On-The-Roof Gang
Class #15
Class #15 convened in March 1935 and completed in July 1935. Six Marine Corps operators were trained in Class #15. Chief Radioman Jesse Bryan Byrd, graduate of Class #7, was the instructor.
Private First Class Cecil Thompson Carraway
PFC Carraway graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #15 in July 1935 and was assigned to Station ABLE in Shanghai, China. He completed one radio intelligence assignment before being reassigned to general service communications duty in the USMC. He was later commissioned and returned radio intelligence duty during World War II, deploying to locations including Guadalcanal.
Cecil Carraway on the roof of HQ Fourth Marines in Shanghai China, circa 1937
Carraway was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:
13 Jan 1936: Shanghai, China
06 Jan 1937: Shanghai, China
12 Jan 1938: Mare Island, CA (not performing radio intelligence duty)
09 Jan 1939: 1st Signal Co., Quantico (not performing radio intelligence duty)
Cecil Carraway’s obituary was published in the Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Florida) on 20 Dec 1977
Pertinent data:
Born: 25 October 1912
Location: Clarendon, South Carolina
Died: 18 December 1977
Location: Clearwater, Florida
Private Curtis W. Crowe
PVT Crowe graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #15 in July 1935 and was assigned to Station ABLE in Shanghai, China. He completed one radio intelligence assignment before being reassigned to general service communications duty in the USMC. Nothing more is known about this Marine.
Curtis Crowe on the roof of HQ Fourth Marines in Shanghai China, circa 1937
Crowe was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:
13 Jan 1936: Shanghai, China
06 Jan 1937: Shanghai, China
12 Jan 1938: Shanghai, China
09 Jan 1939: Marine Corps Reserve
Private First Class Lombard Roland Hingle
PFC Hingle graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #15 in July 1935 and was assigned to Station ABLE in Shanghai, China. He was medevac’d from Shanghai in April 1936 and later reassigned to general service communications duty in the USMC.
Hingle was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:
13 Jan 1936: Shanghai, China
06 Jan 1937: San Diego, California (not performing radio intelligence duties)
Pertinent data:
Born: 20 October 1910
Died: 14 December 1983
Internment Location: Oak Hill Cemetery, Talladega, Alabama
Sergeant Jesse Lee “Jerry” Randle
Jerry Randle graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #15 in July 1935 and was assigned to Station ABLE in Shanghai, China. He completed one radio intelligence assignment before his enlistment ended in the USMC. He then enlisted in the Navy in order to continue his career in radio intelligence. After initial training, he was assigned to Station HYPO in Hawaii, where he was stationed at the outset of the war. He completed assignments in Hawaii and Bainbridge Island before he earned advancement to Warrant Officer. He continued his service through the end of the war and eventually retired as a CWO4.
Jerry Randle on the roof of HQ Fourth Marines in Shanghai China, circa 1937
Randle was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:
13 Jan 1936: Shanghai, China
06 Jan 1937: Shanghai, China
12 Jan 1938: Shanghai, China
09 Jan 1939: [not accounted for]
14 Feb 1940: 1st Naval District
24 Feb 1941: 14th Naval District
Jerry Randle’s obituary was published in the NCVA’s Cryptolog magazine, Volume 16, Winter 1995, page 15:
Jesse Lee (Jerry) Randle. Chief Warrant Officer (W-4). U.S. Navy, retired, OTRG, NCVA, died 2 December 1991 at the age of 87. He was born 1 October 1907 in Haynesville. Louisiana and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in December 1928. He served with the Marines from 1928 to December 1938 and then enlisted in the Navy on 13March 1939.
Chief Warrant Officer Randle's duly stations during his career included Parris Island. South Carolina and Quantico. Virginia: Port Au Prince, Haiti (1929-31); Parris Island (1931-33): USS ARIZONA (1933): USS LOUISVILLE (1933-34): Washington. DC (“On-the-Roof” Class #15 in 1935): Shanghai, China (1935-38); Winter Harbor, Maine (1939-40); USS OMAHA (with Squadron 40-T in 1940); Cheltenham, Maryland (1940-41); Heeia and Wahiawa. Hawaii (1941-44); Bainbridge Island, Washington (1944-46); appointed Warrant Officer W-1 on 1 July 1945; Adak, Alaska (1947-48): Port Lyautey, Morocco (1948-49); Arlington Hall Station, Virginia (1950-52); Wahiawa, Hawaii (1952-54); Cape Chiniak, Alaska (Officer in Charge 1954-55); Dupont and Charleston, South Carolina (1956-59).
His awards included the marine Corps and Navy Good Conduct Medals, Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, China Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Pertinent data:
Born: 1 October 1907
Location: Haynesville, Louisiana
Died: 2 December 1994
Location: Clearwater, Florida
Internment Location: Barrancas National Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida
Private First Class Carl Glenn Suber
Carl Suber graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #15 in July 1935 and was assigned to Station ABLE in Shanghai, China. He completed one radio intelligence assignment before being reassigned to general service communications duty in the USMC.
Carl Suber on the roof of HQ Fourth Marines in Shanghai China, circa 1937
Suber was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:
13 Jan 1936: Shanghai, China
06 Jan 1937: Shanghai, China
Carl Suber’s obituary was published in the NCVA’s Cryptolog magazine, Volume 25, Winter 2004:
Carl G. SUBER
PFC Carl G. Suber, USMC, an original member of OTRG Class 15, passed away in September 2003. PFC Suber was born in Quincy, Florida on 16 June 1914. He married Mildred B. Suber in 1941 and raised two children. He underwent special radio training on the roof of the Navy Department in 1937 where he began his cryptologic career. He served in Station A Shanghai, China from 1935-1937.
Pertinent data:
Born: 16 June 1914
Location: Gadsden, Florida
Died: 10 June 2003
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Internment Location: Arlington Park Cemetery, Jacksonville, Florida
Private First Class James Warren “Jim” Winborn
Jim Winborn graduated from On-the-Roof Gang Class #15 in July 1935 and was assigned to Station ABLE in Shanghai, China. He completed one radio intelligence assignment before being reassigned to general service communications duty in the USMC.
Jim Winborn on the roof of HQ Fourth Marines in Shanghai China, circa 1937
Carraway was identified at the following locations on the OP-20-G Annual Reports of Radio Intelligence Personnel:
13 Jan 1936: Shanghai, China
06 Jan 1937: Shanghai, China
12 Jan 1938: En route to U.S.
Pertinent data:
Born: 30 March 1913
Location: Clarksdale, Mississippi
Died: 22 January 2000
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Internment Location: Greenoaks Memorial Park, Baton Rouge, Louisiana