RONALD A. BOONE, COL, USMC

Ronald Boone '20

Date of birth: October 20, 1896

Date of death: June 29, 1945

Age: 48

Lucky Bag

From the 1920 Lucky Bag:

RONALD AUBRY BOONE

Twin Falls, Idaho

"Daniel" "Danny"

ONE look at that jaw and you read his character. Boone is a plugger and a fighter,—incidentally he sports the Academy welterweight championship, so steer clear of any argument.

"Danny" came to us from Idaho with one intention, to graduate, and he did it. It was tough sledding all along but that aforementioned jaw did the trick—and now that he has the "scrap of paper" he can truly look on it as a "work of labor" and not love's labor lost.

"Dan'l's" no snake, nor has he a "one and only" back among the Mormons. He shows a preference for "thirty-sixes," and we thought he had fallen First Class Sep leave, but he saw her in a bathing suit and it was all off then. He and Frankus claim the honor of being the two misogynists of 364.

He's something of a poet for all that—Kipling and Service occupy a place of Honor on his shelf; he's strong for the "virile" stuff.

"Danny" doesn't intend to be one of those "fools" who "go down to the sea in ships"—he says the gyrenes are the boys that wear the pants; if he gets his req granted, the Navy loses a real man.

"Mr. Boone, what are target practice shells loaded with?"

"Beans, sir."

"For God's sake, Ole, shut up and let me bone."

Honors: Buzzard; Academy Welterweight Boxing Champion, 3; Academy Middleweight Boxing Champion, 1.

RONALD AUBRY BOONE

Twin Falls, Idaho

"Daniel" "Danny"

ONE look at that jaw and you read his character. Boone is a plugger and a fighter,—incidentally he sports the Academy welterweight championship, so steer clear of any argument.

"Danny" came to us from Idaho with one intention, to graduate, and he did it. It was tough sledding all along but that aforementioned jaw did the trick—and now that he has the "scrap of paper" he can truly look on it as a "work of labor" and not love's labor lost.

"Dan'l's" no snake, nor has he a "one and only" back among the Mormons. He shows a preference for "thirty-sixes," and we thought he had fallen First Class Sep leave, but he saw her in a bathing suit and it was all off then. He and Frankus claim the honor of being the two misogynists of 364.

He's something of a poet for all that—Kipling and Service occupy a place of Honor on his shelf; he's strong for the "virile" stuff.

"Danny" doesn't intend to be one of those "fools" who "go down to the sea in ships"—he says the gyrenes are the boys that wear the pants; if he gets his req granted, the Navy loses a real man.

"Mr. Boone, what are target practice shells loaded with?"

"Beans, sir."

"For God's sake, Ole, shut up and let me bone."

Honors: Buzzard; Academy Welterweight Boxing Champion, 3; Academy Middleweight Boxing Champion, 1.

Loss

Ronald was lost on June 29, 1945, when the plane he was aboard crashed "in the Pacific area," almost certainly in or near the Aleutian Islands.

Other Information

From The Times News (Idaho) on July 3, 1945:

Col. Boone, Who Slapped Jap General in '37, Killed
Death in action has overtaken Col. Ronald A. Boone, 48—the hero of the "Shanghai incident" of 1937, in which he administered a much-needed and vigorous slap in the face to a Japanese general.
The marine corps colonel, probably the most colorful and world-known of Idaho soldiers, has had a spectacular career since his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Word of the former Twin Falls man's death was received here Tuesday by Hugh O. Boone, a brother. Julian Boone, New York City, did not give the date of death or any particulars.
Colonel Boon was serving with the intelligence department [four lines totally obscured in the scan]… last year from the colonel in January of this year. At that time he was in the Aleutian islands.
He told relatives that "things have come pretty close a couple of times, but I have never been hit."
Colonel Boone had many years' foreign duty to his credit, including extensive service in China. His role in the "Shanghai incident" of 1937 was later chronicled in Time magazine and won worldwide attention. The colonel, then a marine corps captain, startled Japan and one Jap general in particular by refusing to be cowed by already overbearing Jap force. He brought the general up short by a slapping his face.
After graduating Twin Falls high school in 1915, he attended the naval academy in Annapolis, and took his sea duty during World War I.
His contributions in World War II have been brilliant. At this time last year, he was attached to Admiral Halsey's fleet.
Surviving are his wife, who lives in Washington, D.C.; his father and two brothers, and two sisters.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Ronald was born in Hardy, Arkansas, where his father Harry O. was a farmer. The family moved shortly after that to Twin Falls, Idaho, where his father was a concrete work laborer.
In March, 1914, Ronald participated in his high school’s declamation contest and spoke on “The Cuban Situation.” As a junior, Ronald won the high school declamatory contest. In April, 1915, Ronald participated in the State Declamation contest and chose as his dramatic reading “The Shooting of Dan McGrew.” In February, 1916, Ronald read “Suicide Scene” at the high school’s commercial curriculum’s program which included talks and songs on agriculture, wheat growing, milking, and hog cholera serum manufacture.
The Twin Falls Times newspaper published his graduation biography on May 23, 1916: College Preparatory Course; class baseball 3 years; class football 2 years; vice-president class ’15; president of debate club ’15; varsity football ’15; editor-in-chief Coyote ’15. In the senior class play, “American Citizen,” the newspaper reported that Ronald “had an exceedingly strong part as Edgerton Brown, Miss Carew’s ex-fiancee . . . and handled the part in a most competent manner . . .”
In June, Ronald was appointed by Congressman Addison T. Smith to the Naval Academy.
Ronald married Patricia Frances “Patsy” Rosson on November 18, 1924, in Richmond, Kentucky. As his widow, she married Dr. Gerard E. Mellema, wartime commercial secretary of the Netherlands Embassy, in Washington, D. C. in May, 1947. She died three months later in August.
Ronald was stationed in Pekin, China, from 1926 to 1931.
He was in Shanghai in 1932 during the Japan-China clash which saw Shanghai under fire. He left the Jehol district in December, 1932. Back in the States in February, 1933, he spoke at his sister Violet’s Business Women’s luncheon in Boise on the main causes leading to the Sino-Japanese conflict. He also spoke at the Rotary Club luncheon in Twin Falls and at the local American Legion. At the latter, he reported news that China’s famous Nineteenth route army was among the quarter of a million Chinese soldiers south of the Great Wall between Peiping and Tientsin line.
In July, 1935, Ronald and his wife left again for Shanghai. An article in the Liberty magazine in October, 1937, written by Fulton Oursler, stated: “One night in Shanghai we were watching a troupe of Chinese magicians perform in the drawing room of Captain and Mrs. Ronald Boone. The captain is chief of the intelligence service of the United States marines stationed in the far east, and a busy boy these days.”

