Members and visitors must agree with the stated conditional use of this forum as shown at the bottom of this page.
Home
The Forum
Documents
Photo Gallery
_
Register
My Profile
Log-in
PT Boat Forum
Moderated by:
Dick
,
Jeff D
The PT Boat Forum
ª
PT Boats of WWII
ª
PT Boats - General
Post a reply to: Last Voyage
Message:
Please type your message in the box to the right.
Click Here to see: Message Tags
How to use colors, images and urls in your message.
Click On -
The "Upload Images" button to upload and include a photo from your computer.
[StartQuote] I am sorry to advise the group of the passing on August 11, 2010 of my father, Randall J. McConnell, Jr. at the age of 90. After a very hectic summer I am finally getting around to notifying folks of Dad’s passing. Dad attended Columbia Midshipman School beginning in August 1943 and was appointed as an Ensign. Following the PT Training Center he was assigned as Third Officer of PT 361 at Treasury Island in November 1944. He eventually became CO of the 361 and was promoted to Lt (jg) in March 1945. Dad participated in numerous RON 27 actions in the Philippines, New Guinea and Borneo, including the invasion of Corregidor, the capture of El Fraile Island, and several of MacArthur’s “returns”. He left the 361 in July 1945 and the war ended while he was in transit to San Francisco. Dad received an honorable discharge from the USNR in July 1954. Among his many lifelong friends from RON 27 were Bill Ward (PT 360) and Ray Shafer (PT 375). We heard from Bill’s wife of his passing just a few months before Dad. Dad also had a long and distinguished career as a trial attorney in Pittsburgh, PA. He is survived by Edna, his wife of 65 years, four children and their spouses, five grandchildren, and his sister Mary. He was buried with full military honors at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies. The last few months were very difficult for Dad. However, during my final visits from Denver he took great pleasure in looking at pictures I loaded onto my laptop from his time in PT boats, from sports car races that he, my brother and I attended, and of vacations with all generations of his family. Although it was difficult seeing his physical decline, those moments looking at pictures will always be valued. For the remaining PT veterans out there, please be assured that his time in the PT service and the people he served with were very important to him. My mother cannot live alone now and we have been cleaning out their house. This has led to us to finding some PT photos and memorabilia that even I didn’t know about. As time permits I will share some of those items with this group and hopefully you will find them interesting. My Dad and my grandfather, R.J. McConnell, Esq. were both avid photographers, much to our benefit. My brother is in the process of trying to sort thousands of photos ranging from the 1920’s up to this year. I would like to share a few of those pictures with the group and, again, hope that you find them of interest. Brief captions are provided with each. Signing off for now, as the last of the line, Randy McC ( Randall J. McConnell III ) [image]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o102/prjm3/img744-3.jpg[/image] Circa 1934 with his sisters Mary and Helen [image]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o102/prjm3/img203-5.jpg[/image] Biak Island – Dad had framed copies of this picture and the following one in his home office along with other items from his Navy service. When he finally came to grips with the fact that he would not be able to return home, he asked for these two pictures and several family photos to hang in his room at the nursing home. [image]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o102/prjm3/img360.jpg[/image] PT 361 at speed, 1945 – I once heard a family friend ask Dad why he never bought a boat after being in the Navy. He answered that there was nothing he could buy that could begin to compare to a PT boat, it would just be too tame. [image]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o102/prjm3/img745-1-1.jpg[/image] Lt. (jg) Randall J. McConnell and Edna C. King in 1945, shortly before their marriage. [image]http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o102/prjm3/img905-1.jpg[/image] George Sobering, Don Sobering, myself and Dad at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 1993. Don and I have raced together for over 30 years but this was the only time that our fathers were both at the track. Note the caps on the old guys – PT Boats Inc. and the Canadian Warplane Heritage. George was a decorated Lancaster pilot in the RAF and was very active in the CWH. He maintained his multi-engine ratings well into the 1990’s so he could fly the CWH Lancaster. The two men that could “stare down anybody” got along quite well, maybe something about big, noisy V-12 engines. When George passed away several years ago the CWH Lancaster flew over the cemetery near Toronto during his service. Not quite possible with a PT boat, but the 21 gun salute at Dad’s service was still impressive. [EndQuote]
Emotion Icons:
Choose an icon to be displayed next to your message or click on the icon to include it in your message:
None
Options:
Check the check boxes to the right for the options you would like to use.
Would you like to include your signature in this message?
Would you like to recieve notification via email when a reply is received to this message?
Would you like to preview this post before posting?
User Name:
Have you registered?
Password:
Have you lost your password?
Click 'Post' to post your message.
Who May Post?
Registered Users
Search
Links
Privacy
Cookies
Moderator