Harold Oren was born in Chadron, Dawes, NE on 17 Mar 1921 according to his birth announcement in the Chadron Record on 25 Mar 1921. He weighted in at 11 pounds. His parents were Albert Oren (see end note) and Mabel E. (Ransford) Rice. They married on 24 July 1920 in Chadron, NE according to the local paper. Harold had one sibling, Dolores Olive (Rice) Rogers, also born in Chadron, NE. When Harold was four years old he was hit by a truck. He was hurt but not too seriously.

Alfred was a well-known barber in Chadron. About 1925/26, Alfred and his family packed up their household goods and departed the Heartland for Aberdeen, Grays Harbor, WA where he continued his profession as a barber. Also moving to Aberdeen in 1926 to find employment were Alfred's parents, Martin and Olive Evelyn (Burge) Rice, and four of their five children who lived in Long Pine, Brown, NE. In Oct 1926, Martin was involved in a logging accident in which he lost most of his left hand that was crushed while moving heavy timbers. In Nov. 1928, Mabel Rice's mother and widower, Martha (Nicholson) Spain, also moved from Chadron to Aberdeen, WA to be with her daughter and family.

Harold and his sister completed Aberdeen’s Weatherwax high school in June 1939. Shortly before graduation, Harold submitted an application to enlist in the US Navy. It was not uncommon for many young men of that era to turn to the military as a means to help support their families, learn a trade and travel.

Harold completed general aptitude examinations; submitted personal references, completed administrative paperwork, passed background checks and physical and dental examinations, in addition to securing his father's permission. Harold was accepted for enlistment at the US Navy Recruiting Station, Seattle, King, WA. On 13 Jun 1939, Harold became an Apprentice Seaman (AS) in the US Navy (NSN:385-81-23) for a period of 3 years or until his 21st birthday.

Later that day, AS Rice traveled to the Naval Training Station (NTS), San Diego for a period of nine weeks of recruiting training. Upon completion of his training, AS Rice, was granted 10 days of “Recruit Leave” before being assigned to a ship of the US fleet. While waiting at NTS, San Diego, for ship assignment, AS Rice advanced to Seaman Second Class (S2c).

On 10 Nov 1939, S2c Rice detached from NTS, San Diego and reported for duty on board the light cruiser, USS Memphis (CL-13). Not long after reporting on board Memphis, S2c Rice requested to change his navy career path from Seaman to Fireman. The request was granted. On 11 Jan 1940, Rice changed rate from S2c to Fireman 3c.

In early Mar 1940, F3c Rice received orders to report for assignment to the Asiatic-Fleet whose home port was the Cavite Naval Base, Manila, Philippines. On 22 Mar 1940, F3c Rice detached from Memphis and reported later that day to his ride across the Pacific, the transport ship, USS Henderson (AP-1). Henderson steamed from San Francisco, CA to Honolulu on 27 Mar. She arrived in Honolulu about 2 April. Continuing her voyage across the Pacific, Henderson was underway from Honolulu on 06 Apr bound for the Philippines via Guam (19 Apr) arriving in Manila on 24 April. Henderson disembarked her Manila-bound passengers later that day. F3c Rice was assigned to the destroyer, USS Stewart (DD-224) for duty later that day.

On 16 Aug 1940, Rice advanced in rate to Fireman Second Class (F2c). During the next year, Rice apparently changed his mind about his career field. He reverted back to being a S2c. He was then sent to the Radioman Service school on board the destroyer tender, Black Hawk (AD-9) for approximate 24 weeks of instruction. During the time in school, he advanced to Seaman First Class (S1c). Then, on 01 Sep 1941, S1c Rice advanced in rate to Radioman Third Class (RM3). On Christmas Eve, 1941, RM3 Rice transferred to the Black Hawk for an unknown medical issue. Several weeks later, on 07 Jan 1942, while Black Hawk was inport Darwin, Australia, RM3 Rice returned to duty on board Stewart.

