This combat medic who says he shot at the enemy "but one time, and I missed," served in nine campaigns. Born in Oil City, Louisiana, Ralph enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 27, 1942, and was shipped out to North Africa as part of the Third Division. He served in North Africa and Sicily, and then, with the 36^th Division, entered the fight for Italy in Naples. Ralph made the landing in southern France on August 10, 1944, and then fought his way into Germany. He took a photograph of Hermann Goering, a member of Hitler's inner circle, just before he surrendered. After the war, the Navy employed him as a civilian carpenter on Guam. He retired at age 75 as a roofer.