Robert Ide Platenberg was born on 7 June 1930 in Pasadena California.  His father Herman Platenberg was a wealthy businessman selling steel to the Navy for ship building.  Herman unfortunately like many, lost his money in the depression and subsequently became a salesman for a pipe and valve company developing a patent for an oil pump valve. He always dressed so well, including wearing a homegrown rose in his lapel.  Grandpa Herm would give the boys a crisp dollar bill when they visited, to the point that, some of the boys thought he was a banker.  He married later in life to Winifred Davie who was a descendent of the Doane family, charter members of the Barons of the Magna Carta.  Bob was a lineal descendant of the Doanes and was enrolled as a member in the Somerset Chapter Magna Charta Barons.    Bob had an older sister Gloria Madeline and together they grew up in the palm tree lined streets and manicured lawns of Southern Pasadena.  Bob was a good student in school however his special gifts and talents centered around sports.  He began playing catch with his father at an early age tossing the ball after Herman came home from work as a regular routine.  Bob would play catch even during times when he would rather be riding his bike with his friends.  Bob's talent in baseball culminated in a 480 batting average in his senior year at South Pasadena high school, which is a record that probably stands to this day.  Bob played football too and this was the sport he chose to play in college.  Bob also boxed and was a Golden Gloves Champion in southern California.  Like many other southern California young men, Bob surfed and water skied.  Once while hanging out with his friends, they decided to go out to Catalina Island.  They hitched a ride back with some acquaintances they met on Catalina who had water skis on their boat.  Bob volunteered to ski for a bit, however the people on the boat got involved chatting with each other and paid no attention to Bob.  His friends never stopped and Bob skied from Catalina back to the mainland, about 20 miles.

Herman offered to send Bob to college and pay all of his expenses as long as Bob went to Saint Josephs College in Iowa.  Herman was a devout Catholic in his adulthood and favored the Jesuit style of education for Bob.  Bob chose to go and play football at Oregon State College as a scholarship athlete working in a movie theater and using his summer savings to pay for college.  At the end of Bob's first-year the coach reprimanded the players for a less than stellar season singling out all the scholarship athletes for criticism. Bob did not trust this coach's ability to evaluate players and lead a team so he transferred to Willamette University where he continued to play football under scholarship and act as an assistant coach to help defray his tuition.  During a subsequent game against his old school OSC, the OSC coach complained to his team after the game, that they should have a guy playing like Platenberg did, wishing that they had someone like him on their team.  He was not even aware that OSC did have Bob the previous year.  One of the position coaches came into the Willamette team locker room later to let Bob know the story.   He became a division 2 All-American at Willamette.  His football team was so successful his senior year, they had the opportunity to play in a football tournament in Hawaii.  He was going to miss his economics class for over 1 week so he asked the pretty girl sitting next to him if he could review her notes when he came back from his week away.  Dona Mears subsequently tutored Bob in economics when he returned starting a relationship that budded into marriage.

Bob was very active in the Air Force ROTC program and upon graduation he earned a second lieutenant's commission in the United States Air Force.   His first assignment was at introductory flight school in Hondo Texas.  Hondo is famous for having a sign on MainStreet that says "This is Hondo Texas, don't drive through it like hell" on both sides of the sign. He passed the introductory flight program and then went to Undergraduate Pilot Training earning his pilot wings at Laredo AFB, Texas.   After flight school, Bob was assigned to an F-86 squadron based out of Manston Royal Air Force Station in Kent, England.  He had many friends from that time including Gerald and Ruth Naber.  Both Craig and Erik were born in England and as a result, both became naturalized citizens later in childhood to a avoid becoming drafted into the Queens Own Guard as teenagers.  During a training mission flying over Sicily, Bob was part of a 4 ship flight exercise.  An accident had occurred on the runway and emergency vehicles were blocking access to land.  Bobs flight leader directed 2 aircraft to eventually land when it was safe and was directing Bob to go next.  Bob knew that his leader was on fumes and told him to bring his aircraft down and that he would follow.  This selfless act caused Bob to run out of fuel and he had to eject from his aircraft instantly becoming a member of the Caterpillar Club earned by an aircrew member who successfully bailed out of a damaged aircraft coming down under a silk canopy.   He wore the tiny gold Caterpillar Pin on his hat as a prized possession.  Bob sustained a vertebral compression fracture either at the time of ejection or when he landed in a farmer's field on the island of Sicily.  Some excited Sicilian farmer's placed Bob in the back of a vegetable truck and drove him over rutted dirt farm roads to the nearest military base.  He spent over 6 weeks in a full body cast recovering from this injury which left a fingerprint on his spine that frequently revisited him especially in his later years.