Rice joined the Stewart's crew during a yard period beginning 05 Apr 1940 at the Cavite Navy Yard. She completed the shipyard work on 01 Jun 1940. She made her final pre-war tour of Chinese Yellow Sea ports from 07 Jul to 23 Sep 1940. During 1941, she operated mainly in the Philippine operating area as international tensions between the Japanese and the United States inexorably moved toward open conflict. Asiatic Fleet CINC, Admiral Thomas C. Hart, determined then it was time to send all of the families of his sailors home. There was push-back from the resentful spouses who initially declined to leave their husbands. It was only a threat to indefinitely restrict their spouses to their ships without leave that finally convinced the families; it was time to comply with orders and return to the continental United States (CONUS). Admiral Hart's directive probably saved many family members from internment by the Japanese or worse. For many of the married sailors, it was the last time they would ever see their families.

Prelude to war and loss of USS Stewart

Then, in July 1941, as Japanese aggression intensified with their move south into lower Indo-China, Admiral Hart warned his officers that he had no doubt that war would come although he didn't know how or when it would start. Hart trained his destroyer crews hard keeping them on a war-footing for extended periods and away from Cavite naval base as much as possible exercising his "defensive deployment." On warnings issued by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Adm. Stark, on 24 Nov, Stewart along with other destroyers got underway from Manila and headed south on 25 Nov arriving at the Dutch Petrochemical facilities at Tarakan Roads, Borneo on 29 Nov 1941. Stewart was still there when news of hostilities with Japan arrived on 08 Dec 1941. For the next six weeks, Stewart performed escort duties from the Philippines to Port Darwin, Australia, and she escorted convoys within the Dutch East Indies, as Japanese invasion forces pushed ever further south.

Stewart go her first taste of combat on 30 Jan 1942 when she joined with the light cruiser, USS Marblehead (CL-12) in an attempt to interdict Japanese forces in the south entrance to Makassar Strait. Japanese air attacks severely damaged Marblehead. Stewart escorted her back to base at Tjilatjap, Java where the wounded were disembarked. Stewart again saw action on 15 Feb, when she survived numerous air attacks in the Bangka Strait while attempting to attack Japanese forces advancing along the northern coast of Sumatra. Stewart again engaged the enemy on the night of 19-20 Feb 1942. During a furious night engagement, Stewart came under very accurate fire from Japanese destroyers. She sustained extensive but not fatal damage and was able to return to Surabaya the next morning.

Stewart had sustained the most damage so she was the first to enter the floating dry-dock at Surabaya on Sunday, 22 Feb 1942. During the attempt to support her keel with supporting blocks as the dock rose, she fell off the keel blocks onto her side in 12 feet of water bending her propeller shafts and causing additional hull damage. She could not be repaired due to near constant enemy air attacks. There was also the imminent danger of city falling to the enemy. The crew was removed and transferred to other commands on 22 Feb 1942. Demolition charges were set-off inside Stewart and the dry dock was scuttled before the port was evacuated on 2 Mar 1942.

On 22 Feb 1942, RM3 Rice transferred to the destroyer, USS Parrott (DD-218) then to Black Hawk for assignment by Commander, Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Nine (CDS-29). Rice was assigned to the destroyer, USS Edsall (DD-219) to which he reported for duty on 26 Feb. It was to be a fatal assignment.

Early on 26 Feb, USS Edsall and USS Whipple (DD-217) received a message directing them to get underway about 1630 and rendezvous with the aircraft tender, USS Langley (AV-3). It was to be a joining from which only one ship, Whipple, was to return.

On Thursday, 26 February, she steamed from Tjilatjap with her sister ship USS Whipple (DD-217) to rendezvous with the converted seaplane tender USS Langley (AV-3) carrying P-40E fighters and crews for the defense of Java. On 27 February, the Langley, along with Edsall and Whipple, came under attack by sixteen (16) Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers of the Japanese 21st and 23rd Naval Air Flotillas and escorted by fifteen (15) A6M Reisen fighters. The attack fatally damaged Langley. She had to be abandoned and later scuttled by Whipple. Edsall rescued 177 survivors; Whipple, 308.

