George 1

[CoastieJohn]

Just got this sad news in my inbox. I'm a little familiar with the George 1 as I met some of the family members once while preparing to take off for the Duck Hunt. A great story of survival in the Antarctic. Sorry to say Mr. Robbin's will not see the hopeful return of his fellow aircrew members who are still resting down there under the wings of the PBM. There is an effort to recover the remains but as I'm told by the person pushing for the recovery, the senior Senator from Arizona keeps pulling the language from the NDAA at the request of the Navy. I do hope one day the PBM can be quickly relocated and these MIA's returned.


Crew #3 Assigned to GEORGE 3

(TOP L to R) Owen McCarty, Photographer; William Kearns (Co-pilot); Ralph LeBlanc (Plane Commander); Maxwell Lopez (Navigator); W.K. Hendersin (Radioman)
(BOTTOM L to R) J.D. Dickens (Plane Captain); Bill Warr (Flight Engineer); James H. Robbins (Radar Man)

James Robbins
1926 - 2014 | Obituary| Condolences

Robbins, James 04/28/1926 ~ 07/12/2014 RANCHO MIRAGE -- Born April 28, 1926, James (Robbie) Robbins died on July 12, 2014. He was born to Helen Haskin and James Haskin in San Diego. He is survived by his son, James E. Robbins; daughter-in-law, Marilyn Robbins; grandchildren, Robert F. Robbins and Deborah R. Davies; and 7 great-grandchildren. Robbie will be interred at a later date at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery with full military honors. Robbie lived an extraordinary life. He married Dale Puckett, the love of his life, and they had 54 wonderful years together. He joined the Navy when he was 17 and was on the Byrd Expedition to Antarctica (Operation High Jump) to chart and map that continent. He was the radar man on the December 30, 1946 PBM flight when their plane, the George 1, disappeared on the unexplored part of the Antarctic continent. Nine men left on the mission but only six returned. Robbie his true heroism on that mission saving the pilot from the burning plane and helping feed the survivors before they were rescued. After returning home he married Dale, my mother, and they had 54 years together before she assed away from Alzheimer's disease. He was her fulltime caregiver and never left her side to the end of her life. For the past 4 years, Robbie has lived in a Rancho Mirage retirement home. He was given excellent care and thoroughly enjoyed many new friends, some older military folks, Don, Dolly, George, Frank, Richard, Carmen and Myra, to name just a few, all good friends till the end. I spent many hours with them all. God bless them all and you Dad. You will be sorely missed by all. Your loving son, Jim

Published in U-T San Diego on Aug. 17, 2014

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This pics are on the internet.