World War II Honoree

Mahlon Eldridge Rasberry

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Saint Landry, Louisiana

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank Seaman Second Class. He was inducted into the United States Navy July 23, 1941 at Houston, Texas, with recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Station Farragut, Idaho. Served aboard the USS Lexington AKA: Lady Lex, Aircraft Carrier CV-2. The Seagoing airbase and her shipmates participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea against the Imperial Japanese Naval Aviators (Battle Dates: May 4-8, 1942) in the South Pacific Theater of Operations. On the Eighth, at 11:00 hours the Carrier sustained multiple torpedo strikes on her Starboard bow, with three Bomb hits from enemy dive bombers, that penetrated the main deck, hitting the ammunition storage lockers and ignited fires in the gasoline storage areas. After the attack, Lady Lex became unseaworthy and the ship’s Captain gave the order to abandon ship, and she was scuttled by the USS Phelps Destroyer, DD-360. Reported missing in action, lost at sea on the day of the attack. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the American Cemetery at Fort William-McKinley in Manila, Philippine Islands. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.