On-The-Roof Gang

Class #10

Class #10 convened on 20 March 1933 and graduated on 1 June 1933. Chief Radioman Harry Kidder was the instructor.

OTRG Class #10.  L-to-R front: Jones, Kisner, Marks, Hoover.  L-to-R rear: Rathsack, Barnum, Groundwater, Gelineau.

 

 

Radioman Third Class Donald Warren Barnum

Don Barnum graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #10 in June 1933 and was assigned to Station BAKER in Guam.  He performed intercept duties in the Philippines; Astoria, Oregon; Washington, DC; and Hawaii before going back to Station BAKER. He was one of seven On-the-Roof Gang members who were on Guam when the Japanese attack on 8 December 1941. He was taken as a POW and spent nearly four years as a prisoner of war. He was first held at Zentsuji and later at Osaka #1 Chikko Camp. When the Chikko Camp was destroyed by U.S. bombing raids, he was transferred to Nagoya #10, arriving there on June 20, 1945, according to the camp report; he was there only two and a half months until his release at the end of the war. Following his release, he was commissioned as an officer and made the Navy his career, eventually retiring as a Lieutenant Commander.

 

Chief Radioman Don Barnum in Hawaii, circa 1940

 

You can read about Don Barnum in On-the-Roof Gang, Volume 2 – War in the Pacific.

 

Burnett was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:

06 Jan 1934:   Guam, M.I.

17 Jan 1935:   Olongapo, P.I.

13 Jan 1936:   En route Astoria, Ore.

06 Jan 1937:   Astoria, Ore.

12 Jan 1938:   Washington, DC

09 Jan 1939:   14th Naval District (Hawaii)

14 Feb 1940:   14th Naval District (Hawaii)

24 Feb 1941:   CinC US Fleet

 

Pertinent data:

Born:  13 March 1911

Location:  Saint Marie, Idaho

Died: 28 May 1997

Location: Salem, Oregon

Interment Location: Twin Oaks Memorial Garden, Albany, Oregon

 

Radioman Third Class John Henry Gelineau

John Gelineau graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #10 in June 1933 and was assigned to Station BAKER in Guam. He completed a follow-on assignment at Station S in Astoria, Oregon and Station HYPO in Hawaii before transferring to Station CAST on Corregidor Island, Philippines, where he was when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He was listed in the third and final group of evacuees from Corregidor Island on board USS Seadragon in April 1942. He spent his war years in Australia and retired as a CWO2.

Gelineau was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:

06 Jan 1934:   Guam, M.I.

17 Jan 1935:   Guam, M.I.

13 Jan 1936:   Guam, M.I.

06 Jan 1937:   Astoria, Ore.

12 Jan 1938:   Astoria, Ore.

09 Jan 1939:   13th Naval District

14 Feb 1940:   14th Naval District

24 Feb 1941:   14th Naval District

Pertinent data:

Born:  22 August 1912

Location: Duluth, Minnesota

Died: 1 April 2002

Location: Washington

Interment Location: Kane Cemetery, Bainbridge, Washington

Radioman Second Class Benjamin “Bennie” Groundwater

Bennie Groundwater graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #10 in June 1933 and was assigned to Station HYPO in Hawaii. In 1940, he was assigned to Station ABLE in Shanghai, when it was closed due to the worsening security situation in China. He transferred to Station CAST when the site closed. He then transferred to Station HYPO less than two months before the Japanese attacked across the Pacific. He was selected for a commission and retired after the war as a Lieutenant Commander.

 

 

Groundwater was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:

06 Jan 1934:   Heeia, T.H.

17 Jan 1935:   Heeia, T.H.

13 Jan 1936:   Heeia, T.H.

06 Jan 1937:   {expunged text}

12 Jan 1938:   {expunged text}

09 Jan 1939:   14th Naval District

14 Feb 1940:   Fourth Marines Shanghai

24 Feb 1941:   Asiatic Station

 

Pertinent data:

Born: 14 October 1906

Location: Scammon, Kansas

Died: 19 December 1978

Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Interment Location: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

Radioman Third Class Thomas Glendon “Ted” Hoover

Ted Hoover graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #10 in June 1933 and was assigned to Station BAKER in Guam. He completed assignments in Washington, DC and Hawaii before transferring to Station CAST on Corregidor Island, Philippines. He was listed in the first group of evacuees from Corregidor Island in February 1942 on board USS Seadragon. Died on active duty as a Lieutenant.

