Robert William Brock

My father, Robert William Brock, was born in Lincoln County, Kentucky on December 1, 1918, and was the son of John Jeff Brock and Mildred Schrader.  He had eight brothers and sisters, with my father being the third oldest.  The other children were:  (1) George Brock, (2) Edward Thomas Brock, (3) Lucy Brock, (4) Elsie Brock, (5) Helen Brock (6) Charles Brock (7) Walter Mitchell Brock and (8) Henry Richard Brock.  According to my mother, my father could remember his younger brother Charles falling into the swimming hole, where they were swimming, and was drowned.  My father was not able to pull him out, as he was only 3 or 4 years old himself.   

John Jeff Brock, his father, had grown up in Bell County on Sims Fork, but had moved to Lincoln County to find work, and worked in the mines and on farms to support the family. They moved back to Bell County and lived on Sims Fork where he attended the Sims Fork School, and where he met my mother and lived there until he was drafted into the army during World War II.    

My father was a small man, about 5 feet 9 inches tall. When he was about 16 years old his uncle who was also a miner, got him a job in the mines.  Although he was not supposed to be working in the mines at 16, they told the bosses that he was older, and they let him begin working.  The pay was not good during these days, and they were earning only about 50 cents an hour for a hard days work.  The mines were ones where the miners would have to crawl into the mines on their knees, and many times the openings were just big enough to get a coal car in and out.  There was very little sophisticated mining equipment used at this time.  The mines also were about 6 miles away, and my father would have to walk to the train, which was about 3 miles to get to work, and then ride the train another 3 miles to get to the mines.  These were long days and very hard work.  While working in the mines, he became experienced with using dynamite, which was used in the coalmines to break up the coal, so that it could be shoveled and gotten out of the mines. 

   He was a very good and humble man according to my mother.  He was very kind to everyone he met, and was always helping other people.  He had a very close relationship with the Lord, and enjoyed reading his Bible, especially on the weekends.    He loved to read, and would read anything that he could get his hands on.  According to my mother when he was living with his grandmother, she would not let him burn oil to read at night, and he would pack in firewood to burn in the fireplace so he could read.  The teacher would give him books to read and take home. He also borrowed books from all the other children at school to read.  He had passed all of the tests for high school several years before the other children in his class, except for math even though he was several years younger than they were.  My mother stated that he loved history and would set for hours reading history books. My mother states that a lot of the children would get mad at him when the teacher would ask them to stand up and tell about something they should have known about their lessons.  The teacher would then ask my father, who was several grades below them to stand up and tell them the answer.   He started working in the mines when he was 16 years old and did not get the opportunity to go to high school which he would have loved.  According to my mother my father liked to sing and had a beautiful voice. He would sing for her, and would sing all the time as he was working.   He also loved to play the Harmonica and Juice Harp, and would play these on the way back and forth to work on the train for the men riding with him. 

He and my mother were married on October 18, 1941, and lived for a month or so with my mother’s parents on Sims Fork, and eventually moved across the creek to their own 4-room house.  About 10 months after they were married he was drafted into the army in July 1942 and served in World War II until he was killed February 8, 1945 on Luzon Island, Philippines.  He was 26 years old when he was killed.   

He was a demolition expert while in the army, as he was experienced in using explosives in the mines.  He entered the army and was immediately sent to California, and then on to Hawaii, and finally to the South Pacific where he served the majority of his time.  He got to visit Australia and Hawaii also while he was in the army.  He was in almost all of the battles in the South Pacific from July 1942 until he was killed on February 8, 1945, over 31 months.  He never was granted a furlough, and never returned to the States all during this time.  He was killed while destroying a Japanese bunker.  Unknown to him the bunker was used to store Japanese explosives, and when the bunker was blown up the blast was too strong and he was killed instantly.  He was highly decorated and received two Purple Hearts and dozens of other medals during the war.   He was buried in the Philippines in the United States Army Cemetery, Culoya No.1, Plot 1, Row 2, and Grave 17.