Robert Aldeen Koontz was the son of Jasper Harold Koontz and Sarah Kate Leonard. He married Irene Elizabeth Miller in Bristol, Virginia on 24 December 1941.
Missing since 8 August 1945
Memorialized at the Honolulu, HI Memorial
Served with the Navy patrol bombing Squadron aboard the VPB-118.
The Bristol Herald Courier, May 7, 1944
Robert A. Koontz, seaman second class, has returned to the naval training base at Sampson, N.Y. after spending a leave with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Koontz, and his wife, the former Irene Miller, and son, J.H., who celebrated his first birthday while his father was here.
The Bristol Herald Courier, August 12, 1945
Mrs. Robert A. Koontz has received word that her husband Robert A. Koontz, Aviation Ordnanceman 3-c USN, has been missing since August 8. He has been overseas since May 18, 1945. He is the son of Jasper H. Koontz, 1805 Anderson street. His wife and small son live at 1816 Anderson street with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Miller.
The Bristol Herald Courier, 16 September 1945
Robert Aldeen Koontz, 24, aviation ordnanceman third class, was killed in action on August 8, 1945, off the western coast of Japan, according to information from the Navy Department received by his widow, Mrs. Irene Miller Koontz, 1816 Anderson street. Koontz, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Koontz, 1805 Anderson street, had previously been reported missing since August 8. Mrs. Koontz was notified as follows; “Robert and his crew in company with another plane took off at about 4 a.m. from Okinawa on an anti-shipping sweep off the western coast of Japan. About 9 a.m. they came upon an enemy ship and set it afire with machine guns, then the plane in which Robert was started in to bomb and sink the ship. Just before passing over, the ship blew up and the blast destroyed both the plane and the ship. The other plane circled until all smoke had cleared. A thorough search with field glasses revealed no sigh of life, either where the plane or ship went down.” Koontz, known to his friends as “Bob,” graduated from Tennessee high school with the class of 1940. During his high school days he participated actively in all sports, especially taking an interest in football, serving with the varsity. Prior to entering the navy he was employed at Enterprise Wheel and Car corporation. He spent a week with his wife and small son and other relatives on March 14 when he was en route to San Francisco. He had been overseas since May 18. Survivors are his widow and his son, Joseph Howell; his parents, two sisters, Donetta and Edythe Koontz and one brother, Dan Koontz.
- Rank: Aviation Ordnanceman Third Class
- Date of birth: 21 May 1921
- Date of death: 8 August 1945
- County: Sullivan
- Hometown: Bristol
- Service Branch: Navy
- Division/Assignment: VPB-118
- Theater: Pacific
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XVIII, Bottom Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Robert A. Koontz
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