John Daniel Roby 1949-2009

John's wife Rebecca remembers:

John Daniel Roby was born July 18, 1949 in Herrin, IL. His family moved to California when he was 8 years old, to the San Francisco bay area. He was a football player for College Park HS in Martinez, CA. He enrolled in Pacific University with a football scholarship.  After two years of college he enlisted in the US Navy in 1970. He attended "A" school in San Diego, becoming a signalman. I am uncertain when he was assigned to the DeHaven, but I believe it was his one and only ship. He talked about time in Subic Bay. I was in the Red Cross during the same time he served so we had many discussions about that time, but most of them were about Vietnam. He was injured on board ship during a cruise near Vietnam. He was transferred to the hospital in Long Bihn, and did not rejoin the ship because it was on assignment out of the area after his recovery.

He was attached to the army and served as a helicopter door gunner until his rotation back to the states and his honorable discharge in 1972.  His DD214 merely states he served in Vietnam on or before 1974. Dan contracted mysterious illnesses on three occasions during our twenty-five years together. He would recover with no sign of any problem. This last time his body shut down and could not come back. He died May 6, 2009, two months shy of his 60th birthday. He was under the VA health system but died in a civilian hospital, being too sick to travel even by ambulance to the nearest VA hospital.

I know he enjoyed many a card game (probably poker) on board ship. The names I recall him mentioning are of people he met while attached to the army. I do not have any of his pictures or medals. Any information, even the least bit, would be appreciated. Of course I loved him, but in addition he was a fine man who was a presence in many people's lives.