Bob's next active duty assignment was at George Air Force Base in Victorville California in the Mohave desert, where he flew the F-102 and F-106, Delta wing intercept aircraft.  He subsequently was an instructor pilot and flight commander.  Michael was born during this time, however mom went to Roseburg Oregon, to be with her mother for the delivery since Bob was away on TDY.  The family occasionally visited their cousins Anne, John and Jim in southern California and went to Disneyland on a number of occasions.  Erik and Craig used to angle for the "E" ride tickets because they were most thrilling.  Jeff was born at the end of the time in Victorville.  The kids also visited their Oregon based cousins Doug, Connie, Tom and Cheryl Wold as well.  The next assignment was at Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the Air Defense Command Headquarters.  Bob flew the F-106 and helped develop a high-altitude flight suit for aircrews involved in bomber intercepts during the height of the cold war.  He also was on the inspection team evaluating F-106 fighter units.  During one training mission, Bob noticed a radar contact flying at an incomprehensible rate of speed at 80,000 feet. At that time, there was no aircraft that could travel over Mach 2 or at that altitude.  His aircraft was not capable of following this object.  He dutifully reported his observations to his Commander at base operations after his flight and was immediately sequestered in a side room.  It was at that time that he was told the event he witnessed was one of the first flights of the mysterious and secretive SR-71 Blackbird.

Bob's next assignment was radically different than the brisk, snow filled winters of Colorado Springs.  He was transferred to Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City Florida entering the Air Defense Commands Weapons Center serving as an F-106 test project officer.  In the Florida Panhandle, in the summer time, when you walked out of the air-conditioned house it was like being hit in the face with a hot wet towel.  Bob was a general's aid and flew the F-106.  He enjoyed fishing and crabbing and refereeing the kid's baseball games.  Bob's version of crabbing was standing in waist deep water wearing flip-flops on his feet and holding a bucket.  He would step on a crab, reach down and grab the back flippers and toss the crab in the bucket.  During one fishing trip on a friend's small boat, a 5 pound sand shark was caught.  On the dock, while the fish were being cleaned, questions were asked about what to do with the shark.  Dad skinned a part of the shark and ate a bite- sushi style declaring it too salty to keep.  Erik and Craig gingerly dumped it off the dock for the crab's below.  Only in later years did Craig and Erik realize that the Mahi mahi caught was reserved for Bob and Dona while the boys were served Spanish mackerel.  Mike would follow Erik and Craig wherever they went and earned the nickname "me too".  Mike was his own man at an early age being independent, care free and always happy.

The family moved to Wiesbaden Germany where Bob was a member of the U.S. Air Forces Europe-USAFE headquarters, at Lindsey Air Station.  In 1948, Lindsey Air Station was the hub supporting the Berlin Airlift from Wiesbaden to Tempelhof Airport in West Berlin.   Bob flew the F-106 and the Lockheed C-140 JetStar which was an executive transport aircraft. He was assigned to the Fighter Branch and flew with the 496 ^th Fighter squadron at Hahn, AFB.   Imitating the drama of the Berlin Airlift, Bob flew into Tempelhof Airport on more than one occasion.  The family lived on the Germany economy for 3 months before moving into base housing.  Everyone has fond memories of traveling throughout Germany to sites along the Rhine and Mosel Rivers, Oberamergau, German castles of King Ludwig and throughout the German countryside.  Bob became a fan of the local German beer.  A truck would appear in the base housing area every week to collect the reusable beer bottles and the boys would be given 1 Deutsch Mark for a crate of bottles.  This was a happy arrangement for Bob and the boys.  Craig and Erik were able to accompany Dona and her sister on a trip to Italy.  The family took trips to Luxemberg and the Boy Scouts took trips to Belgium and Switzerland.  Once or twice a week an elderly woman named Elsa would come to the quarters to assist with cleaning and making meals.  Elsa took such a shine to Jeff, just like Capt. Cramer's family in Florida who considered Jeff like a child of their own.   Scott was born in Germany.  He slept in Craig's room and the 3 middle boys slept in a triple bunkbed in the second room.  As a baby, Scott toddled over and sampled some beer left in a glass on an end table before being stopped.  He went to bed early that evening and a couple hours later cried out in his sleep.  Bob and Craig arrived at the bedroom door at the same time and both squeezed through the door frame saying "that's my baby, no that's my baby".

