Ragan-Hickman

Recently, research has been done due to increased interest in who the post namesakes are. The first namesake is Roy Ragan, who served in the Navy during World War 1 as a Seaman 2nd Class. He enlisted in the Navy in 1917 and was stationed aboard the USS Von Steuben, a troop transport with a unique history of its own. Ragan was lost at sea in September of 1918 during a hurricane when the ship was on a return trip to the US after delivering troops to France. The second namesake is Ira J Hickman, an Army Private First Class who served during World War 2. Ira J. Hickman was born on 11 January, 1906 and also lived in Mercer. He served in Company B, 750^th Military Police (MP) Battalion. Hickman died of an accidental gunshot wound to the leg while stationed in Oregon (he actually passed away in Vancouver Washington but was stationed in North Portland Oregon) on 28 May, 1942. He was brought back to Mercer and buried in the Early Cemetery in rural Mercer, Missouri.

The above research has been done by ladies in the Legion Auxiliary and by the current Legion Historian Greg Frost (2021-2022).

If anyone reading this has any further information about the post namesakes, please reply on the post Facebook page. We would love to learn more about who our post is named for.

Roy Ragan’s Ship – USS Von Steuben

One of the namesakes of the Mercer American Legion Post, Roy Ragan, was a sailor aboard the USS Von Steuben, a troopship that carried soldiers to France during World War 1. Ragan died at sea in 1918 when he was swept overboard during a hurricane when the ship was returning to the US from a trip to France where it had delivered troops. The ship had a unique story of its own.

The Von Steuben began as the Kronprinz Wilhelm, a passenger liner built in Stettin, Germany in 1901. The ship served as a commerce raider (an armed merchant ship that attacked enemy merchant vessels) from the start of World War 1 until April of 1915, when it was interned in the United States. It was held in the United States until April of 1917, when the US entered the war. The ship was seized, turned over to the US Navy, and was converted to a troopship. It entered service in September of 1917 as the USS Von Steuben.

During the ship’s service, it made 9 round-trips to France to deliver US personnel. The ship also survived a collision with another American ship, assisted an ammunition ship that had exploded, escaped a German U-boat attack, endured a storm in which 3 men were lost (including Ragan), and lost almost 3 dozen men in a flu outbreak.

After the war, the Von Steuben brought thousands of Americans home. The ship served in commercial service until 1923, when it was scrapped.

Source: https://www.shipscribe.com/usnaux/ww1/ships/id3017.htm

Like other posts, ours has had a variety of members, which is what makes our military, our Legion, and our country so rich. Our post has had (or still has) a Judge, a Teacher, Factory Workers, Carpenters, Mechanics, Active Career Military Personnel Still On Duty, Business Owners, and of course, in our rural agricultural area, many Farmers. Our post has had members serve in all branches of the military except the Coast Guard in a variety of specialties from Infantry to Communications to Transportation. Gunner's Mates, Paratroopers, Special Forces, and many others have made up the membership of our post. Our members have served in World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Iraqi Freedom. Just like all other Legion Posts, our members answered the call to serve in times of war and have answered that call again to serve our great country via the Legion.

Our post is very community minded. Our activities focus on serving veterans and serving people in our community and nearby communities. Whether we are helping veterans with VA paperwork or simply providing comradeship when we meet, when we give scholarships to local high school graduates, or when we have a Christmas party which provides gifts for many local children, our activities provide for people in our community. We provide our community and surrounding communities a place to dispose of old, unserviceable flags and we honour veterans every year with a program on Veterans Day. We place flags and markers on veterans' graves and provide funeral honours when a veteran passes away. Our members provide hundreds of hours of volunteer service in our community and in nearby communities. We are small but we do many things for our community. While it may or may not be unique, we consider being community minded a strength of our post.