US ARMY WORLD WAR II
United States Military Academy Class of 1935
Lt. Colonel Ralph S. Harper KIA
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio,
Service#
Awards:Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Biography gleaned from www.westpointaog.org
Ralph Shaffer Harper was born 17 July 1912 in Columbus, Ohio, and went to school there, including one year at Ohio State University. He was the son of Charles F. Harper and Adra Margaret Underwood. He entered the United States Military Academy in July of 1930, took the “five-year course,” graduated in June of 1935, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Cavalry. After graduating, he was assigned to the 14th Cavalry and stationed at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, where he met the lovely Marian L. Wareham. They married on 29 December 1938. Soon thereafter, Ralph and Marian moved to Fort Riley where he attended the Cavalry School, following which he was attached on temporary duty to the 1st Mechanized Cavalry Regiment at Fort Knox, while he attended the Armor School in 1940. After graduation from the latter, Ralph was assigned to the 7th Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he and Marian lived for a short while until he was transferred to Camp Polk, Louisiana, to help organize the 3d Armored Division.
In June of 1941, they moved back to Fort Riley where Ralph joined the 2d Cavalry Division, which in June of 1942, was reorganized as the 9th Armored Division. He was promoted to Major in February of 1942 and to Lieutenant Colonel on 20 October 1942. He commanded and trained the 2d Tank Battalion continuously thereafter, during five months of desert training in 1943, and ten months more at Camp Polk, Louisiana, taking the battalion overseas in August of 1944, with the rest of the division. When the battalion was committed to delay the onslaught of the Sixth Panzer Army, it was engaged in its first intensive combat. The battalion’s performance in this, its first action, proved Ralph’s worth as an officer and as a leader.
Col. Ralph Harper was killed in action in the Battle of the Bulge, where he commanded the southern road block ("Task Force Harper"). He died an unsung hero, on the evening of 18 December 1944 in the vicinity of Tavigny, Belgium. Task Force Harper, was a major portion of the Reserve Command of the 9th Armored Division, he, like so many others traded lives for time—time which was essential to the reinforcement and defense of Bastogne, it is well known that Task Force Rose and Task Force Harper had established road blocks ten miles northeast of Bastogne on the road leading from St. Vith and about halfway between Clervaux and Bastogne.
After the breakthrough on 17 December, the 2d SS Panzer Division used this road in its drive to seize Bastogne and continue westward. In the early afternoon of 18 December, the Germans attacked and overran Task Force Rose. Ralph collected the remnants of Task Force Rose, and together with his own tank-heavy battalion task force, prepared for the assault on his position which was launched shortly before dark on the 18th. The numerical odds against him were tremendous; but as the tide of battle shifted against his Task Force, he led a counterattack by his reserve company, and in the melee that followed, lost his life in a tank battle. He had, however, delayed a German tank division sufficiently to permit Task Force Cherry, from CCB of the 10th Armored Division, to move into and secure the village of Lonvilly, a few miles to his rear on the same road to Bastogne.
He was survived by his widow Marian, their two daughters, who unfortunately, were not old enough during his lifetime to get to know their father. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart and is buried in Union Cemetery at Columbus, Ohio.
United States Military Academy Class of 1935
Lt. Colonel Ralph S. Harper KIA
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio,
Service#
Awards:Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Biography gleaned from www.westpointaog.org
Ralph Shaffer Harper was born 17 July 1912 in Columbus, Ohio, and went to school there, including one year at Ohio State University. He was the son of Charles F. Harper and Adra Margaret Underwood. He entered the United States Military Academy in July of 1930, took the “five-year course,” graduated in June of 1935, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Cavalry. After graduating, he was assigned to the 14th Cavalry and stationed at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, where he met the lovely Marian L. Wareham. They married on 29 December 1938. Soon thereafter, Ralph and Marian moved to Fort Riley where he attended the Cavalry School, following which he was attached on temporary duty to the 1st Mechanized Cavalry Regiment at Fort Knox, while he attended the Armor School in 1940. After graduation from the latter, Ralph was assigned to the 7th Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he and Marian lived for a short while until he was transferred to Camp Polk, Louisiana, to help organize the 3d Armored Division.
