Project 888
Name: Floyd Vernon GROCE
Rank / Rating: RDM2-Radarman Second ClassService #: 654 09 07 DOB: Apr 04, 1916 From: Born Ramona, SD Parents: Went Aboard: Jan 17, 1942 Age When Ship Went Down: 29 years, 3 months, 26 days Spouse: Children: Grandchildren: Bio Submitted By: Earl Dean Mitchell, son of survivor Kenneth Mitchell (deceased) |
 GROCE, Floyd V |
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Radarman Second Class Floyd Vernon Groce had brothers who served in World War II.
While those brothers served elsewhere, Floyd was fortunate to be in the arms of a “Brother In Arms” (i.e. a fellow Radarman Third Class, Tommy Reid) when Floyd passed away. Tommy was nine years junior to Floyd (i.e. like a younger brother). In a letter written after the war (March 30, 1946) to a former shipmate and friend (Ray Hornbuckle), Kenneth Earl Mitchell shared about the five nights and days that he had spent with 175 stranded men who were each wearing a kapok life jacket. Floyd Groce was one of those 175 men. At the end of the ordeal, only 63 men would survive. Kenneth’s letter, in direct reference to Floyd’s passing, stated that “He died in Tommy Reid's arms, he knew he was going”. (1)
Fast forward almost 80 years later to the spring of 2025. At age 18, Floyd’s great-nephew, Ian Groce, chose to write a senior thesis paper about his great-uncle.
The stories are being carried forward in perpetuity.
1. An Album of Memories, Tom Brokow, p. 214.
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