Week 11 #52Ancestors

 Week 11: Lucky    

This week I am using a writeup from a cousin about his grandfather. James Spencer Loper was "lucky" to survive the sinking of the HMT Rohna. I have requested a book on the subject and will write more of my own words once I learn more. 

 "James Spencer Loper was born on September 19, 1924, in Georgia. His father was named James Lloyd Loper and his grandfather was named James David Loper. His mother’s maiden name was Mary Magdalene Valentine. My grandfather, James Spencer, enrolled in the U.S. Army and went off to fight in World War II in May of 1943. On November 26, 1943, he was on board a British ship called the H. M. T. Rohna, off the coast of North Africa. The morning after Thanksgiving, German-guided missiles slammed into the port side of his ship. The sinking of this ship was the biggest loss of American soldiers from a shipwreck during World War II. Out of the over two thousand men on the ship, only about half survived and James Loper was one of those survivors. He did not survive unscathed; he suffered a broken arm while escaping from the sinking ship and was awarded a Purple Heart for it. After he got his Purple Heart, the U.S. Army shipped him right back out to war. He spent the majority of the rest of his time in North Africa and India. While in India, he saw many strange things such as lots of cobras, Bengal tigers, elephants, and multitudes of people. When he got back from war, he married Ruby Virginia Monsees on September 15, 1946, in Macon, Georgia. He obtained a job as an engineering draftsman for The United States Air Force, later becoming an electronic engineer, working on guiding systems for missiles. He contributed to part of the book called, Forgotten Tragedy: The sinking of H.M.T. Rohna. James Loper has since retired and currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife and daughter. - written by Nathan Loper, grandson of James"