Pulling threads of a Valley war hero

This Friday will be 71 years since Youngstown’s William Roble flew off into the skies over France, never to see another day of life.

His division of the 101st Airborne was part of the Allied Forces’ advance party for the looming D-Day.

It’s fair to reason that Roble may have been the Valley’s first fatality of World War II's European clash.

To Dale Rhinehart, Roble has been the hero who keeps on giving.

For 49 years, Roble was a tragic hero to Rhinehart, and I wrote about that last fall.

Rhinehart’s years of visits to Lake Park Cemetery on Midlothian Boulevard to visit the graves of his family would always bring him past Roble’s grave. It’s a proud headstone that Roble shares with his parents. Rhinehart also noticed the youthful age of his death – just 21 years, and the date of his death – “D Day, 6 June 1944.”

What was most special to Rhinehart was Roble’s military detail – he was in Company A 501st of the 101st. Some brave lads.

For all of what that said of Roble, Dale longed to know more. For many years, he could not. That is, until October, when The Vindicator unearthed some long-forgotten information on all the Valley’s WWII casualties. It’s a collection of some 3,000 cards.

We broadcast our find, and Rhinehart asked if we had info on Roble. We did, and many of Rhinehart’s questions about this tragic hero started to get answered. Where in Youngstown did Roble live? How did he die on that first day? How was he returned home?

Those were mostly answered in Vindicator clips.

To Rhinehart’s delight, more answers kept coming.

A few months ago, he was able to meet Roble’s childhood friend, June “Bert” Shaffer. She could have been called a sweetheart. She had written to me after the fall story to help Rhinehart’s quest.

And some of the best answers came just last week, when Roble’s nephew Dennis – the family historian – bumped into my fall story online and wrote to me to connect with Rhinehart.

It’s easy to cast all of this as one soldier of many who died, and one guy’s fluke obsession with it.

But it’s so appealing to me because it’s so American.

The Robles were a classic Youngstown family, with five sons having served. Their only son who died did so in a heroic role on a landmark day. His sudden absence left lifelong holes in the lives of many. And Rhinehart is a passionate American who wants to know others like Roble.

Bert Shaffer said Roble was known as “Willy” by all in their Brownlee Woods neighborhood. She had a crush on him, and it’s possible he did likewise. The Christmas before he shipped out, they headed downtown for an ice cream date.

Bert told Rhinehart that it took a month for news of Willy’s death to reach Youngstown.

Seventy-one years later, she related that day to Rhinehart through tears. She had just got off a bus on Powers Way, returning from downtown, she said. A friend came running down the street toward Bert, yelling if she had heard the news.

“Willy was killed,” Bert was told.

She told Rhinehart she fell to the sidewalk in tears. Her face struck the ground in such a way that her glasses cut her nose. She said Willy’s mom learned to drive a car after his death so she could tend to his grave.

Despite marrying a few years later and making a family of her own, Bert kept a photo of Willy in her home all these years.

She sat with Rhinehart just this past February. A few weeks later, she died at age 89 in the neighborhood she grew up in with Willy Roble.

Dennis has the Western Union Telegram that announced to the family Willy’s death.

It came along with a cigar box of Roble’s effects, including his Purple Heart medal.

It would be four years before Roble’s remains would arrive back home.

“When William’s remains arrived,” said Dennis, “my grandmother insisted seeing for herself that her son was really dead. But she was denied.”

Dennis said that much of how William was cared for in death showcased his grandparents’ will.

“I don’t know how my grandparents raised the money for a headstone that size, three lines of engraving and a front-row gravesite,” said Dennis. “Ever since I was old enough to carry a sprinkling can, I would go with Grandma to water the flowers on William’s and Grandpa’s grave. This continued till she died in 1971. Other family members continued doing so for many years thereafter.”

Dennis shared the family photos of William. I have loaded them on our Vindicator Facebook page with more Roble stories.

It’s just such a fascinating Americana tale. Dennis was struck by Rhinehart’s attention to his uncle.

“Only by the grace of God could so many tiny threads have come together like this to reach me, and now I can pass this on to the Roble generations to come,” said Dennis.

Rhinehart, too, is elated.

I asked him what he’s liked most about learning all this about Roble – the ice cream date with Bert, his golf passion and so much more.

“I knew him as a name on a cold piece of granite, who died in a tragic way,” said Rhinehart. “I’m glad to know that in his life prior to this, he had a great smile on him.”

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on Vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.