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Raymond David Ford

Private Raymond D. Ford served with Able Company, First Separate Marine Battalion.
He was killed in action at Sangley Point, Cavite Navy Yard, Philippines 19 December 1941.

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Branch

Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 281630

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Current Status

Remains Not Recovered

Pursuit Category

The DPAA has not publicized this information.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

July 8, 1921
at Los Angeles, CA

Parents

George Aloysius Ford (d. 1936)
Agnes (Anderson) Ford

Education

Manual Arts High School
George Washington High School

Occupation & Employer

Automobile mechanic
Civilian Conservation Corps
July-December 1939

Service Life

Entered Service

January 22, 1940
at Los Angeles, CA

Home Of Record

1345 West 45th Street
Los Angeles, CA

Next Of Kin

Mother, Mrs. Agnes Ford

Military Specialty

Primary Unit

First Separate Marine Battalion

Campaigns Served

Philippine Islands

Individual Decorations

Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

Raymond For enlisted in the Marine Corps from his hometown of Los Angeles, and after boot camp was posted to the Second Marine Brigade in San Diego. He spent his first eighteen months of service with the 6th and 8th Marines, and in the summer of 1941 was transferred to Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines. There, Ford joined Company A, First Separate Marine Battalion, which provided base security for the many military installations in the area. This post, highly coveted in peacetime, was made somewhat less appealing by the growing threat of war with Japan. In late 1941, Ford’s company was posted at Sangley Point manning beach defenses and anti-aircraft weapons. Their vigilance kicked into high gear when news of Pearl Harbor reached the Philippines – and on 10 December they watched in horror as Japanese bombers all but leveled Cavite Navy Yard.

The Japanese kept up their pressure, and on 19 December targeted the high-powered radio station at Cañacao, known as “Radio Sangley.” Bombs started falling at 1247 and touched off a fuel dump. According to one Marine, “the roar of the fire drowned the sound of the [airplane] motors and the sound of the bombs.” Marines raced among the exploding barrels, trying to save as much precious gasoline as possible. Five Marines – including Private Ford, Assistant Cook Walter J. Theise, and Corporal Melvin O. Tuley –were killed by bombs or fire.

Excerpt from the muster roll of the 1st Separate Marine Battalion, December 1941.
Burial Information or Disposition

The three dead Marines from  Company A were “interred locally” in Cañacao Cemetery – presumably near the recently vacated Naval hospital – and were left behind when Allied forces pulled back to the Bataan peninsula later in the month. Any markers may have been removed or destroyed during the Japanese occupation, and it is not known when (or if) American Graves Registration personnel visited the site.

The remains, if recovered, have never been identified.

Partial roster of Marine dead in the early part of the war. Larios and Frazier, also killed at Sangley Point, were buried elsewhere and later recovered. Philippine Archives collection.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of mother, Mrs. Agnes Ford.

Location Of Loss

Ford was stationed at a radio station on Sangley Point when it was bombed.

Related Profiles

Non-recovered Marines killed before the withdrawal to Corregidor
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