Robert G. Tomanek

Robert G. Tomanek was born in September 1929, in Binghamton, New York. Before he entered military service, he was a high school student and was working part time for a tree-cutting company. Tomanek joined the New York State Guard when he was sixteen years old. At the age of seventeen, he joined the Naval Reserve; at eighteen, he joined the United States Navy, and was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Base for basic training.

Tomanek was assigned to the crew of the USS Missouri in January 1949. He was initially employed at odd jobs aboard the ship. After one year on the Missouri, Tomanek was sent to learn ship repair in San Diego, California, where he graduated at the top of his class and then returned to the Missouri.

Tomanek learned that he was being sent to Korea only a week before his ship left. On the way, he witnessed three tornadoes, but the Missouri was able to sail through them. Tomanek recalled that on one occasion, though, the ship sailed right through a tornado with two helicopters on deck, and nothing was left of them except the bottom front wheels! After this incident, his ship was sent to Pearl Harbor to re-equip with helicopters and Liberty boats.

Tomanek recalled that the living conditions aboard the USS Missouri were great, as was morale on the ship. He said that there was a barber shop, dental office, post office, and even soda fountains. The ship had every service a small town would have.

After leaving Pearl Harbor, the USS Missouri was sent to Sasebo, Japan, which was the ship’s appointed Asian home port. It was the first time the Missouri had been in Japan since the Japanese surrender in World War II. In Sasebo, the Missouri was issued supplies and then sent out to sea off the coast of Korea for about a month.

Upon arrival in Korea, the Missouri was assigned to support the invasion of Icheon, a surprise attack designed to recapture the South Korean capital city of Seoul from the North Koreans. The ship provided support for the landing operation, with 16-inch shells fired every hour. Tomanek was assigned to damage control on the ship, but there was no damage, although he did recall seeing a torpedo going by about fifty yards away. Tomanek also had several encounters with mines in the water. Sailors were trained to spot them and then blow them up.

While it was still at Incheon, General MacArthur boarded the USS Missouri. Other famous people of the era, like USO performers Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell, provided entertainment on board. Off the coast of Korea, Tomanek experienced some snowfall, but it was not a very brutal winter for him and his fellow sailors, as he noted that they had warm winter clothing. He said that it was much worse for the soldiers on the ground fighting in Korea.

Most ports that the USS Missouri visited had people who spoke English. After leaving Korea, the ship made one stop in Cherbourg, France, where Tomanek met people who spoke Polish. Since he spoke Slovak, he managed to communicate with them, due to linguistic similarities between the two languages.

After spending about two years on the USS Missouri, Tomanek was granted sixty-days home leave. On his return, he was assigned to the USS Salem on a Mediterranean cruise as a Seaman Second Class. Tomanek was ultimately reassigned to the USS Missouri for his final year of active duty. When he left the Navy, he flew back to Boston and was then sent home to Binghamton, New York. Tomanek served in the Naval Reserves for a brief time afterward, then was discharged.

Robert G. Tomanek passed away on March 27, 2015, at the age of 85 after an extended illness.