Humboldt Hero, Petty Officer Third Class Robert E. Bartley

Press release from Scott Hammond Insurance:

[The public honored our June 2026 Humboldt Hero, Petty Officer Third Class Robert E. Bartley at noon today, Friday, June 26th. A short ceremony was held] on the corner of 7th and G Streets in Eureka to show our gratitude for his service to his country and community.

Bob was born on May 10, 1952 in Ashland, Ohio.  His parents moved to Texas when he was a couple of years old, and from there they moved to Santa Rosa, California. His uncle had started a pump business in Santa Rosa and Bob’s dad had moved there to be his partner.

During high school, when Bob wrecked his car at age 17, his father told him that he wouldn’t be getting another car.  So, he looked into joining the armed forces.  Since he’d always liked ships and because North Vietnam didn’t have a very good navy, he chose to join the Navy.  Bob graduated in June 1970 and was in boot camp by July.  

Bob joined the Seabees, which is the nickname for Naval Construction Battalions, and enjoyed the fact that they worked with the Marines about 90% of the time.  

Although Bob ran over half the cones in his navy driving test, he was still chosen to be a heavy equipment operator.  He attended A School in Oxnard, California.  “A School” stands for Accession School, where you are taught the fundamentals and skills needed to perform your assigned duties effectively during your first tour.  He remembers 13-hour bus trips home to Santa Rosa from Oxnard on weekends during A School.

In early 1971, Bob was transferred to US Mobile construction battalion 40, home ported out of Davisville, Rhode Island.  They were deployed to the Chagos island chain that is located 7 degrees south of the equator in the Indian Ocean.  Britian controls this territory.  Bob’s battalion was the pioneer battalion that established Diego Garcia.  When they arrived, there was nothing but jungle, rocks, flies, and heat.  There were a few Naval gun long cannons that Britain had used there in 1942, but by 1971, they were rusted statues.  It took five days for Bob’s battalion to be transported by ship from the Cocos Islands to Diego Garcia.  It was the only time that he was on a ship during his time with the Navy, and unfortunately, he was seasick the entire time.  

Diego Garcia Plywood Palace

His battalion lived in tents until they built wooden hooches for themselves that they called Plywood Palaces.  They carved an airstrip out of the jungle, and almost as soon as it was built, Bob Hope used that to land there and put on a USO show for them. Bob’s other deployments were to Subic Bay, the Phillipines, to repair structures on the base there after a typhoon came through, and to Signolla, Sicily in 1973 to construct an anti-terrorist barrier around a NATO atomic stockpile during a conflict between the Arabs and Israel.  

Diego Garcia

With his last bit of earned leave, Bob came back to Santa Rosa and went to Treasure Island to get discharged.  After his honorable discharge, Bob went to work for his dad and uncle at Bartley Pump.    They provided frost protection systems for vineyards in the 1960s, and it was a great time to do that sort of work.  Bob married his first wife, and they moved to Ohio for him to be technically training in pumps as a Mechanical Engineer.  After their divorce, Bob realized how much he didn’t like winter weather, and he moved back to Santa Rosa about 1981.  

Bob started his own pump business, Bob Bartley Pump, and worked for 36 years with other engineers to upgrade wastewater systems for vineyards.  

Bob married Jeanette, and she worked alongside him as the President of their business. They have been married for 37 years now.  They bought a house in Kelseyville and then moved near Lakeport, living right on the lake.  They enjoyed living there for 30 years and playing on a lot of boats.  Bob’s son Bobby and his stepson Robert grew up together. 

Bob used to own a 42 Willy Jeep that had a 50-caliber browning machine gun mounted on it.  He hooked it up to a propane tank so that it would sound as if it was actually shooting, and lots of people loved that truck.  It’s now in the museum at the Joy Maderious Veterans Museum in Lakeport.  

Jeannette and Bob sold their business three years ago and moved to Humboldt County only a year and a half ago.  They’ve been attending the Elks Crab Feed for years.  They now live on Humboldt Hill with a nice view of the bay.  They used to really enjoy golfing together before their knees got bad.  They love the weather, the people, and the small-town life of Eureka.

We are honored to have Bob and Jeannette call our community their home, and we thank Bob for his dedicated service to our country!