William Ralph Hollis ★ World War II Gold Star Veteran from Florida
On December 7, 1941 Lieutenant Junior Grade Hollis was declared a casualty of World War II. ★ He served with honor in the United States Navy. ★ He is remembered by the people of Florida. ★ May his positive example inspire us. Working together towards peace, mutual respect, and equality for all.
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Click to Submit Update Request for this Fallen Service Member▼ Content Integrity Note
Our displayed data concerning the life and military history of William Ralph Hollis is a work in progress. We've assembled a list of elements we are in the process of researching and reviewing. This profile was last edited on 2021-12-18 22:28:09.
Missing : Core Data
· Enlistment type· Special awards and honors
· Date of tour or service
Missing : Supplemental Data
· Expanded references and citations
Service Details
| This Profile ID | 28075 |
| Service ID | O-073936 |
| Name | William Ralph Hollis |
| From | West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida |
| Birth Date | September 10, 1906 |
| Casualty Date | December 7, 1941 |
| War | World War II |
| Service Branch | Navy |
| Rank | Lieutenant Junior Grade |
| Specialty | Communications Watch Officer |
| Unit/Group | USS Arizona |
| Casualty Type | Missing in action or lost at sea |
| Location | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii |
| Burial | Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Notable Awards |
★ Purple Heart |
| Remembered | 
William Ralph Hollis is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location. |
Additional Details
William Ralph "Ralphy" Hollis was born in Crawfordville, Taliaferro County, Georgia. He was the son of Edwy Post Hollis and Amma Lou Pennington. In 1923, Ralph graduated from from Mansfield High School in Newton County, Georgia. He enlisted in the US Navy for the first time that same year.He later served as a Volunteer Firefighter and then a Police Officer in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was commissioned an Ensign in the US Navy on April 9, 1937 and called to active duty in 1941. He was married to Hermione Campbell and they had two daughters. They were living in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California while Ralph was deployed at sea. In 1944 the destroyer escort USS Hollis (DE-794) was named in his honor. IN addition, records suggest that he was posthumously promoted from Ensign to Lieutenant Junior Grade. |
Commendations + Awards
Please note this might not be a complete or completely accurate accounting. For some awards we use probability factors based on known service details. Thanks for your understanding.
★ Purple Heart
★ Combat Action Ribbon
★ World War II Victory Medal
★ American Campaign Medal
★ Navy Presidential Unit Citation
★ Navy Good Conduct Medal
★ Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
★ Navy Expeditionary Medal
Notable Reference Sources
These are typically links to pages on external sites that have provided specific nodes of information. In most cases the information has some assurance of being crowd-sourced and vetted by a community of users.Florida Gold Star Veterans Gallery
Honoring the men and women of Florida who gave their all for their country. May their example of courage and sacrifice be our guide. To be strong and responsible in our lives as citizens of the world. Through honest daily actions, we honor them.
▼ Florida was home to over 7,515 American Gold Star veterans from 4 wars of the 20th Century. Some significant statistics:
• 523 World War I
• 4,415 World War II
• 626 Korean War
• 1,951 Vietnam War
• 144 Prisoners of war
• 1,456 Missing in action
• 19 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 45 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 11 Medal of Honor recipients
• 4,415 World War II
• 626 Korean War
• 1,951 Vietnam War
• 144 Prisoners of war
• 1,456 Missing in action
• 19 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 45 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 11 Medal of Honor recipients
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Honor States Admin
▼ Primary Sources - These are repositories for artifacts, documents, diaries, manuscripts, and other information that serve as original and authoritative sources of information.
National Archives (NARA)
Library of Congress (LOC)
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
Findagrave.com
Ancestry.com
Honoring our fallen. Together. Uniting us in meaningful common cause. When we work together to honor our Gold Star veterans, we heal our nation together. It's a team effort. Everyone's invited to join as a Citizen Historian and Guardian of Honor. - learn more
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Balboa Park Veterans Museum
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