Gone but not forgotten
Unique find in the Archives
On August 2nd, 2024, family, friends and American Legion members gathered at the Bong Veterans Center to raise the flag in memory of Navy sailor Robert Makowski.
The Bong Center and Robert’s family came together through a serendipitous turn of events. Approximately 15 years ago, a Bong Center volunteer stumbled upon a letter tucked inside a copy of a book about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. It was addressed to “Sis” and signed “Bobbie”. Bobbie’s personality jumped from the pages and delighted the staff at the museum with his commentary on his train trip across the U.S. as he headed to Los Angeles for his assignment to board the USS Indianapolis in 1940.
“We were the only 2 gobs there & we were popular. I never knew I could get around on skates so well but boy oh boy was I a whamdoodle!” Bobbie wrote. His excitement and zest for life was obvious.
Museum staff researched the sailors aboard the USS Indianapolis and narrowed the possibilities down to include Robert Makowski, of Duluth, MN. The letter and a short story were included in the museum newsletter. Then things got really interesting. Robert’s remaining family in Duluth, read that article and agreed that it sounded like their uncle. They brought in other surviving documents written by Robert and sure enough, the handwriting matched.
After over 60 years, the family was now able to read a surviving letter written by their beloved uncle. What makes it even more special is that Robert’s tour on the USS Indianapolis was his final tour.
Robert, in the last picture ever taken by his family, with his niece Barbara and nephew, Raymond
Robert Makowski’s Navy Service
Robert Makowski was born March 29, 1920, in Duluth to parents Joseph and Teresa Makowski. He grew up in the Lester Park neighborhood and enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve in Duluth in April 1937.
In late July 1940, then Fireman 2nd Class Robert T. Makowski and nine other men from the Duluth Naval Reserve traveled by train to Los Angeles, where they embarked on a U.S. Navy ship for transit to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On Aug. 9, 1940, all 10 men reported for duty aboard the USS Indianapolis.
He spent the entirety of the war aboard the ship. He was aboard the Indianapolis, which was several hundred miles southwest of Hawaii, when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941. He was on the ship as it earned 10 battle stars for actions in the Pacific, the Aleutian Islands campaign, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Iwo Jima and Okinawa operations. On March 31, 1945, the Indianapolis was severely damaged near Okinawa when a Japanese kamikaze plane hit the ship, killing nine men and wounding 20. The final mission for the Indianapolis was delivering the enriched uranium and other components of the “Little Boy” atomic weapon to Tinian Island in the Pacific. After completing its mission, the Indianapolis headed for the Philippines when it was struck by two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine, just a few minutes after midnight July 30, 1945. The ship sank in 12 minutes.
Approximately 300 men went down with the ship. The rest, about 900 men, were sent adrift to the sea. Due to miscommunication and negligence, no one knew about the sinking for over 3 days. During that time, men had to deal with dehydration, exhaustion, exposure, and sharks. Only 316 men survived the ordeal. Makowski was among the 879 men who lost their lives.
Family believe that due to the nature of Robert’s job in the boiler rooms, first as a watertender 2nd class and then working his way up to chief watertender by the time of the sinking, that he likely went down with the ship.
Of those 10 Duluth men who boarded the USS Indianapolis in 1940, 2 would remain with the ship until her unfortunate end. Robert went down with the ship. The other Duluth man still serving on the Indianapolis, James Norberg, survived.
Remembering Robert today
Paul Makowski, Robert’s nephew, spent many years doing extensive research into his uncle’s life. Until 2024, the only marker with Robert’s name on it was in Manila, Philippines. In January, the military approved a marker to be installed at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Duluth. In August 2024, family members came together to honor their late uncle at the Duluth Veteran’s Cemetery and at the Bong Veterans Center.
The family, the Bong Center staff, and American Legion Post 435, along with 2 active duty Navy personnel, held a Flag of Remembrance ceremony outside the museum on August 2nd 2024 to remember someone who was taken far too soon.
