U.S. Navy Signalman First Class Ralph E. “Rick” Rickords.
RALPH E. ‘RICK' RICKORDS
Age: 85
Hometown: Los Angeles
Residence: Palm Springs
Military branch: U.S. Navy
Years served: 1942-1966. After World War II, Rickords served in the Naval Reserve, where he earned the rank of commander.
Rank: Signalman 1st class
Family: Wife Dorothy, two children.
About this series
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans on a regular basis through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war.
Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
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U.S. Navy Signalman First Class Ralph E. “Rick” Rickords recalls the politics of war when he first enlisted in the military.
When preparing for battle in the Pacific, top Navy officials were dead-set against employing the same strategy used to operate the Atlantic Fleet, Rickords said.
“Admiral (Chester) Nimitz, the number one in the Pacific at the time, he said, ‘There's no way I am going to war on the same basis as the Atlantic' campaign,” said Rickords.
In the Atlantic, there were big convoys of merchant ships and just a very few escorts, he said
Communication was inconsistent as merchant ships did not have the same communication capabilities, or they were borrowed from and operated by another country.
Nimitz and his commanders wanted to control communication between all the ships in the Pacific.
And there was a ship shortage, Rickords said.
“The powers that be, namely the president (Franklin Roosevelt), (Winston) Churchill and top brass in Washington, D.C., they were committed to winning in the Atlantic,” Rickords said. “Because of that commitment as the number one priority, there were not sufficient ships to release to the Pacific Fleet.”
But the commanders in the Pacific had a plan.
They would enlist merchant ships to transport supplies, troops, ammunition and other goods, but the Navy would develop communication teams that would be attached to the ships.
“So we would be able to communicate, our style, the Navy way, with flashing lights and Navy signal flags,” he said.
An amphibious communication school was created and operated out of Oceanside, near where Marines were training.
The Marines would make landings during invasion operations.
Teams of 12 enlisted men and one junior grade officer were sent to the facility to attend radio and signal school.
Rickords, among the very first to be trained, was assigned to Team #3.
“We were in early in the game,” he said. “The Marines were right beside us training.”
On the transport ships, the teams set up on the signal bridge, the men using flags, searchlights and blinkers to “talk” to other ships.
“We signaled the intention of the commander,” he said. “It proved fairly successful. That was the way the Navy was going to win the Pacific.”
“We fought all the way through the central Pacific to Okinawa,” he said.
By this time, the team had worked tirelessly for nearly a year and a half.
“We were burned out,” he said. “It's hard to believe we came through the war. We did not lose a man.”
Rickords and his team received a letter of commendation and a commendation medal with the combat “V” — for Valor — for their involvement in many of the major battles of the Pacific.
The commendation, which is one of Rickords' most prized possessions, reads:
“The Commander Amphibious Forces, United States Pacific Fleet, commends Ralph E. Rickords, Signalman First Class for service as set forth in the following:
“For excellent service in the line of his duty as Signalman for the Commander of a Garrison Group from November 1943 to April 1945, during the assaults on the Gilbert, Marshall, Marianas and Palau Islands, Iwo Jima and Okinawa Shima. Through his energetic and skilful performance of duty, in the face of enemy fire, he assisted in maintaining excellent visual communications between the flagships and other units of the Group. With determination and devotion of duty, he contributed materially to the success of the assault operations. His conduct gives evidence of his great value to the naval service.”
The citation was signed by R.K. (Richard Kelly) Turner, Admiral, U.S. Navy.
Rickords said there are many aspects of the war that have not been discussed, because in the past, veterans have been hesitant to share some of their most intense experiences
“I think the (whole) story has never been told because the people of today wouldn't understand or appreciate it,” he said. “It's nice to get the word out. We have to face it.”
He said it's important to tell the stories today because soon, even the youngest men in uniform during World War II won't be around to share their memories.
“I was a baby (during the war) now I'm 85 years old. They're going fast.”
Dorothy Rickords contributed to the war effort more than 30 years before meeting her future husband.
“I was a Rosie the Riveter,” said Rickords.
Rickords built fuselages for B-25 bombers at a plant in Memphis, Tenn.
Rickords and a friend were 18 at the time and had to fudge their age to get a job at the factory.
“We lied because we were supposed to be 19,” she said. “We worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift for 55 cents an hour.”
It was a big bump in pay for Rickords.
“I'd only been making 32 cents an hour before at a curtain manufacturing company.”
She drilled holes in aluminum strips.
“I drilled the whole thing and filled it with rivets,” she said.
On the other side of the aluminum, “Somebody called a ‘bucker' would flatten the rivets so they'd hold,” she added.
She said she drilled and placed “millions of rivets.”
“I was fast. I was good,” she said.
