WW2 & Vietnam Fallen - James Ranstead + his son

Cpl. James Ranstead served in the US Army in the Philippines. His namesake son served in the US Marines in Vietnam.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57663704/james-terry-ranstead
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57663735/james-terry-ranstead 

James Terry Ranstead never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

If you have enjoyed reading the stories of the WW2 fallen, I invite you to help write some!  Announcing "The Stories Behind the Stars", see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org This crowd-sourced national project has the goal of compiling stories of all 400,000+ of the US World War 2 fallen in one free-to-access central database.  Anyone visiting a war memorial or gravesite will be able to scan the name of the fallen with a smartphone and his story will appear on the phone.

He was born on February 17, 1920 in Cleveland, Oklahoma. His parents Chester and Thelma were born in Missouri and Oklahoma, respectively. His father worked as a farmer and later worked at a saw mill. James had one older sister and one younger sister. By 1940 James had completed three years of high school and worked as a driver for a hauling company while still living at home. He married Nell Olene Gordon in 1941. They had a daughter, and a son who was named after James.

He was drafted into the army on May 27, 1944. He became a tech 5 in the 1111 Transportation Corps Composite Company which by 1945 was in Leyte, Philippines.

On February 2, 1945 Cpl. Ranstead and two other men were given the assignment of retrieving a boat that had drifted offshore and he drowned.

His grave is at Fairview Cemetery in Vinita, Oklahoma. His widow remarried and died in 2002.

His son James Terry Ranstead was not drafted during the Vietnam War, but volunteered anyway, serving in the US Marine Corps. He enlisted on May 28, 1967 - 23 years and one day from the date his father joined the military. Just like his father, James had a son and a daughter. He became a second lieutenant in Company G, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. He arrived in Vietnam on December 31, 1967. While on a combat patrol, he was killed on January 22, 1968 by a tripped mine.

Lt. Ranstead is buried in the same cemetery as his father at the same plot location.

Thank you James Ranstead, father and son, for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for the Ransteads.

Last year on this date I profiled D-Day fallen Clarence Malott, 1st Infantry Division. You can read about Clarence here.

On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!

I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.

Follow on Twitter @ww2fallen100
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100

WW2 Fallen 100 is supported by

The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation

“Where Every Day is Memorial Day”

http://www.tggf.org