 

Hoover was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:

06 Jan 1934:   Guam, M.I.

17 Jan 1935:   Guam, M.I.

13 Jan 1936:   Guam, M.I.

06 Jan 1937:   Washington, DC

12 Jan 1938:   Washington, DC

09 Jan 1939:   Navy Dept.

14 Feb 1940:   14th Naval District

24 Feb 1941:   14th Naval District

 

Pertinent data:

Born: 15 August 1909

Location: Pennsylvania

Died: 15 August 1949

Location: San Francisco, California

Interment Location: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

Radioman Second Class Orville Lester “Pop” Jones

Pop Jones graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #10 in June 1933 and was assigned to Station HYPO in Hawaii. After follow-on tours in Guam, Maine, and Washington, DC, he was sent back to Station HYPO in Hawaii. He was commissioned during the war and retired as a Lieutenant.

 

Lieutenant Orville "Pop" Jones

 

Jones was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:

06 Jan 1934:   Heeia, T.H.

17 Jan 1935:   Heeia, T.H.

13 Jan 1936:   Guam, M.I.

06 Jan 1937:   Guam, M.I.

12 Jan 1938:   Guam, M.I.

09 Jan 1939:   1st Naval District

14 Feb 1940:   Navy Dept.

24 Feb 1941:   14th Naval District

 

Pertinent data:

Born: 26 May 1909

Location: Iowa

Died: 14 April 1966

Location: Vancouver, Washington

Interment Location: Peterville, Maryland

Radioman Second Class Homer Lloyd “Charlie” Kisner

Charlie Kisner graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #10 in June 1933 and was assigned to Station HYPO in Hawaii. After assignments at Hawaii, Oregon, Cavite, Shanghai, and Corregidor, he was again stationed on Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was commissioned shortly after the war began and deployed to Guadalcanal and Kwajalein to establish intercept and direction finding sites. He rose through the ranks and eventually retired as a Captain.

 

Charlie Kisner after his commissioning. Photo on right taken on Guadalcanal as he established Station AL.

 

You can read about Charlie Kisner in On-the-Roof Gang, Volume 2 – War in the Pacific.

 

Kisner was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:

06 Jan 1934:   Heeia, T.H.

17 Jan 1935:   Heeia, T.H.

13 Jan 1936:   Heeia, T.H.

06 Jan 1937:   Astoria, Ore.

12 Jan 1938:   Astoria, Ore.

09 Jan 1939:   RMS Bellevue, Washington, DC

14 Feb 1940:   16th Naval District

24 Feb 1941:   Asiatic Station

 

Charlie Kisner’s obituary was published in NCVA’s Cryptolog magazine, Volume 28, number 1, Winter2007:

Homer L. “Charlie” KISNER, 93, of Parks, Arizona, died in May 2004 according to a recent report. He was a member of Class 10 of the “On-the-Roof” Gang, having enlisted in the Navy in January 1929. He served in Hawaii, Oregon, Cavite, Shanghai, and Corregidor in the days before World War II. A Pearl Harbor survivor, he was commissioned ENS in 1942. During the remainder of his naval career he served at duty stations overseas and in CONUS, retiring with the rank of Captain in 1956. Charlie was married to Bea M. (Gosnell) Kisner, and they had five children.

 

Pertinent data:

Born: 27 July 1910

Location: Marion, Illinois

Died: 19 May 2004

Location: Parks, Arizona

Radioman Third Class E. H. “Harpo” Marks

E. H. “Harpo” Marks attended OTRG Class #10 March – June 1933 and then transferred to the Station BAKER, Guam. He performed radio intelligence duties there through 1936 before he transferred to Washington, DC. He was not accounted for in all annual lists beginning 1937. Nothing more is known about this Sailor.

 

Marks was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:

06 Jan 1934:   Guam, M.I.

17 Jan 1935:   Guam, M.I.

13 Jan 1936:   Guam, M.I.

06 Jan 1937:   Washington, DC

Radioman Second Class Walter Carl Rathsack

Walter Carl Frederick Rathsack completed training in Class #10 but doesn’t appear to have been assigned to radio intelligence duty afterwards. He remained on active duty as a Radioman. As a Chief Radioman in 1942, he was stationed on board USS ATIK, which was sunk by German U-boat U-123 on 26 March 1942.

 

 

Pertinent data:

Born: 19 January 1909

Location: Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Died:  26 March 1942