After 3 years in Germany, the family located to Norfolk Virginia at the United States Armed Forces Staff College for a 6-month staff school.  The boys were able to convince their parents that the 4 of them should have the master bedroom, the smallest bedroom, a glorified closet, for Scott's crib and they could have the average size bedroom.  The boys would jump from the triple bunkbed onto the adjacent single bed whenever their parents were not looking.  Bob took the boys on tours of the USS Missouri, CV-65, Enterprise, diesel and nuclear submarines and the Norfolk Navy yard.  This short time in Tidewater Virginia was followed by a return trip to George Air Force Base in Victorville California where Bob trained in the F4 Phantom II.  The aircraft that Bob trained in was the F4 E model with a 20 mm canon in the nose.  Bob excelled at dropping ordinance from his aircraft.  This led to his next assignment where he was stationed at Ubon Air Force Base in Thailand as a member of the Eight Tactical Fighter wing, Asam Dragons, serving with the 25 ^th Tactical Fighter Squadron.  Bob flew 196 missions many of which were dropping audio sensors along the Ho Chi Minh Trail to track nighttime troop movements. Twenty-four of his missions were over North Vietnam. His mom Winnie and his aunt Francis would pray for Bob's safety repeatedly during his tour in Vietnam.  Bob recalled one mission in particular when he began to receive incoming fire from his right while travelling through a valley fortified by the enemy.  Instead of pulling up as most pilot's would do, he pushed the stick forward and brushed the belly of his F-4E on the 10 foot high grass on the valley floor travelling at over 590 miles per hour.  Needless to say, his back seater nearly lost his mind.  The aircraft following Bob pulled up however, and was hit by the gun emplacement positioned at a higher level further down the valley in anticipation of most pilot's instincts.  When he returned safely to base, he remarked that he felt the presence of a higher power and that his mom put a "whammy on me".   Thank you, Winnie and Francis!  During this time, he also spent one month as the Seventh Air Force liaison officer to the Navy, stationed in the Tonkin Gulf and had back seat rides of 10 catapult launches and carrier landings including aboard CV-64, the USS Constellation.  When Bob's tour of duty in Vietnam was completed, he was sent to Northern Virginia where Bob spent some less than satisfying years flying a desk in the Pentagon as part of the office of Joint Chiefs of Staff.  It was during this time that he and Dona divorced.   Bob was able to attend a number of Scotts high school soccer games many times arriving unannounced.  On one such occasion, Scott was diving to score a goal and collided with the goal keeper, temporarily knocked unconscious.  When he came to, lying on his back on the ground, he looked up and saw Bob looking down at him.  Scotts first thought was wondering how many games Bob came to watch when Scott didn't know he was there.  When Mike heard this story, he added that mid-way through the freshman football season Mike saw Bob in the stands and yelled from the field for him to wait up.  Mike went into the stands and chatted thanking dad for coming to his game.  Dad replied, "I've been to all of them".

