CRANER, ROBERT ROGER
Deceased 10/03/80
Name: Robert Roger Craner
Branch/Rank: UNITED STATES AIR FORCE/O5
Unit: 416 TFS 37th TFW PACAF
Date of Birth: circa 1933
Home City of Record: COHOES NY
Date of Loss: 12 DECEMBER 1967
Country of Loss: NORTH VIETNAM
Loss Coordinates: 175700 North 1061700 East
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F100F #4005
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident:
Refno: 0943
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action
Combat Casualty File. Updated 2000 with information from classmate, Joe
Barry and Assistant Archivist at Holy Cross College, Ms. Jo-Anne Carr.
Craner graduated from Holy Cross in 1976. EDITED BY REQUEST 07/2005.
REMARKS: RETURNED 3/14/73 NOT ON ORIG DIA LIST
-----------------------------------------------
The Knickerbocker News, Albany, NY
Feb 21, 1974
Metroland POWs after year of Freedom:
All stay in service as student or teacher
By Carol Schlageter Chady
" A year ago right now we were filled with the joy of hope and the agony of
fear," said Mrs. Loyal Goodermote of Berlin, recalling the wait for their
son's name to be announced as a homecoming Vietnam prisoner of war.
Navy Lt. Wayne Goodermote, 30, whose parents still live in the Rensselaer
County community where they waited, now is a master's student at the
University of Colorado, Boulder.
His mother says he hopes to earn his degree in architecture in three years.
Last March 31, after he had spent 5 « years as a prisoner, some 2000 jammed
the Berlin town square to welcome him home.
And Goodermote himself, interviewed by telephone, said he wants to stay away
from publicity and step - incognito - back into a normal life.
"I find a lot of the interest in my situation has been superficial, and I
think it is time for it to end," he commented.
But he did add: "I hope there is still concern in America about the 1,300
plus men still missing in action and the two Thai prisoners who should have
been released a long time ago. I hope some force will be applied to the
Vietnamese to take steps to get them released.
They were the sentiments echoed by his mother, who recalls last Christmas -
the first the family had spent with their son in eight years - but in the
same breath adds that her sorrow lingers on behalf of the families of men
still missing.
While Goodermote plans are to finish graduate school and continue his career
in the Navy, here is what other former prisoners of war with ties to
Metroland are doing now - almost a year after their return home: at
Air Force Lt. Col. Robert R. Craner, 40, son of Mrs. Grace Craner of Cohoes
and brother of John T. Craner of Cohoes, has been recertified as a pilot and
now lives with his wife and their two children in Worcester, Mass, where he
is with the military but attending Holy Cross College full time. His mother
said he is working toward a bachelor's degree in political science, and then
hopes to continue on to a master's degree. With his education, she says her
son "is keeping both options open."
====================================
Times Union
Albany, NY
May 26, 1974
by Donna HALVORSEN
EX-POW recalls mates in park dedication talk
Former prisoner of war, Robert R. Craner accepted the dedication of Craner
Park in Cohoes Saturday "in the name of all those living and dead whom you
really honor."
Lt. Col. Craner, a 20-year-Air Force veteran who spent five years in a North
Vietnamese prison camp, called upon Americans to transform their Memorial
Day sentiment "into meaningful reality" by helping those Vietnam veterans
who "now require assistance in regaining their place in society."
Though not using the word Vietnam, nor mentioning his own experiences, he
referred to the Vietnam veterans as those who "recognized their duty and
performed it."
The former Devlin Street park, which overlooks historic Harmony Mills on
the Mohawk River, was re-named Lt Col. Robert R. Craner Park as part of
Cohoes Memorial Day observance.
"This park will serve as a tribute to one of Cohoes' most honored sons,"
said Mayor Virginia B. McDonald in an afternoon ceremony on a gray,
wind-swept day, "and as a constant tribute to all Cohoesiers that as long as
this park bears his name, the word patriotism will never die."
Mrs. McDonald noted that she was meeting Craner for the first time, since
she was out of the country in March of last year "when our entire city
opened its heart to him in love."
