Joseph Little Ridling, Sr.
1927-2011
Photo shared by Vickie Graves Jones
Joseph "Joe" Little Ridling, Sr. was born May 4, 1927 in Hatfield, Polk
Co., Ar. to Little & Helena "Lena" Marion Lehman Ridling. He attended
school in Greenwood, Sebastian Co., Ar.
Joe married Jane Lee Sheridan April 3, 1954 at Waldron,
Scott Co., Arkansas that being his residence. Her residence was Seattle,
King Co., Washington. They divorced November 7, 1959 at Scott Co., Arkansas,
May 16, 1945 Joe enlisted with the US Navy. Some of his muster records
are below. He served on the USS LST-869, USS Mervine, the USS Appalachain and USS Eldorado.
His discharge date has not been found.
On the 1950 census Joe is living with his parents and siblings at Waldron, Scott
Co., Ar. His father is a teacher in the school there. It says Joe is not working.
Joseph Little Ridling passed away March 24, 2011 at Rock Hill, York Co.,
South Carolina.
Biography shared by Vickie Graves Jones
from Fighting Men of Arkansas
The Ships He Served On
Some musters below
USS LST-869 was an LST-542 -class tank landing ship in the
United States Navy. Like many of her class, she was not named and
is properly referred to by her hull designation. Following World War
II, LST-869 performed occupation duty in the Far East and saw service
in China until mid-April 1946.
USS Appalachain was the lead ship of the Appalachian class
amphibious force flagships of the United States Navy. She became
the flagship of the Fifth Fleet on 13 September 1946 and also
served the Pacific Fleet in a similar role between 28 October
1946 and 30 January 1947. During this time, the vessel operated
out of San Diego.
USS Eldorado (AGC-11) was a Mount McKinley-class amphibious
force command ship. She arrived at Guam on March 12, 1945, and
embarked Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner, Commanding General
of the 10th Army, then after rehearsals at Leyte in the Philippines,
sailed off to the Hagushi Beaches, Okinawa, for the initial invasion
landings on April 1. The ship carried out the same type of duties it
had performed at Iwo Jima. Since both the Commander, Air Support
Control Unit, and the Force Fighter Director Officer were embarked, Eldorado's combat information center was the central unit in the air defense against the day and night air raids. General Buckner and his staff debarked on April 18 to establish headquarters on the island itself, and until the ship's departure on May 18, it was visited by several guests, including Admirals Chester W. Nimitz, William F. Halsey, Jr. and Raymond A. Spruance and war correspondent Ernie Pyle.
USS Laffey (DD-724) is an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer.
In February 1947, Laffey made a cruise to Guam and Kwajalein and
returned to Pearl Harbor on 11 March. She operated in Hawaiian
waters until departing for Australia on 1 May. Laffey returned
to San Diego on 17 June, was decommissioned on 30 June 1947,
and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
USS Mervine was a Gleaves-class destroyer.
On 25 March 1948 USS Mervine arrived at Yokosuka and continued on
to Tsingtao, China, where she carried out escort, rescue, and
training assignments until 5 October when she departed for the
United States. Arriving at her homeport San Diego, in November,
she soon departed again for training and availability at Pearl Harbor.
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