On Saturday, 28 February, the two destroyers rendezvoused with the fuel replenishment ship USS Pecos (AO-6) off Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island some 250 miles southwest of Tjilatjap. A sudden attack by land based Japanese bombers forced Edsall and the other ships to head for the open sea. They headed directly south into the Indian Ocean for the rest of 28 February in high winds and heavy seas.

Early in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, 1 March, Whipple and Edsall transferred all the Langley survivors to Pecos. There were now close to 700 personnel on board the ship. Whipple then set off for Cocos Islands as protection for the tanker Belita sent to meet her there. The Pecos, carrying a large number of survivors was ordered to Australia. Edsall had retained 32 USAAF personnel from Langley needed to assemble and fly an additional 27 P-40E fighters shipped to Tjilatjap aboard the transport Sea Witch. Edsall was instructed to return these "fighter crews" to Tjilatjap. At 0830, she reversed course and headed back to the northeast for Java.

At noon on Sunday, planes from Japanese aircraft carrier Soryu attacked Pecos and struck again an hour later. Finally, in mid-afternoon, third and fourth strikes from aircraft carriers Hiryu and Akagi fatally wounded the Pecos. While under attack, Pecos radioed for help. After Pecos sank, Whipple returned to the scene intentionally arriving after dark. She eventually rescued 232 survivors. Many other survivors, although visible to crewmembers on board Whipple, had to be abandoned at sea because Whipple made sonar contact with what was believed to be several Japanese submarines. It was just too dangerous for her to remain in the area. Edsall may have heard Pecos's call for help or she may have been complying with orders to reverse course and steam toward Australia.

Mr and Mrs Rice received a telegram on 20 March 1942 from Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs, chief of the Bureau of Navigation of the US Navy. It read: "The Navy Department regrets to inform you that the ship to which your son, Harold O. Rice, of the US navy was attached, has been lost in action. Information received indicates there may be some survivors, but no positive information regarding your son has been received."

For the next three years in March the Navy sent a letter to Mr and Mrs Rice to update the status of his son. In early Dec 1945, the final letter came explaining why RM3 Rice was being declared "presumed" dead. The official date of his "presumed" death was 25 Nov 1945.

The final muster report for Edsall on 01 Mar 1942 (written several years later) shows that RM3 Harold Oren Rice missing in action on 01 Mar 1942 and presumed dead on 25 Nov 1945. His remains were unrecoverable.

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The Truth Finally Told

For whatever reason, Edsall reversed course and was never heard from again. The US Navy Department simply said Edsall was lost due to enemy action. The US Navy Department declared all Edsall crewmembers "presumed" dead on 25 Nov 1945. This finding of presumptive death date was fixed in order to take care of settlements and claims. At that point no one suspected that survivors from Edsall were among many victims of war crimes on Celebes.

Because no known survivors lived to tell the story, the details surrounding the sinking of Edsall remained largely a mystery for more than a half century. Finally, after historians compiled bits and pieces of information from various allied sources over the years, Japanese records and eyewitnesses on the Chikuma recently became available. The new information points to a short but epic battle involving the aging Edsall and one of the world's strongest naval forces of its day.

After Edsall reversed her course on 01 Mar 1942 and steamed away from Java, she stumbled upon Admiral Nagumo's battle force, Kido Butai, that had been prowling the Indian Ocean in search of enemy shipping. Unfortunately, Edsall was spotted first. She was misidentified as a light cruiser of the Marblehead class. IJN battleships Hiei and Kirishima and heavy cruisers Tone and Chikuma were detached from the battle force to attack Edsall with surface gunfire.

