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Remember...Ralph Junior Setler
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Ralph Junior Setler was born February 18, 1923, in Grafton, Taylor County, West Virginia, to James Edward Setler and Vernie Claire Bell Setler. Ralph had four siblings who lived to adulthood: James, Dorothy, Richard, and Robert. Two Setler children died in infancy. By 1940, eight family members were living in the household on St. Charles Street, including Ralph's grandmother and niece. Grafton was a railroad town; Ralph's father, James, was a stockman for a railroad storeroom.
Ralph attended Grafton High School through his junior year. He was employed by the city of Grafton, but by December of 1942, he had enlisted in the U.S. Navy. His first role in the Navy was that of fireman second class (F2C). This assignment meant that he would be working below deck keeping the ship powered. Setler was later promoted to the rank of water tender third class (WT3C). This rank required more specialized knowledge, attesting to his growing competence as a fireman and "putting him on track for a petty officer's rank in due time." Ralph was assigned to the cruiser USS Reno. One of only eight Atlanta-class light cruisers in the U.S. Navy, the Reno was purposed to protect the growing number of aircraft carriers in the Pacific.
June through July of 1944 saw the Reno becoming part of the fleet assembled for the invasion of the Mariana Islands preparatory to the taking of the Philippine Islands. In October of 1944, the cruiser was engaged in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. While the cruiser made it through that battle, on November 3, 1944, the Reno was hit by a Japanese torpedo; the crippled ship nonetheless eventually returned to the States under her own power with a skeleton crew. Ralph Setler, however, lost his life in the torpedo attack. He and 45 other sailors were claimed either by the initial explosion or drowned by the water that rushed into the engine room after the torpedo hit.
Although his remains were never recovered, WT3C Ralph Setler is memorialized at the Manila American Cemetery and by a marker in the Grafton National Cemetery. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
For a more comprehensive biography of Ralph Setler, refer to the essay written by Curtis Goodwin, Hailie Kester, and Miley Knotts of Grafton High School. Essays from the National Cemeteries Project are posted on the West Virginia Humanities Council's website, https://wvhumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Setler_Ralph_Junior-USN.pdf.
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
