Robert E. Bonnesen

World War II

Robert Bonnesen was born on November 29, 1924, in Sidney, NE to Henry and Pearl (Carper) Bonnesen. The family moved to a farm southwest of Templeton in 1936. Robert graduated from Manning High School in 1942.

Robert registered for the military draft on December 29, 1942, in Carroll. He indicated that he was employed by W. B. Parrott Company, a produce business in Manning. He was inducted into the US Navy in Des Moines on January 18, 1943 and assigned serial number 859 07 07. He was sent to Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Chicago for boot camp. By this time, the Great Lakes base had grown from training 6,000 personnel before the war to over 100,000.

After boot camp was completed, Robert was sent to the University of Wisconsin in Madison for a four-month radioman course. In October, 1943, he was sent to England to begin training for the invasion of France. He was promoted to RM3c (Radioman third class).

Robert was assigned to the crew of LCF-31. LCF’s (Landing Craft Flak) were LCT’s (Landing Craft Tank) that had been modified and fitted with anti-aircraft guns. They were approximately 175 feet long and their mission was to provide air cover for the invasion fleet. LCF-31 was assigned to Force U for the D-Day invasion. Force U was a part of the Utah Beach landing on the far western end of the operation.

German guns near Utah Beach had largely been neutralized by Allied bombing and naval gunfire. However, the wind made navigation of the flat-bottomed landing craft difficult. On the morning of June 6, 1944, a number of ships were sunk by an unknown mine field located in the Cardonet Shoals. LCF-31 was one of these ships. It hit a mine about 800 yards off the coast, capsized and sank quickly. Only 18 of the 72 crewmen survived. Robert, who was 19 years old, was listed as missing in action and his parents were notified.

On June 25, 1945, Robert’s parents received a letter from James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, indicating that due to no indication that Robert had survived, he was declared deceased. His remains were never located and he is deemed to be buried in the Bay of Seine, France. His name is included on a memorial for those lost at the Normandy American Cemetery in France. His military burial plaque is attached to his parents’ gravestone in Manning Cemetery.