The old four-stacker began evasive maneuvers frustrating the Japanese for the next hour and half. However, because of the damage done previously to one of her propeller shafts, Edsall was unable to make top speed or maneuver fully. At one point Edsall turned and launched her torpedoes narrowly missing Chikuma. The Japanese fired some 1400 rounds resulting in only one or two direct hits. The frustrated Admiral Nagumo called upon his carriers to finish off the Edsall. She was attacked by dive-bombers from two Japanese carriers (Kaga, Soryu,) and possibly a third (Hiryu) before succumbing to this devastating attack. The Edsall went down at 1900 hours, 01 Mar 1942, 430 miles south of Java.

Japanese eyewitnesses confirm that at least eight Edsall crewman from a large number of survivors were fished out of the water and brought on board the Chikuma. The rest of the survivors were left to their fate in the water. Chikuma and the rest of the battle force arrived at Staring Bay anchorage, Celebes on 11 Mar 1942. Three dozen POWs, 8 or more from the Edsall and the remainder from a Dutch ship, were turned over to the Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces based at Kendari where they were executed on 24 Mar 1942 near Kendari II airfield.

After WWII ended, an Allied War Crimes Tribunal was convened in Java. During the course of the Tribunal's investigations, an eyewitness to Japanese executions was discovered and interviewed. He testified that he witnessed the execution by the Japanese of a number of POWs in 1942. He led investigators to the Japanese Execution Grounds mass grave, Kendari II, Celebes, N.E.I. Five sets of remains in a group of about 10 were later identified from ID tags as USS Edsall crewmen. The other five were unknown but were possibly US Army Air force personnel on board Edsall from the Langley. A sixth set of remains were found in another burying ground on Celebes. They were identified by an ID tag as those of Fireman Second Class (F2) Loren Stanford Myers, a crewman from the Edsall.

All of these remains were disinterred and reburied in the US Military Cemetery, Barrackpore, India on 12 Nov 1946. After three years, their remains were disinterred again and reburied in a mass grave at the National cemetery at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, MO on 20 Dec 1949. The remains of F2 Myers were reinterred according to immediate family wishes in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, HI on 31 Mar 1950. With the discovery of these remains, their presumed date of death was amended to 02 Mar 1942.

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U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012, MM2 J.R. Cameron, USN, died 2 Mar 1942 overseas. Remains returned from overseas WWII. Group burial with MM1 Horace W. Andrus, F1c Sydney Griffith Amory, MM3c Larry Vandiver, and F1c Donald F. Watters at Jefferson Barracks. MO on 20 Dec 1949.

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RM3 Harold Oren Rice was (posthumously) awarded the Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Fleet Clasp and three bronze stars (one bronze star in lieu of Clasp), Philippine Defense Medal with clasp, and WWII Victory Medal. Petty Officer Rice is believed to be eligible for the Combat Action Ribbon.

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A commemoration in honor of RM3 Harold O. Rice’s service from President Harry S. Truman reads:

In Grateful Memory of Harold Oren Rice, Who Died In The Service Of His Country At Sea, Asiatic Area, attached U.S.S. Edsall, 25 November 1945 (presumed). He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live, and grow, and increase its blessings. Freedom lives, and through it, he lives – in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men.

Signed,

Harry Truman

President of the United States of America

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Bio #337 composed by Gerry Lawton (GML470/G47)

Find A Grave Memorial Page: #232553354

End note: Alfred Oren was born 31 Oct 1898 in Ainsworth, Brown, NE to Claude Hugh Fletcher and Olive Evelyn Burge who married 05 Mar 1898 in Ainsworth, Brown, NE. Their marriage was quick lived as Olive E. Fletcher married Martin Rice on 4 Apr 1900 in Sioux City according to their marriage record. Martin and Olive were residents of Neligh, Antelope, NE. According to the 1900 Neligh, NE federal census, Martin, Olive Rice and step-son Alfred O. Fletcher were enumerated together. It is not known whether Alfred was adopted by Martin or Alfred just assumed Martin's surname as the only father he knew. What is known is that Claud Fletcher and Olive E. Burge were the biological parents of Alfred Oren Fletcher/Rice.