One of a number of dignitaries on hand for the ceremony and the parade which
followed was Congressman Samuel Stratton, who said the ceremony marked a
"significant occasion" because it "shows we are beginning to pay tribute to
the men who served and sacrificed in the Vietnam War."
The 40-year-old Craner, now studying international relations at Holy Cross
College in Worcester Mass, grew up in the Harmony-Orchard area where the
park is located and he said he remembered the park site as a place of "weeds
and rocks and potholes" with a canal running through it.
"That canal claimed more baseballs than I can count," he said, "and more
tragically, the lives of a few young children."
He credited the city administration with stimulating civic pride which
helped to bring the area "back from a period of stagnation and decay."
Then, in a recurring Memorial Day theme, he said,"Here in America, because
we are fortunate enough to be citizens - we have the right, privilege, the
freedom to express ourselves, to select our occupation, to set our own goals
and to meet them. But for over two-thirds of the rest of the world those
freedoms do not exist."
Following the park dedication, the tall, lean Caner served as grand marshall
for an eight-division parade, led by two auxiliary policemen on horseback.
While his wife and daughter rode in a car with Mayor McDonald; Caner walked
the nearly two miles in front of an American Legion color guard, receiving
cheers and waves from many of the hundreds of persons who lined Mohawk and
Remsen Streets to watch.
In an interview prior to the park dedication, Caner said his health is
"improving steadily, especially in the last few months since I've been able
to relax finally and be active physically."
Living in the Worcester suburb of Westboro since December while attending
college, he said he anticipates being there another 18 months and that his
future plans are indefinite.
He said he now "favors going on to professional military training at the
National War College in Washington, in preparation for a career in
international relations in the military.
=========================================
Ten Outstanding Seniors Look to the Future
Holy Cross Crossroads,
June 1976
AMONG THE 590 Holy Cross graduates there are many who have already
accomplished much or who have interesting plans for the future.
One is a 43-year old Colonel in the U.S. Air Force who was repatriated in
1973 following five and a half years as a prisoner-of-war in North Vietnam.
Another is the first outstanding woman athlete at Holy Cross. A third is a
champion male speed skater who holds the North American record for the
quarter mile.
-----------
* Col. Robert R. Craner, Cohoes, N.Y. a 43-year-old career Air Force
officer, will begin a two-year assignment as military attache with the
American Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, after further training in Washington,
D.C. Col. Craner spent the last two and a half years at Holy Cross,
majoring in Russian studies. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was
graduated summ cum laude.
An F-100 jet fighter pilot, during the Vietnamese conflict, he was shot down
over North Vietnam in 1967. The first three years were spent in solitary
confinement, with periodic beatings and interrogations by his captors.
During this time he communicated with other prisoners-of-war by tapping on
the walls and leaving notes hidden in the water hole where the prisoners
were taken once a week to wash. "I had a great friend in the next room,"
said Col. Craner. " I never saw him but it was the closest relationship I've
ever had.
For his military exploits, Col. Craner has won three Silver Stars, the
Legion of Merit, four Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts, the Distinguished
Flying Cross, eight Air Medals and the Air Force Commendation Medal.
=======================================
OCT 8 1980
Col. Robert Craner, was Vietnam prisoner of war
ARLINGTON, VA. - Full military honors were accorded at Arlington National
Cemetery today for Air Force Col. Robert R. Craner 47, the Vietnam Prisoner
of War - after whom the former Devlin Street Park in Cohoes is named.
Col. Craner died suddenly Friday at Arlington County Hospital in Arlington.
Col. Craner spent nearly six years in a P.O.W. camp after being shot down
while on a mission over North Viet Nam in Dec., 1967. The fighter pilot
with the 37th Tactical Flight Wing, PACAF, was released by Hanoi March 14,
1973. He returned to his hometown amidst much celebration a week later.
March 23, 1973, was declared "Lt. CoL Robert R. Craner Day" in Cohoes. A
motorcade met Colonel Craner and his family at Albany County Airport and
proceeded to City Hall for a ceremony, where he was presented a key to the
city and other honors. Children were released early from school to greet the
returned hero and posters and banners lined the streets.
