I noted previously that I feel those who gave their lives during wartime conflicts should never be forgotten and I choose to remember them, not only in private remembrances but also during such times as Memorial Day.
This week I remember Capt. Ralph Richard Jones, a 1938 Cardington HIgh School graduate and a 1942 Ohio State University alumnus. He transferred from field artillery to the Air Force in April, 1943 and was commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduation from Ohio State.
He received his wings as a pilot on Dec. 5, 1943 at Stuttgart, Ark. Capt. Jones was shot down January 2, 1945 near Nuremburg, Germany.
He was on his 25th mission from an Eighth Army Air Force base in England and had gone overseas in June, 1944. His body was one of 5,238 Americans who lost their lives during World War II that was aboard the Army Transport, Haiti Victory which docked in New York City.
His body was temporarily interred near Nuremburg, Germany and later re-interred in two military cemeteries before being returned to the United States.
He was the second Cardington Army man and the third from Morrow County to be interred n Arlington. The body of Lt. Col Ralph Lowther, killed during the Battle of the Bulge was interred in the cemetery April 22 and Capt. Richard Miracle of Mount Gilead, shot down on Christmas Day, 1944, while piloting an A-20 bomber, was buried in Arlington earlier.
Jones was a member of the Cardington Methodist Church and was an active Eagle Scout during his youthful years. His parents were Frank Jones and Morris Jones and he had one sister, Johannah Peyton of Hawaii.
The first Morrow Countian to die in Korea was Cpl. Marion Richard Doty, 20, of Mount Gilead. He was killed in action Nov. 6, 1950. Cpl. Doty graduated from Mount Gilead HIgh School in 1948. He enlisted Feb. 21, 1950 and had been in the service only nine months and 17 days.
He was serving with the Intelligence Corps and had been in Korea only a few months. He was employed at Westinghouse and operated an Edison restaurant for a short time.
Capt. Doty was the second son of Mrs. Doty to give his life to his country on foreign soil. A brother, John Ogle, was killed in action an Anzio Beach, Italy, in World War II. The brothers are buried in Fulton Cemetery.
I salute these men who gave up their young lives so we can live in freedom today — and I can write this column. May they each rest in peace.
Information for this piece was obtained from the Morrow County Sentinel and the Union Register.
70 years ago: Cardington students placing in the state-district scholarship team tests were Martha Kanable, Carolyn Patterson, Dwight Bean, Nancy Richey and Rosanna Thomas. Cardington High School student council members named for 1949-50 were Leroy Bennett, Evelyn Fricke, Carolyn Patterson, Rollie Harris, Shirley Pearl, Roger Davis, Frank Curl and Charlotte Patterson.
60 years ago: An overloaded semi-truck, filled with asphalt for the I-71 construction project in Morrow County, collapsed the bridge on Cardington Township Road 124, east of town. The bridge was posted with a 4-ton weight limit.
40 years ago: Russell Conant, mail carrier on Cardington Rural Route 3 retired after 28 years of service.
