The odds are extremely remote that anyone who served with your grandfather during World War II is still living and reading this message board. Nonetheless, you never know ...
I have been able to find crew rosters that include your grandfather, for five of the voyages of two of the ships you identify, THOMAS B. ROBERTSON and THOMAS U. WALTER. I searched the subscription website Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com) to obtain this information. Ancestry.com is more commonly used for genealogical research, but the site has databases containing names of passengers and crewmen aboard ships that entered certain U.S. ports up until about 1957. I do not have information about shipmates of your grandfather aboard USS RAIL.
I am going to guess that your grandfather is named Charles Irwin Killeen, Jr., gunners mate 3rd class (GM 3/c), serial number 611-58-12, since that name is the only one that appears consistently in the Armed Guard crew lists below. However, I have no information on whether any of the other men listed below are still living, nor would I have contact information for any who are living, with several possible exceptions.
For the more unusual names listed below you may wish to research the Social Security Death Index (http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com) to attempt to identify shipmates who are already deceased, and research online telephone directories, such as White Pages (http://www.whitepages.com/), for any names not found in the Social Security Death Index. Searches for more common names are meaningless since so many individuals share the same name.
Armed Guard crew lists:
THOMAS B. ROBERTSON, arriving New York, February 28, 1943; departed Liverpool, England, February 11, 1943
Larry Bagwell
William Bailey
Henry Bliss
Joseph Cusick
Herbert Feipel
Walter Fitzgerald
William Gillespie
Earl Green
George Hollon
Charles Killeen
John Kirkpatrick
Anthony Kranz
Casimir Koza
George Kubinski
Clyde Pugh
George Schafer
Anthony Storto
Paul Watts
THOMAS B. ROBERTSON, arriving New York, May 26, 1943; departed Algiers, Algeria, May 5, 1943
Kearnan F Aldrich
Raymond W Bernier
Clifford J Blake
Francis J Boyle
Kenneth G Breau
Peter Budnick
Clarence W Burton
John J Callahan
George S Capuano
Joseph R Cusick
William D Gillespie
Charles V Gochenauer
William L Graves
Earl William Green
Joseph L Gunkel *
Milton D Harm
Daniel S Howard ENS, Armed Guard commanding officer
Charles I Killeen
Casimir Koza
Anthony R Kranz
Amedee Lapointe
Riley C Liford
Buford R Metcalf
Clyde R Pugh
William P Smith
Henry S Szelangowski
Eugene W Tyndle
William N Witt
THOMAS U. WALTER, arriving New York October 27, 1943; departed Alexandria, Egypt, September 29, 1943
Leon Martin Albert Jr.
John William Avery
Richard Cornelius Carroll
Gerald Everett Critchfield
Delbert Lee Dewitt
Woodrow Wilson Durden
Terrence Filbert Ferrell
Frank Joseph Fink
Edward Cuyler Freer
Andrew George Gerleck Jr. *
Warren Read Goodwin
Harold Earl Hine
Fred Lincoln Jones
Roland Keene ENS, Armed Guard commanding officer
Lowell Edward Kendley *
Charles Irvin Killeen Jr.
Harry Edward King
Raymond Fidel Lavin
Everett Emeral Long
Mervin Edward Looker
George Henry Melton
Michael John Rausch
Frederick Clark Moor
Raymond Maximillian Nelson
George Raymond Rodrique
John Hurdman Ross
Melvin David Rubin
Franklyn Valmore Ruggles
THOMAS U. WALTER, arriving New York May 18, 1944; departed Manchester, England, May 4, 1944
Albert Victor Belardinelli
Raymond Sewell Bell
Charles Millard Bowley
Sylvester John Brogan
Robert Evans Brotherson
Steve Stauros Capellos
Otto Anthony Cardinale
Ervin Edward Carlson
Erskel Eric Cox
Amos Arthur Crandall
Gerald Everett Critchfield
Joseph Louis D'Arrigo
Leslie John Davis
Clement Denis
Terrance Filbert Ferrell
Frank Oliver Hawkins
Arnold Herman Helbig
Frederick Francis Higgins
Charles Irwin Killeen Jr.
Robert Longest
George Henry Melton
Edmond Charles New
Michael John Rausch
Bruce Daniel Stotts
John Howard Swoger
William Walter Willard
Thomas Harkins Wingate LT(jg), Armed Guard commanding officer
THOMAS U. WALTER, arriving New York July 18, 1944; departed Gourock, Scotland, July 3, 1944
Albert Victor Belardinelli
Raymond Sewell Bell
Charles Millard Bowley
Robert Evans Brotherson *
Edward Buckley
Steve Staures Capellos
Otto Anthony Cardinale
Ervin Edward Carlson
Erskel Eric Cox
Amos Arthur Crandall
Gerald Everett Critchfield
Joseph Louis D'Arrigo
Leslie John Davis
Clement Denis
Terrance Filbert Ferrell
Willie Herman Franks
Frank Oliver Hawkins
Frederick Francis Higgins
Charles Irwin Killeen Jr
Robert Longest
George Henry Melton
Harold Gerard Miller
Edmond Charles New
Michael John Rausch
Bruce Daniel Stotts
John Howard Swoger
Thomas Harkins Wingate LT(jg), Armed Guard commanding officer
* These are persons for which I possibly found a match and who MAY therefore still be living. I will send contact information to your personal e-mail address, as I am reluctant to post contact information on a public message board without the consent of the individual(s) involved.
For sources of photographs of either of the two ships noted above aboard which your grandfather served, see http://www.usmm.org/photosource.html. Mr. Hultgren is a particularly good source for Liberty ships, and both THOMAS B. ROBERTSON and THOMAS U. WALTER were Liberty ships. Mr. Hultgren is quite elderly but at last report was still actively managing his collection. For photographs of USS RAIL, see http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02026.htm.
Best wishes.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
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