Ralph William Emerson

Tommy Emerson joined the Marine Corps on  12 September 1941, from a recruiting station in Augusta, Maine. After completing boot camp at Parris Island, Private Emerson was sent to Quantico where he served briefly with a provisional company. Later in 1942, he attended aviation radioman’s school in Jacksonville. In early 1943, he was posted to VMF(N)-531 at Cherry Point, North Carolina.

In the span of a few months, Emerson advanced in rank from corporal to technical sergeant and traned as a radar operator. He deployed to the Pacific Theater with VMF(N)-531, one of the first Marine night fighter squadrons to see active duty.

On 16 September 1943, SSgt. Emerson and his crewmates – First Lieutenant John E. Mason in the pilot’s seat and Corporal John J. Burkett manning the guns – took PV-1 #29755 “Coral Princess” out of the Russell Islands for a training flight over Guadalcanal. An air alert forced the cancellation of the exercise, and the two planes aloft were vectored back to base.

Lieutenant Mason’s plane reported a position approximately 12 miles south of Tulagi, and acknowledged a request to rendezvous east of the Russell Islands. Suddenly, all communications with “Coral Princess” stopped. The Ventura never returned to base. Extensive searches proved fruitless and the entire crew was declared dead on the day of the incident.