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Navy Federal Credit Union
Ralph
Yale
Williams
POW (WWII)

Ralph Williams was a member of the River Gunboat U.S.S. Wake, which was captured on December 8, 1941 (still December 7 in Pearl Harbor), on the Yangtze River in China.

Awards Received

  • Prisoner of War Medal

    Service:

    United States Navy

    Rank:

    Machinist’s Mate Second Class

    Division:

    Prisoner of War (China)

    Action Date:

    December 8, 1941 – August 1945
    NARA Database: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 – 1947

    Machinist’s Mate Second Class Ralph Yale Williams (NSN: 2500494), United States Navy, was captured when the Japanese seized his gunboat U.S.S. WAKE (PR-3) on the Yangtze River, China, on 8 December 1941. He was interned as a Prisoner of War until his return to U.S. Military control at the end of hostilities in August 1945.