In June of 1941, they moved back to Fort Riley where Ralph joined the 2d Cavalry Division, which in June of 1942, was reorganized as the 9th Armored Division. He was promoted to Major in February of 1942 and to Lieutenant Colonel on 20 October 1942. He commanded and trained the 2d Tank Battalion continuously thereafter, during five months of desert training in 1943, and ten months more at Camp Polk, Louisiana, taking the battalion overseas in August of 1944, with the rest of the division. When the battalion was committed to delay the onslaught of the Sixth Panzer Army, it was engaged in its first intensive combat. The battalion’s performance in this, its first action, proved Ralph’s worth as an officer and as a leader.
Col. Ralph Harper was killed in action in the Battle of the Bulge, where he commanded the southern road block ("Task Force Harper"). He died an unsung hero, on the evening of 18 December 1944 in the vicinity of Tavigny, Belgium. Task Force Harper, was a major portion of the Reserve Command of the 9th Armored Division, he, like so many others traded lives for time—time which was essential to the reinforcement and defense of Bastogne, it is well known that Task Force Rose and Task Force Harper had established road blocks ten miles northeast of Bastogne on the road leading from St. Vith and about halfway between Clervaux and Bastogne.
After the breakthrough on 17 December, the 2d SS Panzer Division used this road in its drive to seize Bastogne and continue westward. In the early afternoon of 18 December, the Germans attacked and overran Task Force Rose. Ralph collected the remnants of Task Force Rose, and together with his own tank-heavy battalion task force, prepared for the assault on his position which was launched shortly before dark on the 18th. The numerical odds against him were tremendous; but as the tide of battle shifted against his Task Force, he led a counterattack by his reserve company, and in the melee that followed, lost his life in a tank battle. He had, however, delayed a German tank division sufficiently to permit Task Force Cherry, from CCB of the 10th Armored Division, to move into and secure the village of Lonvilly, a few miles to his rear on the same road to Bastogne.
He was survived by his widow Marian, their two daughters, who unfortunately, were not old enough during his lifetime to get to know their father. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart and is buried in Union Cemetery at Columbus, Ohio.
US ARMY WORLD WAR II
United States Military Academy Class of 1935
Lt. Colonel Ralph S. Harper KIA
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio,
Service#
Awards:Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Biography gleaned from www.westpointaog.org
Ralph Shaffer Harper was born 17 July 1912 in Columbus, Ohio, and went to school there, including one year at Ohio State University. He was the son of Charles F. Harper and Adra Margaret Underwood. He entered the United States Military Academy in July of 1930, took the “five-year course,” graduated in June of 1935, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Cavalry. After graduating, he was assigned to the 14th Cavalry and stationed at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, where he met the lovely Marian L. Wareham. They married on 29 December 1938. Soon thereafter, Ralph and Marian moved to Fort Riley where he attended the Cavalry School, following which he was attached on temporary duty to the 1st Mechanized Cavalry Regiment at Fort Knox, while he attended the Armor School in 1940. After graduation from the latter, Ralph was assigned to the 7th Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he and Marian lived for a short while until he was transferred to Camp Polk, Louisiana, to help organize the 3d Armored Division.
In June of 1941, they moved back to Fort Riley where Ralph joined the 2d Cavalry Division, which in June of 1942, was reorganized as the 9th Armored Division. He was promoted to Major in February of 1942 and to Lieutenant Colonel on 20 October 1942. He commanded and trained the 2d Tank Battalion continuously thereafter, during five months of desert training in 1943, and ten months more at Camp Polk, Louisiana, taking the battalion overseas in August of 1944, with the rest of the division. When the battalion was committed to delay the onslaught of the Sixth Panzer Army, it was engaged in its first intensive combat. The battalion’s performance in this, its first action, proved Ralph’s worth as an officer and as a leader.
Col. Ralph Harper was killed in action in the Battle of the Bulge, where he commanded the southern road block ("Task Force Harper"). He died an unsung hero, on the evening of 18 December 1944 in the vicinity of Tavigny, Belgium. Task Force Harper, was a major portion of the Reserve Command of the 9th Armored Division, he, like so many others traded lives for time—time which was essential to the reinforcement and defense of Bastogne, it is well known that Task Force Rose and Task Force Harper had established road blocks ten miles northeast of Bastogne on the road leading from St. Vith and about halfway between Clervaux and Bastogne.
