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Leland Ralph Ricker

PFC Leland R. Ricker served with Baker Company, First Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He drowned while crossing Sealark Channel, off Guadalcanal, on 9 October 1942.

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

Branch

Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 349708

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

Current Status

Remains Not Recovered

Pursuit Category

Based on circumstances of loss, this individual is considered permanently non-recoverable.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

October 26, 1913
at Reward, CA

Parents

Ralph Degolia Ricker
Edna Florence (Havercamp) Ricker

Education

Maricopa High School (1931)

Occupation & Employer

Rig builder
Standard Oil Company

Service Life

Entered Service

January 5, 1942
at Los Angeles, CA

Home Of Record

Bakersfield, CA

Next Of Kin

Mother, Mrs. Edna Ricker

Military Specialty

Primary Unit

B/1/2nd Marines

Campaigns Served

Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal

Individual Decorations

Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

The First Battalion, 2nd Marines participated in the August landings in the Solomon Islands in August 1942 – but soon found themselves on “abysmally boring, terribly uncomfortable, and unhealthy” garrison duty on Tulagi. Among them was PFC Leland Ricker, an “old man” of almost 29, who formerly worked in the California oil fields.

On the evening of 9 October 1942, the battalion made ready for a raid against a Japanese encampment at Aola Bay on Guadalcanal’s north coast. Four hundred and thirty men assembled on the beach and boarded a small fleet of eight “T Boats” – the Higgins “Eureka” model, also known as the Landing Craft Personnel, Large (LCPL) – that would ferry them across Sealark Channel to Aola. The objective was more than thirty miles away, so a pair of Yard Patrol craft (“Challenger” and “Endeavor”) were assigned as tow vessels. “Four Higgins boats were towed behind each YP, but instead of securing each boat to the YP by a separate towline, the boats were tied one to the other in a column,” explained William Rogal of A/1/2. “Thus the lead boat, the only one tied directly to the YP, had to bear the strain of the three loaded boats tied to its stern.”

The raiding party departed at dusk, setting a very modest five knot pace across open water. The “Yippies,” fishing boats pressed into wartime service, unarmed and unarmored, relying on the cover of night to cross undetected. Unfortunately, as Rogal relates, “the sky to our rear lit up with flashes of light and the booming of heavy guns reached our ears…. My discomfort was not helped by the highly visible sparks that spewed from my YP’s stack.” The Yippie skippers gunned their engines to escape the unknown threat.

Lieutenant Floyd E. Parks‘ Second Platoon occupied the first Higgins boat towed by YP-284 “Endeavor.” The sudden acceleration proved too much for the plywood frame, and with a sickening splintering sound, the boat split in two and capsized. Horrified Marines weighted down by combat gear found themselves sinking to the bottom of the channel. Fourteen clung to the wreckage or surfaced in a panic; Pharmacist’s Mate Eugene Baxter personally rescued ten survivors. Another fifteen Marines – including PFC Ricker – drowned, and were never seen again.

Burial Information or Disposition

None; remains lost at sea.

YP-284 was sunk in action off Guadalcanal on 25 October 1942.

Next Of Kin Address

The Rickers lived on a route outside of Bakersfield, exact address unknown.

Location Of Loss

The Higgins boat sank in Sealark Channel between Tulagi and Aola.

Related Profiles

Lost in Sealark Channel, 9 October 1942.
Haltom, Hipp, and Lee, on detached duty from USS President Jackson, comprised the Higgins boat crew.
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