Name:
Frank L. Grube
E-mail:
FLGrube1@aol.com
Location: Lompoc, Ca. 93436
Birthday: 27 January, 1938
Bio: I grew up in a small Pennsylvania Dutch community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where I lived until I joined the Army in the mid 1950s. By serving at the U.S. Army Ammunition Depot on Okinawa for two and one-half years, I got first hand knowledge about the World War 2 fierce battle and the ultimate United States victory for this coral island. Even in the mid 1950s there were still hundreds of tons of unexploded World War 2 shells.
In the early 1960s, after being honorably discharged, I accepted an appointment in the Finance Branch of the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. This was my initial appointment into Federal Civil Service, which was to last until my retirement in the early 1990s. It was in Washington, D.C. that I met and married my wife, Charlotte, and our three children were born here. Also in the early 1960s my mother, Mildred, married Peter Demers, a man she had met while living in Clearwater, Florida. On one of their many visits to Washington, D.C., I took my stepfather, Pete, to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia. It was here he told me about losing his only child, George, my stepbrother, when the B-29 on which he was a gunner, was shot down in Tokyo Bay. Pete didn?t know many details of the circumstances that fateful day, May 24, 1945, but he did say that he attended the services at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky when the crew was reburied in a group grave, together and forever, in their final resting place.
After twelve years with the National Labor Relations Board I transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Prisons at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. After transferring with increased responsibility to the Federal Correctional Institution at Oxford, Wisconsin; the Northeast Regional Office at Philadelphia; the Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island, California; the Federal Prison Camp at Boron, California and in the early 1980s, the U.S. Penitentiary at Lompoc, California where I retired as Business Manager of Federal Prison Industries.
Since our retirement in the early 1990s my wife and I have traveled extensively in our RV but we have always returned to Lompoc. I have taken advantage of some temporary employment opportunities since my retirement that I enjoyed very much. One opportunity was working at the Santa Barbara County Jail for a six-month period. Another was with the City of Lompoc Parks and Recreation Department working as Campground Host at River Park. And the third was working in the Santa Maria office of the Census Bureau on Census 2000.
In recent years, ?Z Square 7, A B-29 True Story? has had all my time, energy and interest. I have met some wonderful people.. many B-29 veterans, relatives of other downed airmen, and veterans of other conflicts. ?Hap? Halloran; Bill Copeland, uncle of Lt Robert Copeland, Doug Caffey, and Sallyann Wagoner, owner of the largest B-29 organization on the internet, are just a few of the resource persons who were a great inspiration to me. I do have to publicly thank these people for their assistance.
I am proud to be a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Loyal Order of Moose, Fraternal Order of Eagles and the American Legion because of the work they do for our communities and the veterans of our country.
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Blog Created: Thursday, 12 August 2010
Last Updated: Thursday, 25 April 2024 - 5:08 AM EDT
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