In 1974, the former Devlin Street Park was renamed in his honor.
Col. Craner's numerous medals and awards, included two Purple Hearts, two
Silver Stars, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star. In
September, he received his most recent medal, the Defense Meritorius Service
Medal.
Last month, he returned from overseas to study languages in preparation for
his next appointment as Air Force air attache to Honduras. He was studying
Russian and Hungarian. Previously, he, was air attache in Budapest, Hungary.
Born in the Orchard section of Cohoes, he was the son of Grace R. Craner of
Cohoes and the late Alfred Craner. A 1950 graduate of Catholic Central High
School, he also attended the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and Arizona
State University in Tempe and received a degree from Holy Cross College,
where he majored in Russian Studies.
{note several words are illegible on the copy}
... in 1953 and received his navigator and pilot training through the
Aviation Cadet program. His military career included pilotihg F89 aircraft
in Labrador, F100s in France and Germany and serving as a weapons instructor
at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. It was during his second volunteer tour
in Southeast Asia that he was shot down. Survivors, in addition to his
mother, include his wife, a son and daughter, a brother, two sisters, and
several nieces and nephews.
A full military funeral was scheduled to be held at 2 p.m. today from Fort
Meyer Chapel. Internment was to be in Arlington National Cemetery.
Arrangements were handled by Chambers Funeral Home in Riverdale, District of
Columbia.
A memorial Mass will be offered...
The article is believed to be from a [Troy], New York Newspaper
===================================
Soldier's experience part of TV movie
By: Robert Cristo, The Record05/12/2005
COHOES - Twenty-five years after his death, the five years of brutal torture
city native Robert Craner endured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam will be
remembered as part of a television movie based on the life of fellow POW
Sen. John McCain.
The veteran Air Force pilot returned to Cohoes in 1973 to a hero's welcome.
Craner spent three of his five years as a POW in North Vietnam with McCain,
who recently completed his memoir "Faith of My Fathers" that includes
memories of Craner.
His return home surprised many friends and relatives who presumed he was
killed in action after being out of contact for so many years.
"It was such a big relief for us to find out he was alive and coming home,"
said Frank Colaruotolo, who was the president of the Cohoes Common Council
when Craner returned home in 1973.
Craner was given a parade, followed by other tributes, including the naming
of Craner Park in his honor and for all Americans who sacrificed their lives
to defend their country.
"He was a great, mild-mannered guy and a fine military man who was
celebrated when he came home," said Colaruotolo of Craner, who died in 1980
of a heart attack. "A fine example of someone who did things right,
sacrificed a lot, but sadly died too young after he came back."
Craner's F-100 fighter jet was shot down in 1967 while flying a mission over
North Vietnam.
He survived the crash but was quickly captured by the enemy and spent his
first three years as a POW in solitary confinement.
During his imprisonment, Craner spent three years in an isolation cell next
to one occupied by McCain. The two prisoners perfected a code to tap
messages to each other's cells and remained close friends until Craner died.
"He was presumed beaten, tortured and probably dead for seven years," said
Craner's great nephew Philip Sawyer, who owns Walk of Fame Video in Cohoes.
"I think a lot of people were inspired by how his enduring so much abuse was
a testament to the strength of the human spirit."
Sawyer, 37, only met Craner once during the Craner Park dedication when he
was 7 years old, but says the war hero definitely left an indelible
impression on him to this day.
"He was this really tall, nice man who rubbed my hair and gave me a bear
hug," said Sawyer. "For everything that he'd been through, he still was an
incredibly happy man who everyone loved."
When the movie airs, Sawyer plans to invite friends and family to a showing
on his projection television at the video store.
"We'll make a family night out of it. ... It's very significant to us so it
will be tough to watch," said Sawyer. "I know what happened over there, but
I'm guessing it will be difficult to visually see the abuse connected to him
(Craner)."
The movie, starring Shawn Hatosy (as McCain) and Joe Chrest (as Craner)
premieres on May 30 [2005] at 8 p.m. on the A&E Network.