the Class of 1943, Vandalia High School, Vandalia, Fayette Co, IL. He had not married.
Thomas 'Tom' Arthur Garner graduated from High School in 1942. That summer, after graduation he took a hands-on course in machine shop, and then joined a section gang on the nearby Pennsylvania Railroad. Knowing that he could be drafted into the Army any day, so preferring the Navy, he decided to enlist.
After boot camp he was given training as an Aviation Mechanist Mate at the Whidbey Island Naval Base near Seattle, Washington. As a teenager, Tom had been a natural sharpshooter with a rifle and when he was training at Whidbey Island he broke the base record for firing a 50 caliber assigned to the naval seaplane base at Banana River, Florida for further training.
On July 9, 1945, Tom was a crew member of a U.S. Navy PBM Martin Mariner that left its Banana River base that evening for a routine night training flight. At 9:15 p.m. its routine position report was picked up, stating that all was well and that they would be at base at 2:15 a.m. the next morning. After it failed to arrive, the Navy began a search. Sometime after dark it disappeared in the Caribbean Sea, one large seaplane with twelve young men. It will never be known why, how, or exactly where. An extensive search with both surface vessels and aircraft was started immediately and continued for ten days, but nothing was found. They were all gone without a trace.
What happened to him from there will always remain a mystery. Some puzzling still exist. The Mariner was a large seaplane and if in trouble could land at sea. It was lost suddenly with out a SOS or radio message of any kind. No debris was ever found. To further add to the mystery a Privateer helping in the search operation vanished over the Bahamas on the eighth day of the search. No clue was ever found for either incident. This area has been involved in other disappearances including "Flight 19"
Thomas Garner, AMM3, USN, along with eleven other crew members, was lost at sea in a US Navy PBM3S patrol seaplane, Bu. No.6545, Sqd VPB2-OTU#3, in the Bermuda Triangle. They left the Naval Air Station, Banana River, FL. at 7:07 P.M July 09, 1945 for a radar training flight to Great Exuma, Bahama Islands. Their last radio position report was sent at 1:16 A.M., Lat/Long 25-22N 77.34W, near Providence Island, after which they were never heard from again. An extensive ten day surface and air search, including a carrier sweep, found nothing. A memorial stone is placed for Tom at the Garner family plot in Dodge Grove Cemetery, Mattoon, Coles Co, IL. [It is engraved incorrectly, showing him as being born in 1925.] Thomas Arthur Garner, a student of Mattoon schools until 1941, graduated as a member of the Class of 1943, Vandalia High School, Vandalia, Fayette Co, IL. He had not married.
In Memory of Thomas A Ganer Lost at Sea
Thomas 'Tom' Arthur Garner graduated from High School in 1942. That summer, after graduation he took a hands-on course in machine shop, and then joined a section gang on the nearby Pennsylvania Railroad. Knowing that he could be drafted into the Army any day, so preferring the Navy, he decided to enlist.
After boot camp he was given training as an Aviation Mechanist Mate at the Whidbey Island Naval Base near Seattle, Washington. As a teenager, Tom had been a natural sharpshooter with a rifle and when he was training at Whidbey Island he broke the base record for firing a 50 caliber assigned to the naval seaplane base at Banana River, Florida for further training.
On July 9, 1945, Tom was a crew member of a U.S. Navy PBM Martin Mariner that left its Banana River base that evening for a routine night training flight. At 9:15 p.m. its routine position report was picked up, stating that all was well and that they would be at base at 2:15 a.m. the next morning. After it failed to arrive, the Navy began a search. Sometime after dark it disappeared in the Caribbean Sea, one large seaplane with twelve young men. It will never be known why, how, or exactly where. An extensive search with both surface vessels and aircraft was started immediately and continued for ten days, but nothing was found. They were all gone without a trace.
What happened to him from there will always remain a mystery. Some puzzling still exist. The Mariner was a large seaplane and if in trouble could land at sea. It was lost suddenly with out a SOS or radio message of any kind. No debris was ever found. To further add to the mystery a Privateer helping in the search operation vanished over the Bahamas on the eighth day of the search. No clue was ever found for either incident. This area has been involved in other disappearances including "Flight 19"
Thomas Garner, AMM3, USN, along with eleven other crew members, was lost at sea in a US Navy PBM3S patrol seaplane, Bu. No.6545, Sqd VPB2-OTU#3, in the Bermuda Triangle. They left the Naval Air Station, Banana River, FL. at 7:07 P.M July 09, 1945 for a radar training flight to Great Exuma, Bahama Islands. Their last radio position report was sent at 1:16 A.M., Lat/Long 25-22N 77.34W, near Providence Island, after which they were never heard from again. An extensive ten day surface and air search, including a carrier sweep, found nothing. A memorial stone is placed for Tom at the Garner family plot in Dodge Grove Cemetery, Mattoon, Coles Co, IL. [It is engraved incorrectly, showing him as being born in 1925.] Thomas Arthur Garner, a student of Mattoon schools until 1941, graduated as a member of the Class of 1943, Vandalia High School, Vandalia, Fayette Co, IL. He had not married.
Thomas 'Tom' Arthur Garner graduated from High School in 1942. That summer, after graduation he took a hands-on course in machine shop, and then joined a section gang on the nearby Pennsylvania Railroad. Knowing that he could be drafted into the Army any day, so preferring the Navy, he decided to enlist.
After boot camp he was given training as an Aviation Mechanist Mate at the Whidbey Island Naval Base near Seattle, Washington. As a teenager, Tom had been a natural sharpshooter with a rifle and when he was training at Whidbey Island he broke the base record for firing a 50 caliber assigned to the naval seaplane base at Banana River, Florida for further training.
On July 9, 1945, Tom was a crew member of a U.S. Navy PBM Martin Mariner that left its Banana River base that evening for a routine night training flight. At 9:15 p.m. its routine position report was picked up, stating that all was well and that they would be at base at 2:15 a.m. the next morning. After it failed to arrive, the Navy began a search. Sometime after dark it disappeared in the Caribbean Sea, one large seaplane with twelve young men. It will never be known why, how, or exactly where. An extensive search with both surface vessels and aircraft was started immediately and continued for ten days, but nothing was found. They were all gone without a trace.
What happened to him from there will always remain a mystery. Some puzzling still exist. The Mariner was a large seaplane and if in trouble could land at sea. It was lost suddenly with out a SOS or radio message of any kind. No debris was ever found. To further add to the mystery a Privateer helping in the search operation vanished over the Bahamas on the eighth day of the search. No clue was ever found for either incident. This area has been involved in other disappearances including "Flight 19"
Thomas Garner, AMM3, USN, along with eleven other crew members, was lost at sea in a US Navy PBM3S patrol seaplane, Bu. No.6545, Sqd VPB2-OTU#3, in the Bermuda Triangle. They left the Naval Air Station, Banana River, FL. at 7:07 P.M July 09, 1945 for a radar training flight to Great Exuma, Bahama Islands. Their last radio position report was sent at 1:16 A.M., Lat/Long 25-22N 77.34W, near Providence Island, after which they were never heard from again. An extensive ten day surface and air search, including a carrier sweep, found nothing. A memorial stone is placed for Tom at the Garner family plot in Dodge Grove Cemetery, Mattoon, Coles Co, IL. [It is engraved incorrectly, showing him as being born in 1925.] Thomas Arthur Garner, a student of Mattoon schools until 1941, graduated as a member of the Class of 1943, Vandalia High School, Vandalia, Fayette Co, IL. He had not married.
Inscription
LOST AT SEA
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
