Age: 40
Served: 10¾ years
September 4, 1957 to July 26, 1968
Don was born August 28, 1927 in Cincinnati to a paper company truck driver, Harry R., Ronnebaum, and his German wife, Katherine (Storr). During 1930, the couple gave birth to a daughter, but she died of natural causes four years later. They would have no more children. By Don’s 10th birthday, the family had moved to Covington.
During July 1945, at 17, Don enlisted in the United State Navy to fight in World War II and trained at the Great Lake facility. Within a month, the war was over. By November, he was a Seaman 2nd Class serving on the U.S.S. Block Island (CVE-106) a Bogue-class escort carrier in Guam. He then transferred to the Puget Sound (CVE-113), a larger Commencement Bay-class escort carrier. The Puget Sound had entered Tokyo Bay during October and her aircraft joined in the show of strength and conducted anti-mine patrols in support of the landings of the 10th Army at Matsuyama and Nagoya. From February to May 1946, Puget Sound made “Magic Carpet” runs transporting 1,200 troops and surplus aircraft. She steamed north on May 24, 1946 to prepare for inactivation at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She was decommissioned in October and Don was honorably discharged as a Fireman 2nd Class.
Discover more from The Greater Cincinnati Police Museum
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
