Born in Hopkinton, and a 1943 graduate of Hopkinton High School, Ralph Kumlin, a veteran who served on Okinawa,  was a U.S. Marine, Pfc field radio operator and a member of the Underwater Demolition Team, participating in the assault and capture of Saipan and Tinian in the Mariana Islands, as well as the Ryukyu Islands and Okinawa. Jumbo was the only Recon Marine from Hopkinton – for which he was deservedly proud. This was a critical and dangerous responsibility.

 

As a member of the Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion of the 2nd Marine Division, Jumbo was in a specialized team of Marine and Navy Corpsmen that patrolled uncharted territory in a clandestine manner to gather secret information to help in forthcoming beach assaults. Kumlin operated from the USS Scribner which arrived off Okinawa with the invasion force on 26 March 1945, and that night began underwater demolition reconnaissance operations at Kerama Retto along with men from a sister ship. Scribner’s marines also examined the Eastern Islands and Menna Shima before disembarking on Okinawa on 18 April 1945.