During his posting at the Pentagon, Bob became reacquainted with a dear friend from the past, Ruth Naber, who had also recently divorced.  Ruth and Bob reconnected and kindled a relationship that lasted over 45 years of marriage.  Bob frequently called Ruthie the love of his life and together they finished Bob's career in the Air Force, moved to Haymarket Virginia and played golf daily.  But that is jumping ahead in the story.  Bob and Ruth's first assignment was to the Military Assistance and Advisory Group, MAAG in Taipei, Taiwan where he was the Chief of Operations and Training.  Maryann lived in Taipei for some time and Craig visited twice. Bob played a game of racquetball with Craig in the Taiwan heat of the mid afternoon.  Craig thought that since he was a junior at the USAF Academy, had played racquetball in PE and was in pretty great shape, that he would easily beat dad- even feeling bad for Bob before the game started.  Unfortunately for Craig, he lost 3 out of 3 games.  Never underestimate Bob when sports are on the line!   Bob and Ruth absorbed the culture of Taiwan and travelled throughout the region.  Their next assignment was to Royal Air Force Lakenheath where he served as the base commander and vice wing commander.  He flew the FB-111 at Lakenheath and was instrumental in confirming a terrain following radar anomaly that was subsequently corrected.  Bob and Ruth travelled around the East Anglia countryside soaking in the English life that was similar to how their Air Force experience had started.  Bob was reassigned to Washington D.C. and worked for his remaining years in the Air Force at the Pentagon including work at the Alternate Joint Communications Center, Site R.

Bob retired to Haymarket where he and Ruth remodeled their dream house on the golf course of Evergreeen Country club.  Bob was involved in the operations of the golf course as secretary for 18 years and golfed virtually every day carrying his own bag until his abused spine made it impossible. Bob enjoyed Evergreen Country club, golfing and spending his days with Ruth.  Jeff lived in the guest house for a short time and was able to assist Bob with projects in the yard and around the house.  One fond memory Jeff has is helping bring in wood cut for the fire.  Jeff learned how to properly brush off the logs before being allowed in the wood basket near the fireplace.    Maryann was a constant source of enjoyment and companionship to Ruth and Bob.   She skiing with them at their time-share in Vail every year and Bob loved skiing with her.  Bob skied, even with prosthetic knees, until he couldn't get himself up off of the snow when he fell, long after most men would have hung up their skies for good.  Maryann was the daughter that Bob had never had.  When Gregg entered their lives, he immediately became Bob's 6 ^th son, spending time with Bob and Ruth at their home on Quarters Lane, going out to restaurants and occasionally enjoying a wee dram of, what in Scottish Gaelic is called, usquebaugh, the water of life.   As is true for all of us, Bob's body began to betray him.  He fought gamely against the steady creep of time as was his nature. Erik visited frequently during these last days on Quarters lane always bringing his girls to spend time with Bob. Of all the brothers, Erik inquired the most about Bob's past.  With his sharp memory, he has become the family archive and is the source for most of the details for this memorium.  It wasn't until Bob began to have difficulty with his speech and then his memory that he and Ruth realized that they had to leave their cherished home on the golf course.  Waltonwoods Memory care and Independent living Center became their next assignment.  After Bob's initial reluctance, he quickly settled in and made friends with the staff and residents of the Memory Care unit.  The quality of care Bob received from the care takers, medical staff and management was first class.  He was called Colonel Bob and shared an alcove with another Colonel from the US Army also named Bob.  This made for interesting repeated surprised and jovial introductions to one another.  Bob went on Hospice care at the recommendation of the attentive staff who knew that he was declining towards the end.  Ruth and others were able to visit on Wednesday May 6 ^th which was the first day he had medication from the Hospice Comfort pack.   He passed peacefully that evening.

High Flight
"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds -
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -
wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.

"Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God."

By John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

The way Bob lived his life reflected great credit upon himself, his family and friends.   His actions distinguished him from his peers and served as an example for devotion to duty, honor and country.  His self-discipline, humble nature, highly developed sense of what is right and love for Ruth were some of his best qualities.  His memory lives on in his loving wife, sons, daughter, niece and nephews, their spouses as well as his 15 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.  Colonel Robert Ide Platenberg USAF ret has successfully completed his mission and fought the final good fight.  Col Bob, out.