Ralph Lee Stine – Harrodsburg Tanker

Ralph Lee Stine

Staff Sergeant

Staff Sgt. Ralph Lee Stine (Harrodsburg Tankers Survivor, WW II) 1921–2003 BIRTH 28 JUL 1921 • Washington County, Kentucky, United States of America DEATH 4 MAR 2003 • Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky, USA; MEMORIAL ID, 146640629 Highest Grade Completed; Elementary school, 8th grade. Occupation; Laborer (He was married with 2 sons.)

Ralph Lee Stine
BIRTH, 28 Jul 1921, Washington County, Kentucky, USA
DEATH, 4 Mar 2003 (aged 81), Mercer County, Kentucky, USA
BURIAL, Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky, USA
MEMORIAL ID, 146640629

Ralph Stine was a member of D Company, 192nd Tank Battalion. He was stationed in the Philippine Islands when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.After four months of fighting, he became a Prisoner of War and took part in the Bataan Death March. He was held in POW camps in the Philippines and Japan.

Private First-Class Ralph Lee Stine joined the Harrodsburg National Guard unit on December 5, 1939. He was taken prisoner in Mariveles on April 9, 1942. He was in a field hospital but was not moved for some two months when he was sent to Manila and worked on building runways.

He was sent to Formosa on the hell ship Hokusen Maru and was held at Toroku Camp. He was later sent Japan on the Melbourne Maru and was held at a camp near Kobi where he worked in a steel mill. He was later sent to Osaka and Maibara #10-B. He was liberated in September 1945. He eventually returned to Harrodsburg. He died on 4 March 2003.