Ernest Ramme

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Ernest Lester Ramme
San Antonio Air Materiel Area
Headquarters, U.S. Air Force
Commands heldHeadquarters Battery, 83rd Field Artillery Regiment
Field Headquarters, Military Iranian Mission[4]
Site Activation Task Force, Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma
Site Activation Task Force, McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas
Battles/warsWorld War II
Korean War
Cold War
AwardsLegion of Merit with two oak clusters
Spouse(s)Ann Marie Zapponi

Ernest Lester Ramme (31 August 1916 – 21 April 2004) was a United States Army and United States Air Force officer with a career spanning thirty years.[5]

Family and ancestry

Ramme was born to Otto and Cora Corrigan Ramme in Streator, Illinois. His father was a farmer, living his whole live on the family homestead in Livingston County, Illinois. The homestead was settled by his grandfather, Ernest August Ramme, who came from Germany in 1867. His mother was a local girl. They were Catholic.[6] He married Ann Marie Zapponi 22 November 1944 in Comanche County, Oklahoma.[7] They had four daughters.[6]

Education

In 1935, at the age of 18, Ramme graduated from the

Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC)
program.
University of Illinois with a bachelor of science degree, with honors.[9]

Military service

pre-War

Upon graduation, Ramme was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery Reserve and reported to the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. In 1940, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Regular Army. He was given his first command as commanding officer of Headquarters Battery, 83rd Field Artillery Regiment, and he attended the Field Artillery Communications School. In August 1941 he was assigned to the Special Observer Group (SPOBS)[10] and sent to Egypt, where he established a communications school for the British and served as an adviser on communications matters. While in Egypt, he was awarded his first Legion of Merit.[8]

World War II

With the United States entry into the war, he became commander of the field headquarters, U.S. Iranian Mission at

Basra, Iraq
. He was now 25 years old. The following year he was sent to India, assigned to the United States Army Services of Supply, Southwest Pacific Area, which provided logistics support to U.S. forces in China, Burma and India. He served there for two years and was promoted to captain, major and lieutenant colonel. He was also awarded his second
Commonwealth of the Philippines, where he served as an assistant in logistics planning until the end of the war.[8]

Interwar Years

After the war, Ramme attended the

Operation Blacklist, the code name for the occupation of Japan. He worked for the logistics staff of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), General MacArthur. In 1947, he was assigned to the Pentagon and moved to the newly minted United States Air Force. During this period he also graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and received a Master of Letters degree in business administration.[8]

Korean War

At the age of 34, he became Director of Supply and Transportation,

Sacramento Air Matériel Area, McClellan Air Force Base, California. With the primary responsibility of supporting the US Air Force's Korean War efforts, he served in that role from 1951 to 1954.[8]

Cold War

Atlas ICBM
Launch, ca. 1962

At the age of 37, Ramme was sent back to Japan. From 1954 to 1957 he was Director of Supply and Services,

President's Committee on Purchases of Blind-Made Products. He retired in 1968 at the age of 51.[8]

Retirement and Beyond

Ramme was an active volunteer and churchgoer.[citation needed] He drove the Red Cross van, did Recordings for the Blind, and attended St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church.[citation needed] General Ramme died at Sun City, Arizona on 21 April 2004 and is buried in Sunland Memorial Park, Sun City, Arizona.[5]

References

  1. ^ Mayo, Lida (1991). United States Army in World War II, the Technical Services, the Ordnance Department: on Beachhead and Battlefront. Washington, D.C: Center of Military History, United States Army.[page needed]
  2. ^ Mayo, Lida (1991). Brigadier General Ernest Lester Ramme. Washington, D.C: Center of Military History, United States Army.[page needed]
  3. ^ "Altus Air Force Base History". United States Air Force. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  4. ^ Mayo, Lida (1991). United States Army in World War II, the Technical Services, the Ordnance Department: on Beachhead and Battlefront. Washington, D.C: Center of Military History, United States Army.[page needed]
  5. ^ a b "Ernest L. Ramme". The Arizona Republic. 23 April 2004.
  6. ^ a b Ramme, Shirley J. "Ramme family history" (Interview). Interviewed by John Steele.
  7. ^ State of Oklahoma Comanche County Court (22 November 1944). Marriage Record No. 40 (Report). p. 344.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Brigadier General Ernest Lester Ramme". United States Air Force. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  9. ^ "Degrees Listed by Colleges, Schools". The Daily Illini. 12 June 1939. p. 7.
  10. ^ Mayo, Lida (1991). United States Army in World War II, the Technical Services, the Ordnance Department: on Beachhead and Battlefront. Washington, D.C: Center of Military History, United States Army.[page needed]
  11. ^ "Altus Air Force Base History".
  12. ^ Brewer, Landry (2017). "The Missiles of Oklahoma: Southwest Oklahoma's Role in the American Cold War Nuclear Arsenal, 1960-65" (PDF). The Chronicles of Oklahoma. 1. XCV (3). Southwestern Oklahoma State University: 260–281. Retrieved 6 November 2018.

External links

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