Rohna Events

June 12, 2024 - COLUMBUS, GA - The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association is having their annual Rohna reunion for survivors and their families as well as the next-of-kin of Rohna casualties. The reunion will include visiting the Rohna memorial at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery in Seale, Alabama. The association is busy planning the reunion and details for the event will becoming out soon. CLICK HERE for updates and registration information.

November 25, 2023, There will be a special preview screening of the Rohna Classified documentary for Rohna families and the film’s supporters at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. The following Day, Sunday, the 26th at 12 noon, a commemorative ceremony honoring the casualty soldiers of the HMT Rohna is open to the public at Monument Square Park in New Brunswick, NJ. The gathering coincides with the 80th Anniversary of the November 26, 1943 attack on the HMT Rohna that was classified and forgotten. For more information email: RohnaClassified@gmail.com

November 3, 2023 at 12:15 PM Rotary Club - SEBASTOPOL, CA - The HMT Rohna-World War II’s Secret Tragedy by Cynthi Stefenoni. Cynthi will talk about the greatest disaster at sea / the loss of life in wartime / the sinking of His Majesty's Transport (HMT) Rohna on November 26, 1943. Cynthi's father was a survivor and was under a gag order for 50 years until 1993. It's an unknown story you won't want to miss. Cynthi will close with a song written and performed by Wood Newton country singer/songwriter. CLICK HERE for more information.

June 28, 2023 - HARRISBURG, PA - The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association is having their annual Rohna reunion for survivors and their families as well as the next-of-kin of Rohna casualties. The Rohna Classified team will give a presentation on the making of the documentary. The 2023 80th Anniversary Rohna Reunion will be held at the Red Lion Hotel in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in from June 28 - July 2nd. Please go to the Rohna Survivors website for details about the reunion as well as other Rohna related information. CLICK HERE for registration page.

December 16, 2022 - COLUMBIA, SC - Catherine Ladnier will tell the story of the Rohna at noon on Friday, Dec. 16, at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in Columbia. The program will be open to the public, and free. CLICK HERE for more information

June 8, 2022 - SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association is having their annual Rohna reunion for survivors and their families as well as the next-of-kin of Rohna casualties. The 2022 Rohna Reunion will be held at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah from June 8 - 12. Please go to the Rohna Survivors website for details about the reunion as well as other Rohna related information. CLICK HERE for registration page.

June 23, 2021 - VIRTUAL ZOOM REUNION - The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association is having their annual Rohna reunion for survivors and their families as well as the next-of-kin of Rohna casualties. The 2021 Rohna Reunion will be a virtual reunion held on Zoom on June 23rd. Please go to the Rohna Survivors website to register and receive the schedule for the day and the Zoom link to the reunion. CLICK HERE for registration page.

October 14, 2020, 7:00 pm - Jason Markiewitz and Michael Walsh will present a virtual lecture on the events surrounding the sinking of the HMT Rohna. The HMT Rohna was attacked and sunk while transporting troops in the Mediterranean. 1,138 men were killed of which 1,015 were U.S. personnel. The attack was the largest loss of U.S. troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident.  The virtual lecture can be seen on the AHCF YouTube Channel. CLICK HERE to watch the video.

MAY 21, 2020 - Army Heritage Center Webinar News from Home. Letters were the lifeline for the servicemen and women during World War II. Join Mary Owen and Catherine Ladnier as they share the letters received by their mothers from Soldiers serving over there. Mary Owen’s mother, actress Donna Reed, was America’s sweetheart. Eva Lee Brown, Catherine’s mother, was the devoted sister of a HMT Rohna survivor. Donna and Eva saved their letters. Mary and Catherine discovered their mother’s letters and decided the news from the boys over there should be shared.

CLICK HERE to watch the webinar.

NOVEMBER 20, 2019 - South River, NJ - A program feature "The HMT Rohna attack - It's time to tell the truth" as presented by filmmaker Jack Ballo. Joseph Pisinski, a WWII soldier from South River, will be included in Ballo's upcoming documentary, "Rohna: Classified." Pisinski was killed in the first radio-guided missile attack ever launched against the United States. The high tech missile sank the HMT Rohna, killing 1,015 U.S. soldiers. It became the largest loss of life at sea by enemy action in the history of U.S. war.

AUGUST 28, 2019 - In the darkness of the night and in bad weather the British troops ship Rohna sank after a 30 minute enemy air attack on November 26, 1943 off the coast of Algeria. Of the 1,981 U.S. Navy personnel aboard 1,015 were lost -including one who called Greenwich, Connecticut home. It would be many years before family members and the public would learn details about the mysterious circumstances of the Rohna disaster. Joining Host Jeffrey Bingham Mead in the 1490 WGCH studios were Greenwich resident and author Catherine Ladnier and John Dolan and Joe Weber of West Haven, Connecticut. Listen to the radio show on WGCH CLICK HERE for the interview.

JUNE 5, 2019 - VIRGINIA BEACH, VA - The devastating loss of 1,015 American troops remains the greatest loss of life at sea in United States history. Storyteller and playwright, Catherine Ladnier, niece of HMT Rohna survivor William George Brown, shares the story of this WW2 tragedy pieced together by survivors and their families. The evening will also include Rohna: Classified Filmmaker Jack Ballo. CLICK HERE for registration page.

JUNE 6, 2019 - VIRGINIA BEACH, VA - The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association is having their annual Rohna reunion for survivors and their families as well as the next-of-kin of the soldiers who were killed in the attack. The 2019 Rohna Reunion will be held in Virginia Beach, VA on June 6-9. Please go to the Rohna Survivors website for details about the reunion as well as other Rohna related information. CLICK HERE for registration page.

DECEMBER 2, 2018 WEST HAVEN, CT -- West Haveners will gather Sunday to pay respects to three local young men who died in the Rohna attack. Rohna: Classified producer and Rohna author Michael Walsh along with filmmaker Jack Ballo will be presenting the movie preview trailer. Playwright Catherine Ladnier will present segments of her radio play called "Apron Strings" made up of letters from her Uncle Bill, who survived the attack, describing the tragic day in letters he wrote home. Members of the Rohna Survivors Memorial Association will be attending. The informative event is open to the public and will be held at West Haven Veterans Museum & Learning Center, 30 Hood Terrace, Dec. 2nd at 1:30 p.m.

NOVEMBER 26, 2018 - HYDE PARK, NY -- On Monday, November 26, 2018 at 4:00 p.m., the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum will present  "Ordinary Americans," a program to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the HMT Rohna  -- the greatest loss of American lives at sea, due to enemy action. Catherine Ladnier, Jack and Barbara Ballo and John Dolan discovered their connection to the Rohna through the discovery of old letters and newspaper clippings. Jack Ballo and Michael Walsh will discuss and show scenes from their upcoming documentary Rohna: Classified. The event will be held in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home.