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In Memory of U.S. Navy Aviation Ordnanceman Third Class

Ralph Howard Green

Custer, South Dakota, Custer County

July 21, 1943 – December 4, 1964

Died in Crash of P-3A Orion in the China Sea

Ralph Howard Green was born July 21, 1943, at Rapid City, South Dakota to Charles and Beatrice Green. He had three brothers: Marlin, Gene, and Duane, and four sisters: June, Dorothy, Marion, and Lora. Charles died in 1947 and later Beatrice married Lyle Sikkink. Ralph was raised and educated in Custer, where he was a “star athlete in football and basketball, gaining recognition on the all-conference team in 1961,” according to the newspaper. His brother, Duane, remembers that Ralph succeeded in things largely because he worked very hard. He graduated from Custer High School in 1961. Ralph worked for a brief time in Custer before joining the Navy on June 12, 1962. He did some of his training at San Diego, California, and Pensacola, Florida. For a time, Ralph was stationed in the Aleutian Islands until a famous Alaskan tidal wave caused much damage in the area. Ralph married Carol Jean Ellerton on May 31, 1964, in Custer.

Aviation Ordnanceman Ralph Howard Green and 12 other Navy Air Force crewmembers were killed on December 4, 1964, when their patrol plane, a 4-engine P-3A Orion, crashed in the ocean 25 miles north of the U.S. Naval Air Base at Cubi Point, 120 miles north of Manila, Philippine Islands. According to reports, they were on a “routine training mission” at the time of the crash.

According to Ralph’s family, a ship which was in the vicinity at the time witnessed the crash. After it was determined that no crewmembers could have survived the crash or been adequately identified, the search was called off. Duane remembers that he was working the night shift when he first heard the report of his brother’s death on the radio. The next morning the War Department called him to help locate his mother and step-father who had moved to California. Although the body of Ralph Green was never recovered, there is a memorial marker in his memory at Black Hills National Cemetery and a memorial service was conducted on December 26 at the Custer Community Church.

At the time of his death, Ralph Green was survived by his mother and stepfather, his widow, Carol, his brothers, Marlin, Gene, and Duane, and his sisters, June Leneau, Dorothy Yeoman, Marion Tudwell, and Lora Montague. Besides his widow, Ralph is currently survived by his sister, Lora, and his brothers, Marlin, Duane, and Gene.

This entry was respectfully submitted by Sheila Hansen, teacher, Spearfish Middle School, Spearfish, South Dakota, June 21, 2006. Information for this entry was provided by the Custer Chronicle, 12/10/64 issue, courtesy of the SD State Archives. Additional information and photo were provided by the Green family.