Portrait of Robert McKinnon
Born October 31, 1924 in Gloucester
Rank: Machinist Mate 2nd Class. Service: US Navy. Division/Ship: LCTs & LSTs. Theater: Pacific. Dates of Service: 1943 - 1946. Specific Battles: Tarawa, Saipan, The West Loch Disaster.

Bob McKinnon and his buddies used to work out and show off their muscles at Good Harbor Beach as teenagers. At 91, he continues to lift weights. At 18, McKinnon was drafted, so he and his pals decided to enlist together. His buddies ended up in the Army, but because the quota was filled, he found himself heading for the Navy. Trained as a Machinist Mate, he spent his time in the South Pacific maintaining and repairing LST and LCT engines. He was at the Battle of Saipan and the Battle of Tarawa. Ordered to take liberty while at Pearl Harbor on May 21, 1944, McKinnon narrowly missed being a casualty in the second most disastrous event at the naval base, known as the West Loch Disaster. An ammunition-loading accident aboard an LST triggered massive explosions that destroyed six of the docked vessels, scores of shoreside buildings, killed 163 men and wounded 365 others. McKinnon married his wife of 62 years, Virginia, in 1953.