After the breakthrough on 17 December, the 2d SS Panzer Division used this road in its drive to seize Bastogne and continue westward. In the early afternoon of 18 December, the Germans attacked and overran Task Force Rose. Ralph collected the remnants of Task Force Rose, and together with his own tank-heavy battalion task force, prepared for the assault on his position which was launched shortly before dark on the 18th. The numerical odds against him were tremendous; but as the tide of battle shifted against his Task Force, he led a counterattack by his reserve company, and in the melee that followed, lost his life in a tank battle. He had, however, delayed a German tank division sufficiently to permit Task Force Cherry, from CCB of the 10th Armored Division, to move into and secure the village of Lonvilly, a few miles to his rear on the same road to Bastogne.
He was survived by his widow Marian, their two daughters, who unfortunately, were not old enough during his lifetime to get to know their father. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart and is buried in Union Cemetery at Columbus, Ohio.
United States Military Academy Class of 1935
Lt. Colonel Ralph S. Harper KIA
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio,
Service#
Awards:Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Biography gleaned from www.westpointaog.org
Ralph Shaffer Harper was born 17 July 1912 in Columbus, Ohio, and went to school there, including one year at Ohio State University. He was the son of Charles F. Harper and Adra Margaret Underwood. He entered the United States Military Academy in July of 1930, took the “five-year course,” graduated in June of 1935, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Cavalry. After graduating, he was assigned to the 14th Cavalry and stationed at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, where he met the lovely Marian L. Wareham. They married on 29 December 1938. Soon thereafter, Ralph and Marian moved to Fort Riley where he attended the Cavalry School, following which he was attached on temporary duty to the 1st Mechanized Cavalry Regiment at Fort Knox, while he attended the Armor School in 1940. After graduation from the latter, Ralph was assigned to the 7th Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he and Marian lived for a short while until he was transferred to Camp Polk, Louisiana, to help organize the 3d Armored Division.
In June of 1941, they moved back to Fort Riley where Ralph joined the 2d Cavalry Division, which in June of 1942, was reorganized as the 9th Armored Division. He was promoted to Major in February of 1942 and to Lieutenant Colonel on 20 October 1942. He commanded and trained the 2d Tank Battalion continuously thereafter, during five months of desert training in 1943, and ten months more at Camp Polk, Louisiana, taking the battalion overseas in August of 1944, with the rest of the division. When the battalion was committed to delay the onslaught of the Sixth Panzer Army, it was engaged in its first intensive combat. The battalion’s performance in this, its first action, proved Ralph’s worth as an officer and as a leader.
Col. Ralph Harper was killed in action in the Battle of the Bulge, where he commanded the southern road block ("Task Force Harper"). He died an unsung hero, on the evening of 18 December 1944 in the vicinity of Tavigny, Belgium. Task Force Harper, was a major portion of the Reserve Command of the 9th Armored Division, he, like so many others traded lives for time—time which was essential to the reinforcement and defense of Bastogne, it is well known that Task Force Rose and Task Force Harper had established road blocks ten miles northeast of Bastogne on the road leading from St. Vith and about halfway between Clervaux and Bastogne.
After the breakthrough on 17 December, the 2d SS Panzer Division used this road in its drive to seize Bastogne and continue westward. In the early afternoon of 18 December, the Germans attacked and overran Task Force Rose. Ralph collected the remnants of Task Force Rose, and together with his own tank-heavy battalion task force, prepared for the assault on his position which was launched shortly before dark on the 18th. The numerical odds against him were tremendous; but as the tide of battle shifted against his Task Force, he led a counterattack by his reserve company, and in the melee that followed, lost his life in a tank battle. He had, however, delayed a German tank division sufficiently to permit Task Force Cherry, from CCB of the 10th Armored Division, to move into and secure the village of Lonvilly, a few miles to his rear on the same road to Bastogne.
He was survived by his widow Marian, their two daughters, who unfortunately, were not old enough during his lifetime to get to know their father. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart and is buried in Union Cemetery at Columbus, Ohio.
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