RALPH C. CARROLL, ENS, USN

Ralph Carroll '24

Date of birth: September 1, 1901

Date of death: October 18, 1925

Age: 24

Lucky Bag

From the 1924 Lucky Bag:

RALPH CLEMENT CARROLL

Fall River, Massachusetts

"Dixie"

NO, this fair "Dixie" does not hail from the "fair Southland", but rather from the icy north, the name merely being a tradition for all Carrolls. Coming from Massachusetts, he is, of course, a savoir and therefore expended little time or worry on the Academics. Plebe year his yodelling ability and winning smile made him a necessary part of every upper-classman's entertainment and all his Sunday dinners were booked far in advance. June Week found him well versed in the ways and traditions of the Navy and the cruise made him one of the charter members of the Michigan's alley gang.

His social activities and triumphs on the cruises were many and no doubt such names as Knstiania, Lisbon, Panama and San Juan will always hold an important place in his reminiscences. Although he's not a confirmed dragee, no hop is quite complete without his smiling countenance and each year shows an increasing tendency on his part to better acquaint himself with the fairer sex.

Class Wrestling (4); Class Lacrosse (3); Gymkhana (3, 2, 1).

RALPH CLEMENT CARROLL

Fall River, Massachusetts

"Dixie"

NO, this fair "Dixie" does not hail from the "fair Southland", but rather from the icy north, the name merely being a tradition for all Carrolls. Coming from Massachusetts, he is, of course, a savoir and therefore expended little time or worry on the Academics. Plebe year his yodelling ability and winning smile made him a necessary part of every upper-classman's entertainment and all his Sunday dinners were booked far in advance. June Week found him well versed in the ways and traditions of the Navy and the cruise made him one of the charter members of the Michigan's alley gang.

His social activities and triumphs on the cruises were many and no doubt such names as Knstiania, Lisbon, Panama and San Juan will always hold an important place in his reminiscences. Although he's not a confirmed dragee, no hop is quite complete without his smiling countenance and each year shows an increasing tendency on his part to better acquaint himself with the fairer sex.

Class Wrestling (4); Class Lacrosse (3); Gymkhana (3, 2, 1).

Loss

From "The Irony of Legal Pluralism in U.S. Occupations" in the AHR (American History Review) Forum by Alan McPherson:

ON THE EVENING OF OCTOBER 17, 1925, U.S. Navy ensign Ralph Carroll ran down the streets of Port-au-Prince. Inebriated and out of uniform, he was chasing a Haitian man who was helping two women escape Carroll’s apparent amorous overtures. Carroll caught up with them, berating them in English, and beat the man with his fists while the Haitians pleaded in Kreyol that they did not understand him. A twenty-one-year-old carpenter, Azard Fecui, happened upon the group with two friends. Scandalized that his fellow Haitian had failed to put up a fight against the white sailor, Fecui stabbed Carroll. The thirteen-inch cut, two inches deep in some places, sliced Carroll from his underarm to his abdomen and punctured his brachial artery. Blood gushed everywhere. The Haitians fled the scene. Carroll stumbled, then fell thirty-seven yards down a cliff. He was likely dead before he hit bottom.

Indeed, the cause of death was given as "knife wound of auxiliary artery." (The date of death was also noted as October 18, 1925.)

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Ralph graduated from the B. M. C. Durfee High School in 1918. He was next employed as a shipfitters’ helper at the navy yard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was nominated to the Naval Academy by Senator David I. Walsh.
His father James ran a grocery store and died in June 1922. His mother was Mary, and brother Edward.

He was serving aboard USS Whipple (DD 217) at the time.

Ralph is buried in Massachusetts.