Private First-Class Rayford Harold Ceal
United States Army – Killed in Action
24 Infantry Division, 21 Infantry Regiment
March 29, 2021- Rayford Harold Ceal was born in Tipton, Oklahoma, a small town in the western part of Tillman County on May 4, 1921. He was the youngest child born to Nora Elizabeth “Lizzie” Hunt and Wesley Denton Ceal. His older siblings were Clydell Lillian, James Hubert, Herbert V. and Wylma Giline. His parents were from Nacogdoches, Texas and were married there in 1902 before moving to Oklahoma in 1919. Rayford was four years old in 1925 when his mother Lizzie died at the family farm, they rented in Live Oak County, Texas. She was laid to rest in the local Oakville Cemetery. In 1934 father Wesley moved the family to Timpson, Shelby County, Texas. At age 19 in 1940, Rayford had a seventh-grade education that was typical for the times and was working sixty-hour weeks as a log cutter in a local sawmill. This employment earned him $300.00 in 1939 ($5,700.00 today) and kept him busy 52 weeks of the year. (1)
With the surprise attack on December 7, 1941 by Japanese military forces on the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the United States found itself once again embroiled in a world war. On February 16, 1942 at the age of 20, Rayford registered for the military draft at Local Board # 1, Center, Texas as required by the Selecting Service Act of 1940. On the D.S.S. Form 1 he showed his place of residence to be Route 3, Timpson and self-employed. He was six foot tall and weighed 156 pounds with blue eyes, brown hair and was light complexed. (2)
Six months later on August 13, 1942, Rayford and other inductees took the oath of enlistment in Tyler, Texas and traveled the 180 miles by train to Camp Wolters just outside of the city of Mineral Wells to begin basic training. After completing approximately thirteen weeks of basic and infantry training, Private Rayford Cele, serial # 38199795 was assigned as an infantryman with Canon Company, 21 Infantry Regiment, 24 Infantry Division. In January 1943 he joined his unit in Hawaii where they guarded the north shores of the island. In May the division underwent combat training and departed for Australia. On April 22, Rayford and the 21 Infantry conducted an amphibious landing at Tanahmerah Bay on the north coast of new Guinea and overran the airfields that were defended by Japanese troops. The regiment remained there until the fall of 1944. The regiment’s Canon Company supported the Eleventh Airborne Division during it drive on Manila in the Battle of Luzon that lasted from January 9 to August 15, 1945. For its fire support of the division, it was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. During this fighting Private First-Class Rayford Harold Ceal was killed in action on February 7, 1945 at the age of 23. His comrades of the regiment and division would fight on until the Japanese surrender, September 2, 1945 and then take up occupation duties in Japan.(3) His military decorations included the Combat Infantryman Badge, Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with arrowhead (amphibious assault landing) and two campaign bronze stars, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation and the Army Presidential Unit Citation.
The March 14, 1945 edition of the Timpson Daily Times reported that Rayford’s father, Wesley received a message from the War Department reporting his son had been killed in action on February 7 in the Philippine Islands. The tragic news was received while he was visiting another son, Herbert at Beeville.
Following the end of World War II of which more than 405,300 Americans died, families were offered burial options. They could choose burial in an overseas military cemetery or bring the remains of their loved one home to the United States for burial in a cemetery of their choice. Father Wesley chose the latter as did approximately 60% of other families facing the same decision. (4) It was an enormous undertaking and did not happen overnight.
On September 22, 1948, the Army Transport Sergeant Morris Crain arrived in San Francisco, California with the remains of 3,536 Americans who lost their lives in the Pacific Theater. PFC Rayford H. Ceal and another Shelby County soldier, Sergeant Vernon B. Walters were on board. The ship docked at Oakland and his remains were then unloaded and moved to a rail classification yard to await train departure. An armed guard companied the remains at each step. Rayford’s body was then shipped with military escort to Live Oak County, Texas for reburial services. (5) Father Wesley made application for his veteran headstone on January 14, 1949. Day is done, God is nigh.
“That these dead shall not have died in vain” ... Abraham Lincoln
References:
(1) Source Information Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
(2) Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
(3) “21st Infantry Regiment (United States).” In Wikipedia, January 28, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=21st_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)&oldid=1003364607.
(4) General Information. Accessed February 6, 2021. https://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/publications/NCA_America_WWII_Burial_Program
(5) Newspapers.com. “22 Sep 1948, 8 - The Marshall News Messenger at Newspapers.Com.” Accessed February 11, 2021. http://www.newspapers.com/image/353816868/?terms=%22Rayford%20Ceal%22&match=1
