The Ralstons

On Tuesday night I had the pleasure of speaking with Mrs. Betty Ralston, the wife of Wallace Ralston. I met the Ralstons on March 19, 2000 while I was working on my thesis, and it is a memory I still cherish ten years later.

It was by chance that I managed to even find them.  With nothing but the name "Wallace Ralston" written on the back of a few photos from Camp Maui to go on, I began scouring the Internet to see if anyone matching that name might have been Yahoo'ed (this might seem strange, but Google was just a start-up back then!), spidered, crawled, or indexed amongst the vastness of the world wide web.

Somehow I found six Wallace Ralstons scattered all over the country: Kansas, two in Florida, Idaho, Texas and Illinois.  I sat down and wrote a simple letter asking if the Wallace Ralston living (or who had once lived) at that address ever served in the Marines during World War II. I included a copy of one of the photos from Grandpa's collection - a photo of three men holding a Japanese flag covered with writing and a saber.  Those three men were Grandpa, Wallace Ralston and Walter Gammill, and on the back of the photo Grandpa had written "The three that were left of 46 that landed at Iwo Jima - Maui 1945".

The contents of the letter mailed in January to the men I was able to find:

My name is Kyle Parker, the grandson of Philip Givan, and I am searching for the Wallace G. Ralston who served with my grandfather during World War II.  I am currently working on my Senior Honors Thesis, for the Honors College at Ball State University, which is focusing on both of my grandfathers and their experiences during the war.  Over Thanksgiving break, I stumbled across some items both men brought back from their respective areas of service, and in Phil’s box, were a number of photos of the guys he served with.  Most of them were taken on Maui in 1945, and featured in a number of those photos was a man named Wallace Ralston, including the one I have enclosed with this letter.  I found your name by searching the web, and of the six matches I found, yours was the only one that came up with the middle initial ‘G’.  I know that it is a long shot, but I wanted to try just in the one-in-a-million chance you are the same person in the photo.

The reason I am searching for Wallace G. Ralston is to ask him to tell me any stories he can about my grandfather.  He died when I was in the 6th grade (about 13 years ago) and I never knew that side of him – the war side.  I am searching for this information not only for my thesis, but also for my own knowledge and understanding.  I want to know who Phil Givan was during the war and how that experience made him the man I knew growing up as a child. 

I will not go into any more detail about my project or my grandfather; assuming that you are not the Wallace G. Ralston I am searching for.  However, if by some chance you are, I would love to speak with you or contact you somehow.  My address is at the top of this letter, and I have included my phone number and email address at the end. 

Thank you for your time, Mr. Ralston.

A few weeks later, I received a letter in the mail with the insignia of the Fourth Division on the return label, next to the name Wallace G. Ralston from Caledonia, Illinois.  I had found him.  I had found the Wallace Ralston that appeared in so many of the photos Grandpa had brought home from Camp Maui. Somehow an AOL email address for a World War II veteran and his wife was indexed and I entered the right search criteria to uncover it.

Over the next few days we were in communication with one another and it was decided that I would drive to Caledonia and spend night at their home and meet the man who had known my Grandpa so many years ago.

On that chilly March day, after a six hour drive (and getting lost a couple times...not only was Google not around, neither was GPS!) from Muncie to Caledonia, I arrived at the Ralstons' home.  Nervously, I walked up to the house and knocked on the kitchen door.  I remember Mrs. Ralston coming to the door with a warm and welcoming smile on her face, knowing who I was immediately.  She welcomed me in and for the next 24 hours, I was a guest in their home, talking with Mr. Ralston about the war, Grandpa, Camp Maui, Camp Pendleton, and the saber prominently displayed in a number of the photos.  He told me how Grandpa found the wallet and prayer flags on Iwo Jima after an attack by Japanese forces, where the nickname "Zeke" originated (a Lieutenant wrote an article about him for Leatherneck and compared him to a character in the old World War I movie about Sergeant York), and that he was only six feet away from Grandpa when he was shot on Saipan.

At some point, Mr. Ralston invited me to go with him for a walk through the woods near their home, where we continued to talk about that time in his life so many years ago. We also visited the World War II memorial in town and that following morning, I awoke to a wonderful breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast. Mr. and Mrs. Ralston welcomed me with open arms and gave me a glimpse into a part of Grandpa's life that I had never known.  He never talked about the war, and even though I was only in the sixth grade when he passed away, I had no idea these men like Mr. Ralston where out there; men who went through the most horrific events of any of their young lives.

Unfortunately, my visit had to come to and end and I returned to Muncie to continue working on the project.  March quickly became May, and at the 11th hour (a whole semester late) I completed my thesis.  A simple idea to write a paper about Grandpa's "Zeke Day" pin, which needless to say had my advisors concerned over lack of depth and scope for an honors thesis, turned into a journey that I will never forget.

Later that year I received a Christmas card from them.

Then the years started to pass by and life seemed to always get in the way and derail my intentions to keep in touch with my newfound friends. A few weeks ago, after meticulously scanning, editing and cataloging the numerous photos, documents and mementos from my treasure chest of World War II memorabilia, I decided I would try and locate the Ralstons to simply say hi and let them know I was thinking of them.

So I returned to the web and was once again searching for Wallace Ralston.  This time, however, I had a little more information to go on, so I narrowed my search down to Illinois.  As I scanned through the results, one in particular jumped out at me.  The brief three lines of text said it all - "send your condolences..submit a tribute...send flowers".  My heart sank and I clicked on the link.  There on the page was a photo of the man I had been staring at for the past two weeks, albeit 60 years older, but he still had the same smile and the same eyes. I was two months too late.  Mr. Ralston passed away Sunday, August 8, 2010.

My thoughts of catching up and saying hi quickly turned to sadness and regret at taking so long to write, and for the loss Mrs. Ralston and her family were experiencing.  Now, instead of a letter, I would be sending a sympathy card.  I sat and wrote, and then re-wrote, a card to Mrs. Ralston expressing the fond memories I have of that quick visit ten years ago and my sincere appreciation for their hospitality. The opportunity to meet with Mr. Ralston is one I will never forgot - not only did he provide a valuable narrative for my research, he gave me a glimpse into a part of Grandpa's life that I never knew about.

Then on Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of talking to Mrs. Ralston.  She called to express her thanks for the card and for remembering her and "Wally." I told her the pleasure was all mine - I was actually afraid that they wouldn't remember a young college kid from Indiana coming to visit them.  It was a quick conversation, but one that meant a lot to me.  They will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Tonight as I sit and work on this post, I am reminded of the first night I opened the box labeled "Japan stuff" and poured through its contents.  As I read off the names on the back of the photos, Mom mentioned that Mr. Ralston had once stopped by to see Grandpa, but it was a few short weeks after his car accident.  For some reason, it seemed fitting that we both missed an opportunity to reconnect by a matter of days.

This Christmas, I won't forget to send a card.  And if anyone else would like to send one, please let me know, I have her address. I may even try to see if Kathleen and I can arrange a quick visit in January - Rockford, Illinois is only a quick drive from Wilmette where Kathleen's grandma lives.  We'll wait and see what the next couple months bring - hopefully I can report back with good news!

To see Grandpa, Mr. Ralston and the other brave men of the Fourth Division, jump over to the photo gallery and head to Camp Maui album.  While it is a story for another night, there are several other veterans in those photos that I've had the opportunity to meet, some of them thanks to Mr. Ralston and others thanks to the wonders of the vast amount information available online.

Good night everyone and thanks again for visiting the site - I'm excited about what this can become and I appreciate your interest and enthusiasm!