1924
The beginning, still being traced
His military paper records March 27, 1924, in Needles, California. His grandchild says he had no birth certificate. The story of his earliest years remains open.
Remembering
Gman.
A grandfather. A father figure.
A story still unfolding.
Created by his grandchild, this is a place for Robert’s history, the memories he left with us, and the stories still being gathered.
and home again.
01His life
My grandpa.
More like my dad.
“He was my grandpa and more like my dad.
I spent a lot of time with him.”
This is a history of a whole person: the grandfather who helped raise his grandchild, the life he shared with Lelia, and the desert he knew.
Some chapters survive in documents. Others live in family memory. There is room here for both.
1940
A teenager in Needles
The census places Robert, age 15, in the household of Andrew and Felipa Mendoza, recorded as their nephew. Andrew worked for the Santa Fe Railway.
1942–1946
The years of service
He enlisted in Los Angeles on January 8, 1942—17, by the dates in his paper. A field artillery crewman, he served across the Pacific before his honorable discharge at Mojave.
After the war
A life with Lelia
Family history remembers Robert with Lelia Lopez Cardona. A 1947 marriage-index entry is a promising lead; the original record is still to be found.
Remembered
Home, family, and the desert
His grandchild remembers a father figure who helped raise them, a grandfather interested in nature photography, and a connection to the desert and its plants and animals.
2004
What stays with us
The family’s saved tree records 2004 as the year of Robert’s death. This memorial carries his story forward through the grandchild who spent so much time with him.
02 / The journey
Across the Pacific.
Back to Maui.
Follow the places and dates recorded in his service papers.
19441945
Read the complete service timeline
| Place | From | Through |
|---|---|---|
| Kwajalein Atoll | 1944-01-31 | 1944-02-08 |
| Maui | 1944-02-17 | 1944-05-13 |
| Saipan & Tinian | 1944-06-15 | 1944-08-12 |
| Back to Maui | 1944-08-24 | 1945-01-04 |
| Saipan, again | 1945-02-11 | 1945-02-15 |
| Iwo Jima | 1945-02-19 | 1945-03-20 |
| Maui, one more time | 1945-04-05 | 1945-10-27 |
03 / The archive
The records behind the story.
A place for what survives, what is remembered, and what we are still learning. Each source has its own part to tell.
Original family documents are preserved privately. The transcriptions here leave out personal identifiers, signatures, and fingerprints.
There is more of his life to find.
Photographs. The stories he told. The places he called home.
This memorial will grow as those pieces find their way here.
For Robert, with love from his grandchild.