Obit of Oran Delbert Ragan (r250) - Jefferson County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Diane Christie 9 Jul 2003 Return to Jefferson County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/jefferson/jefferson.htm ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== Surnames: DANIEL, MULLINS Originally posted at: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/CaB.2ACI/617 Found this old clipping in some of my mother's things. He is not a relative of mine so have no further information. Just thought I'd post it in case it might help anyone. The clipping came from the Wichita Falls, TX, paper during WWII. There wasn't a date or year of the article given. Ragan Boy Given Military Funeral Word reached here May 29 of the death on May 28 of Oran Delbert Ragan, Boatswains Mate, second class, in a Banika hospital on the Russell Islands. Death was due to malaria. Interment was in the Banika cemetery with full military honors accorded the young man who had given his life for his country, according to a message received Tuesday by Delbert's parents, Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Ragan, who were comforted by the thought that every effort was made to save the life of their son. Delbert was born August 29, 1919, two miles south of Hastings, where he grew to manhood and where he made for himself a great circle of friends. He attended Mountain Home and Hastings high schools and was graduated from the latter with the class of 1937. After completing his high school course he was employed by the Fitzgerald store at Hastings and then came to Waurika where he worked for the Park Grocery stores here and at Ryan. Delbert answered his country's call and volunteered with the Coast Guard being accepted May 6, 1941. He had seen convoy duty in the Pacific but lately had written home folks he was on shore duty and they think now that he was stationed on the Russell Islands for some little time before his death. These islands are near the Solomons as best they can be located. Quiet, unassuming, but with a zest for life and a sunny disposition which endeared him to young and old, Delbert has left a trail of happy memories to bless and brighten the time, be it long or short, which separates him from loved ones here. They are sure he met death as bravely as he had faced life, and as unafraid. Immediate members of his family are his parents, Mr. And Mrs. O. C. Ragan, his sister, Miss Nina, and his brother, Pvt. Kenneth Ragan and Mrs. Ragan. "Greater love than this hath no man, that he lay down his life for his friends." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Jefferson County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/jefferson/jefferson.htm