Ralph Derickson Jr.was born on April 5th, 1925 in Geneva, Indiana. Ralph grew up in the town of Geneva, and attended school until the 8th grade. After middle school, he did not further his education. His parents were Ralph L. and Alpha Derickson. He grew up with three brothers, and two sisters. In his early years, Ralph grew up in a medium size town. Signs point to Ralph not continuing his education into high school. Ralph grew Derickson2.jpgup on a farm, where we can assume that he helped his father and family on the farm. He helped his family on the farm until he was about nineteen, and then joined the United States Army. The army sent Ralph to training around 1944 when he was eighteen. He enlisted into the army to help out our country in the war. Ralph would go on to train at Fort Eustis, Virginia and later at Fort Benning, GA for infantry training. Ralph was ranked a Private in the Army. He was placed in the 94th Division and sent overseas on August 6, 1944. The 94th Division arrived at Utah Beach, France, on September 8th, 1944. They moved into Brittany to relieve the 6th Armor Division, which had captured 60,000 German troops. The division inflicted over more than 2,700 deaths, and took 566 prisoners of war before they were relieved by the 66th division. Moving east, the division relieved the 90th Infantry Division taking German positions. This division was nicknamed by the Germans, "Roosevelts Butchers", because they stacked so many dead bodies into houses and along the roads. On January 14th, the division was seizing Tettigen and Butzdorf, Germany, that day. Moving forward into the war, the 94th Division and the 10th Armored Division secured areas known as Saarburg and Orscholz. From mid-June until the end of November, the division served the military government in Czechoslovakia. Upon completion of the war, the 94th Division was inactivated at Camp Rucker Alabama on February 9th, 1946. Ralph was killed in action on January 15th, 1945 in Germany. Private Derickson was temporarily buried at the American Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg and at the end of the war he was moved to Riverside Cemetery in Geneva, IN. For his service, Pvt. Derickson would earn the Purple Heart Medal, WWll Victory Medal, Euope-Africa-Middle Easttern Campaign Medal, and the American Campaign Medal. Information researched and collected by Jeremy Razo, 2015.
Adams County, Indiana Veterans’ Grave Markers,Vol. 4, photographed and compiled by Kent and Gloria Schindler, July – August 2008
Lone Sentry. G.I. Stories of the Ground, 2003. Web. 30 November 2015.
Derickson, Ann. Personal Interview. 27 November 2015.
American Legion Post No468, and Berne & Community Business Men, comps. Service Record: World War I and II - Book of Men and Women of Berne, Indiana and Community. Marceline: Walsworth Brothers, n.d. Print.
Indiana Historical Bureau, comp. Gold Star Honor Roll: Adams County. Bloomington: Indiana War History Commission, 1949. Print. Vol. 1 of Indiana in World War II.