Project 888

USS Indianapolis CA-35

Lost At Sea

Cleo RANDOLPH

Name: Cleo RANDOLPH Rank / Rating: STM1-Steward Service #: 896 69 73 DOB: Apr 05, 1915 From: Lawrence County, MS Parents: Went Aboard: Dec 30, 1944 Age When Ship Went Down: 30 years, 3 months, 25 days Spouse: Harriett Randolph Children: Grandchildren: Bio Submitted By: Jane Gwinn Goodall	Photo(s) Needed
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There is some discrepancy in the birthdate for Cleo Randolph. The Social Security Death Index lists his birthdate as 4 April 1914. His draft card says he was born on 5 April 1915 in Lawrence County, Mississippi. Specifically, the town of Arm, Mississippi, is listed as his place of residence at the time of the draft. Arm is an unincorporated town in Lawrence County approximately 70 miles southeast of Jackson, Mississippi. According to 1940 Census records, he worked full-time as a farmer and was married to Harriett Randolph. They lived on the "Road Up to Rose Hill Church" in Sand Hill, Mississippi. There were no children listed in the 1940 census.
Randolph registered for the draft on 16 October 1940. After enlisting in the U.S. Navy, he was received on USS Indianapolis (CA-35) as a Steward’s Mate First Class on 30 December 1944. He was sent from the Training and Distribution Center at Camp Elliott, San Diego, California. Randolph was one of five Steward’s Mates who were received aboard on 30 December 1944. The others were Joseph Berry, Jr., Joe Walker Hill, Jimmie Lee Hollingsworth, and Henry Jordan. Cleo Randolph helped earn two of Indy’s ten Battle Stars by participating in the Iwo Jima Operations and Fifth Fleet Raids against Honshu and the Nansei Shoto in February and March 1945, as well as the Battle of Okinawa on 31 March 1945. Randolph was 30 years of age when the ship was fatally hit and sunk by two torpedoes from the Japanese Submarine I-58. His wife, Mrs. Harriett Randolph, living in Silver Creek, Mississippi at the time of his death was listed as his next of kin and notified of his status among the 879 men who were Lost-at-Sea.

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Cleo RANDOLPH, STM1-Steward, was one of 28 African-American men who were members of the Steward Branch, the only division on the ship in which there was not a single survivor. The restricted duties of the Steward Branch were to serve the officers of the ship, including the admiral's and captain's wardrooms, dining areas and sleeping quarters. The services were essential to the smooth and efficient running of Indianapolis. Many of Indianapolis's African-American crew members voluntarily performed duties as gunners' mates, assigned to a specific battle station as one complete unit. More details about the valuable service of these men can be found by reading the book: 'Heroes in the Shadows: The Untold Story of the African American Sailors Aboard USS Indianapolis (CA-35)', by Jane Gwinn Goodall, with contributions from Janice Alston and Arlene Taylor (Henry Jackson, StM1), Jeanette Pitts, M.D. (Albert Rice, StM1), and Jacqueline Dugan and Ernestine Peete (Magellan Williams, StM1).