Spade, Ralph J.

RALPH JACOB SPADE

PRIVATE 1st. CLASS
U.S. ARMY

Ralph Jacob Spade was born in Peterson, Indiana on March 29, 1906 to Frank and Evelyn Spade. He had Black hair and brown eyes and stood at 5’10.  He would grow up in Peterson  Indiana with his sisters Ida (Dilling), Iva (Kelly), Gladys (McBride), Jeanette (Heller), and Velma (Liechty). Later Ralph would move to Decatur, Indiana where he worked at the General Electrics plant. In 1941, he married Mary Katherine Holmes. They lived together in Decatur until he was drafted on October 29, 1942.

Upon his induction into the military Ralph would be sent for training at Camp Atterbury in Indianapolis and then on to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky. 

Upon completion of his basic military training,  Ralph was assigned to  Headquarters Company, 329th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division and was sent overseas in March 1944 to prepare for Operation Overlord. The "Ohio Division" arrived in Normandy via  Omaha Beach on June 18, 1944 to begin its drive across Europe. 

The 83rd “Ohio division” (Also known as the Thunderbolt Division) would campaign all over Europe through World War II, going to places such as France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, and finally Germany. The “Ohio Division” was actually the division to advance the farthest and closest to Germany, stopping only 72 miles outside of Berlin. Elements of the 83rd Division liberated Langenstein Concentration Camp (a subcamp of Buchenwald) in April 1945.

On March 4, 1945 while in Burgen Germany, Private 1st Class Spade was accidentally killed by a fellow soldier. The fatal incident occurred while Ralph  was in a room with a comrade who accidentally discharged his carbine whilst cleaning it.

A letter received from Army Chaplain Ernest Heuer to his wife Mary provided details of the fatal incident: 

"Ralph was a jeep dirve for officers traveling between their headquarters and other units; he had performed this work the past eight months. He was accidentally shot while sitting in the troom with another soldier who was cleaning his rifle. The bullet penetrated the upper part of his body. He was unconscoious the few minutes that he lived after being wounded. A medical officer was on hand to attend him, but human hands are helpless when the Lord decrees otherwise"

PFC Spade was interred in Margraten, Holland. After the war, his remains were relocated to the Decatur Cemetery in Decatur, Indiana. 

For his service and sacrifice, Private 1st Class Spade earned the Purple Heart, American Theatre Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal. 

Information researched and collected by Carson Canales, 2019. 

SOURCES

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.

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.

           “Ralph J. Spade (1906-1945) - Find a Grave...”   Findagrave.com, 2024, www.findagrave.com/memorial/44481718/ralph-j-spade. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

            “The 83rd Infantry Division during World War II.” Ushmm.org, 2024, encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-83rd-infantry-division. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

SUPPLEMENTARY