Last week my grandfather Lynne O. Ramer\’s article referred to Maude Shannon Ramer and her husband Harry W. Ramer. Today I am sharing the 1963 article which appeared in Ben Meyer\’s We Notice That column of the Lewistown Sentinel about their son George W. Ramer. George died in the Korean War. Ben wrote the article based on a letter received from my grandfather.
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Honors for Lieut.
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| George H. Ramer |
A former local school teacher whose son was killed on Hearbreak Ridge, Korea, has been notified that a new combat training facility at Marine Corps Schools, Quanitco, VA., is to be named in his honor.
The mother is Mrs. Maude D. Ramer of 424 Burnley Lane, Drexel Hill. Her son who died in the Korean War was Second Lieutenant George H. Ramer.
Mrs. Ramer has received notification from Lieut.-Gen. F. L. Wiesman of the U.S. Marine Corps that his command is planning a dedication of a new building, naming it Ramer Hall as a memorial to her late son.
“We believe that naming this facility after Lieutenant Ramer will be both decorous and appropriate since the facility will primarily serve newly-commissioned lieutenants in the Marine Corps, says the notice received by the mother.
“Mrs. Ramer, you are most cordially invited to attend the acceptance and dedication of Ramer Hall. Your travel expense to and from Quantico can be provided for, if you desire.
“I hope that you can accept this invitation and that we may have the honor of your presence with us Oct. 4, 1963.”
Scholar at 3 Yrs.
The Ramers formerly lived in Milroy. George, or Bud Ramer, the Marine lieutenant mentioned above, was the only son of Mr. And Mrs. Harry Ramer. The father died some time ago, and the mother is now residing in Drexel Hill with her daughter, Mrs. Ethel Coulter.
The then President, Harry S. Truman, awarded Lieutenant Ramer the Congressional medal posthumously.
News of the dedication of the new building at Quantico to be known as Ramer Hall comes to us indirectly by way of Mrs. Ramer’s nephew, Lynne O. Ramer.
No doubt some of our teachers will recall the episode concerning Mrs. Ramer and her daughter Ethel, related for this column by Lynne Ramer some time back.
It seems that Mrs. Ramer was substituting for an ill teacher in the Burnham schools during the 1915 era. She had taken the assignment at the urgent insistence of the school board, which was unable to secure a regular substitute.
Well, Mrs. Ramer not only took the assignment, but she took her three-year-old daughter Ethel along to school with her—in her crib! Believe Ethel was the youngest “scholar” ever to matriculate in the Burnham district.
“Ethel and I plan to accept the invitation and be in Quantico for the dedication,” says Mrs. Ramer in her letter. “Naturally we are thrilled, but after all we will have mixed emotions during this experience. Harry’s branch of the Ramer tree ended with Bud, but his name will go on at Quantico.”
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Maude Pearl Ramer, Evelyn Ramer (Lynne\’s wife), and Ethel Ramer
at Lynne and Evelyn\’s home in Royal Oak, MI. 1960s.
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‘Polly Kicks Bucket’
“Vacation is over—back to work”, continues Mrs. Ramer’s letter to nephew Lynne. “You speak of Mackinac Island. We have never been there, but have ferried across from Upper Michigan twice. Of course, at that time no bridge.
“We hope to get back into that country some time. Our trip this year took us down one side of Cape Cod and back the other. From there to Nova Scotia along the coast. It was fascinating and we want to go back to ferry across the Bay of Fundy from Maine and drive around to Nova Scotia.
“The ferry trip is 100 mile and takes six hours, but it cuts off about 700 miles of driving through Maine and New Brunswick. Polly (her car) chirped right along for over 2,000 miles but kicked the bucket after we got home, causing Ethel to be late for work after having to get a new battery.”
‘O How Good!’
Lieutenant Ramer was among the 434,000 U.S. Marines engaging in the Korean War. Of his number, there were battle deaths consisting of just about one per cent—or 4,267 to be exact.
According to records revised by the Department of Defense, the ratio of Marines slain in combat in Korea during what President Truman called “a police action” was about twice as great as the combined battle deaths of all branches of the service being engages—Army, Navy, Marines and Sir Force—over the three year period extending from the mid summer of 1950 to the same time of year in 1953 when the armistice was signed and fighting ended within the next 12 hours.
We’ve included Mrs. Ramer’s address in the story today so that any of her old friends who might desire to get in touch will be able to write or send her a card. We are inclined to believe that she would like this very much.
Word from the old home always comes as a refreshing breeze in the heat of summer or as the old proverb goes: “A word at its right time is O how good!”
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Lt. Ramer was a real hero.
This branch of the Ramer tree traced its mutual ancestor to Nicholas Romer.
The Ramer family tree:
Matthias Roemer (1746 Germany-1828 Berks Co, PA) Matthia served in the Revolutionary War.
Nicholas Roemer (1791-1867). He is the mutual ancestor with Lynne O. Ramer
Isaac William Ramer (1829-1869) He was a blacksmith and served in the Civil War
Charles Maurice Ramer (1855-1920)
Harry Webster Ramer (1883-1944)
George H. Ramer (1927-1944)
A January 8, 1953 article in Stars and Stripes noted that Second Lietenant George H Ramer, 24, was a Bucknell University graduate, who was killed while covering the withdrawal of his platoon in an assault on an enemy held hill. Medals were presented to his wife Jeanne Grice Ramer.
Somerset.org website has a detailed story about George including newspaper articles and his genealogy: http://www.somersetflag.org/BeyondTheCall/Ramer.pdf
HonorStates.org has this story: Second Lieutenant Ramer commanded the 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. On September 12, 1951, he led his platoon in an attack against a heavily fortified position. Although wounded he and eight of his men finally captured his objective. Upon an overwhelming enemy counterattack, he ordered his men to withdraw and singlehandedly fought the enemy to furnish cover for his men to evacuate three wounded comrades until his was mortally wounded. For his leadership and extreme valor.
George has his own Wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Ramer
The Literate Quilter 