Private Ralph Dillard Herndon
United States Army, World War II – Killed In Action
182ND Infantry regiment – Americal Division
November 17, 2021 - Ralph Dillard Herndon was born in the Georgetown Community near Timpson, Shelby County, Texas during the Spring of 1921, March 24th. His parents Clara Belle Worsham and George D. Herndon also had nine other children; Savilla Belle, Lester Mae, Mildred, J. B. , George Randall, Emma Louise, Willie Harris, Edward Ray and Jane Elizabeth. Tragically brother J. B and sister Mildred both died in infancy. Father George was a merchant and operated what was generally considered a “General Store.”
Three days before Christmas, 1937, at the age of 55 George passed while in Dallas, Texas perhaps buying goods for the store. He was buried in the Blair Cemetery, Shelby County. Fortunately the family lived on a farm that was free of a mortgage and there were four sons of age to help.(1) Ralph known to family and friends as “Bill”, now age 19 asked Miss Annie Wylene Bridwell, age 18 for her hand in marriage and the Monday July 22, 1940 edition of the Timpson Daily Times reported the ceremony was performed the previous Saturday afternoon at the parsonage of the Christian Church with Rev. Jack Willett officiating.
With the Japanese sneak air attack on the US military installations at Pearl Harbor, Hickam and Wheeler Fields, Hawaii, the United States was once again fighting a world war, only this time on two fronts, Europe and the Pacific. On February 16, 1942 Ralph complied with the Selective Service Act of 1940 by registering for the military draft at Local Board # 1, Center, Shelby County, Texas. His Registration Card, D.S.S. Form 1 noted the following; Residence, Route # 3, Timpson; Age, 20; Employer, self-employed; Race, White; Description, five foot, ten inches tall, brown eyes, black hair and a dark complexion.(2)
Three months after his twenty-second birthday, June 18, 1944, Ralph was inducted into the US Army and sent to Camp Wolters, Texas for basic and infantry training. The camp was located four miles east of Mineral Wells, Texas and was an important infantry-replacement training center with a troop capacity that peaked at 24,973.(3) Graduating from training the Timpson Daily News of December 9, 1944 reported his arrival home to spend several days with his mother and other relatives. Following his furlough Ralph reported to Fort Ord on the Monterey Bay Peninsula of California for final infantry training before leaving the United States in late January 1945 to join the 182nd Infantry Regiment of the Americal Division. His new outfit had been in the Pacific since March 1942 and took part in the brutal Battle of Guadalcanal in November and had many war hardened veterans by the time Private Herndon and other replacements joined them.
On March 26, 1945 during Operation Victor II, Ralph and the 182 Regiment made an assault landing at Talisay Beach, four miles west of Cebu City, Philippines taking the city the next day. On March 28, Lahug Airfield, two miles northeast of Cebu was seized as the 182nd began to confront two heavily defended Japanese positions in the outpost line, capturing one on the same day. The 182nd Infantry continued its attack the following day, then the Japanese detonated an ammunition dump on the second hill, with the 182nd company sustaining fifty killed or wounded in the explosion. In the succeeding days, savage resistance continued in the Japanese lines around the city. As the Americal Division grimly assaulted individual positions with tank-infantry teams and with crucial fire support from offshore Seventh Fleet destroyers, the Japanese slowly gave ground.(4) It was during this intense fighting that Private Ralph Dillard Herndon, serial # 38688780 was killed in action on April 8, 1945 at the age of 24. The Timpson Daily Times Newspaper, May 4, 1945 reported that Ralph’s wife Wylene had been notified on his death by the War Department, Washington D. C. His comrades would continue the fight until the formal Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. The 182nd then boarded ship from Cebu for occupation duty in Japan.
The Timpson Daily Times, May 9, 1945 printed a tribute “In memory of Ralph (Bill) Herndon. Our heads are bowed in grief over the loss of one of our boys, Bill Herndon. This is the first war casualty in the Blair Community and it came as a great shock to us all. We want to say that Bill was one of the finest boys that our community ever boasted. As a child and all through his youth he was always kind and ready to help someone and when his country called in into service he went bravely and gladly and gave to the last full measure. We are honored to claim him as one of our own. And to the family we can say: Be proud that you had a son, a husband and a brother like Bill… a Friend.”
In the days that followed many American families had to make what was no doubt an extremely tough and heart wrenching decision. To leave their loved ones buried with their comrades in permanent American military cemeteries established on land donated by liberated countries or bring the remains of their loved ones back to the United States and either re-bury them in a local cemetery or in one of the many national cemeteries (such as Arlington) around the country. Beginning in 1947, a program for the repatriation of bodies was initiated and families were given the choice. Ralph’s family wanted him brought home as did 60% of other families facing the same decision. With documentation of the families wishes in hand the process began but it did not happen overnight as the return of over 171,000 war dead was a massive undertaking.
The Friday, October 1, 1948 edition of the Timpson Daily Times newspaper reported “The body of Pvt. Ralph D. (Bill) Herndon arrived in Timpson Tuesday morning [September 28] accompanied by a military escort. A large group of friends and relatives gathered at the Southern Pacific station when the body arrived. Reburial services were conducted at the Blair Church Wednesday afternoon at 3 o’clock with rites being conducted by Rev. D. J. Collins and Rev. Horace Magness. The Timpson Post of the American Legion participated in the service, the body being laid to rest in the Blair Cemetery with Military Honors. Pvt. Herndon is survived by; his mother, Mrs. George D. [Clara] Herndon; his wife, Mrs. Wylene Herndon; three brothers, George R. Herndon, W. H. Herndon and Edward A. Herndon; four sisters, Mrs. Felix Askins, Mrs. Charles Corry, Mrs. Buford Frederick [Emma] and Miss Jane Herndon”. On December 8, 1948 wife Wylene made application for his Veteran Headstone choosing a flat granite marker with a Christian emblem. Day is done, God is nigh. “That these dead shall not have died in vain”…..Abraham Lincoln.
Epilogue: Wife Annie Wylene remarried Glenn Robert Simpson in 1955 and passed at the age of 54 in 1968. Brothers George Randall and Willie Harris both served during WW II and survived although George was wounded in action.
Combat Infantryman Badge – Purple Heart – Army Good Conduct Medal – American Campaign Medal – Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with Arrowhead and Bronze Service Star – World War II Victory Medal – Philippine Liberation Medal - Americal Infantry Division Insignia – Philippine Presidential Unit Citation – 182 Infantry Regiment Insignia.
References:
(1) Year: 1940; Census Place: Shelby, Texas; Roll: m-t0627-04136; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 210-22
(2) The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Texas, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 679
(3) “TSHA | Fort Wolters.” Accessed April 9, 2021. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/fort-wolters
(4) “182nd Infantry Regiment (United States).” In Wikipedia, April 8, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=182nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)&oldid=1016699162