In December, 1937, a Chinese patriot threw a hand grenade at a victory parade by the Japanese in the International Settlement of Shanghai. The grenade wounded four men, and the patriot was shot dead by a policeman. Japanese troops seized control of the area and aimed pistols at U. S. marines and British soldiers. The troops increased their control up Bubbling Well road to the U. S. marine defense area.
Per the Pomona Progress Bulletin, December 3, 1937: “Colonel Charles Price, commander of the fourth marine regiment, accompanied by Captain Ronald Boone, drove up to the Japanese line. Sentries, poising bayonetted rifles, halted them. Both got out and demanded to see the commanding officer. The entry officer refused to call him. There were hot words.
“The sentry officer finally complied, but when the American officers demanded to be escorted to the commander, he refused flatly. Boone and his adversary exchanged more heated compliments and the escort was provided. A half hour later they returned, and Japanese officers began giving the command to withdraw.”
Ronald and his wife left Shanghai on October 18, 1938. They left Kobe, Japan, for San Francisco on December 27, 1938.

During WWII, Ronald served as intelligence officer on the staffs of Admirals Nimitz, Halsey and Fletcher. Since December 1944, Ronald was a member of Admiral Fletcher’s staff.
Ronald was buried at the third army cemetery in the Aleutians at Adak on June 29, 1945. His remains were later moved to Arlington National Cemetery.
Members of the Twin Falls high school class of 1949 donated a bronze plaque with the names of alumni who died in WWII inscribed on it.
Ronald’s mother was Isabelle (Howatt,) brothers were Julian and Hugh, and sisters were Marion (Mrs. Hoyt Ray,) Violet (Mrs. Maclear), and Mildred (Mrs. Tom Hislop.)

He was survived by his wife, Patsy, and is buried in California. (Survivor information from September 1945 issue of Shipmate.)

Photographs

From the Daily News on December 22, 1937

Career

The Post-Register (Idaho Falls) in 1937 reported that Ronald had been in Shanghai since 1935 and that he was in Peking from 1926 to 1931. From 1932 to 1935 he was in Washington, D.C. In 1937, a Captain, he was the regimental intelligence officer for the 4th Marines.

In July 1941 (as a Major) he performed an "appraisal" of Japanese air combat tactics.

In 1943 he was identified as a Colonel and "had spent eight years in Peking and Shanghai on language, intelligence, diplomatic, and public-relations missions." He was involved in providing MAGIC diplomatic summaries to President Roosevelt.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.

January 1920

2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Norfolk, Virginia

Others at this command:

2LT Frederick Chappelle '20

2LT Stuart King '20

January 1921

2nd Lieutenant, USS New Hampshire

January 1922

2nd Lieutenant, USS Maryland

Others at this command:

2LT John Harris '23

2LT Donald Willis '24

January 1925

2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

Others at this command:

2LT John Harris '23

March 1925

2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

Others at this command:

2LT John Harris '23

May 1925

1st Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia

Others at this command:

CAPT Arthur Page, Jr. '18

2LT John Harris '23

July 1925

1st Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Parris Island, South Carolina

October 1925

1st Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Parris Island, South Carolina

January 1926

1st Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Parris Island, South Carolina

October 1926

1st Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Naval Station Cavite, Philippines