Project 888
Name: Albert RICE
Rank / Rating: STM1-Steward's Mate First ClassService #: 866 93 91 DOB: Jun 11, 1925 From: Kansas City, KS Parents: W.K. Rice and Charlotte Lockridge Went Aboard: Apr 28, 1944 Age When Ship Went Down: 20 years, 1 months, 19 days Spouse: Children: Grandchildren: Bio Submitted By: Family |
 RICE, Albert |
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Albert Rice, affectionately referred to as "Bud" by his family, and his twin Alberta were born on 11 June 1925 to Charlotte Lockridge and W.K. Rice in Kansas City, Kansas.
After the relationship with Albert's father ended, Charlotte later united with John Miles Pitts. Three additional children were born of this union - Madeline, Lee Roy, and Evelyn. Albert and his siblings were raised in the multicultural Kaw Valley Industrial District, in Wyandotte County, Kansas. This area was better known as the West Bottoms. His great-grandparents had migrated to Kansas from Tennessee in the late 1870s at the end of the Post Civil War Reconstruction Era. It was a colorful, yet complicated riverbank neighborhood to which African Americans from the Southern U.S. and immigrants from the Caribbean, Mexico, and Europe came because of the prevalence of jobs in the stockyards, packing houses, and metalworks industry.
Thus, although Albert’s formal schooling was segregated, he had daily interactions with persons from other races and religions throughout his childhood.
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| Albert’s mother, Charlotte died when he was 12 years old. Though well past the normal age of childrearing, Charlotte’s oldest sister, Lydia and her husband, Isom Love, voluntarily took in all five children whose ages ranged from 2 to 12 years. Early on Albert accepted a leadership role within the family. He was a faithful big brother. From the time his brother Lee Roy was very young, Albert took him along to do chores, teaching him how to pack water and safely use a double-bladed ax to chop wood to make a fire. He watched over Lee Roy as a big brother sharing wisdom that might have otherwise come from a father. He also admonished Lee not to partake in the risky behaviors of others such as hopping trains or tying an inner tube around his waist to float in the river. Lee Roy recalls, "At that time there was no other place for minorities to swim." Although Albert had learned to swim in the river, "He wanted to make sure I didn’t go in at my young age. I wasn’t surprised when he went into the Navy because I knew he could swim. He was a good swimmer." Albert was very artistic and was known to spend what little free time he had drawing. He was also very athletic. Decades after Albert’s death, a former classmate was reminiscing and remarked to one of Albert’s siblings on what a good baseball player Albert was. He was very conscientious about becoming independent to ease the burden on the family. Before his departure for the military, he worked at the U.S. Meat Packing Company in Kansas City, Kansas, and in doing so was also able to contribute to the family. Albert had a family history of military service. His maternal great grandfather, Robert Lockridge, served in the U.S. Colored Troops Heavy Artillery regiments during the Civil War; his maternal uncle, Thomas Lockridge, served in the U.S. Army in Europe during WW I; and a cousin, Emmett Lockridge, enlisted in the U.S. Army in October 1943. Albert voluntarily registered for the draft on 14 June 1943, just three days after his 18th birthday. He named his aunt, Lydia Love, as the person who would always know his address. Albert enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 11 October 1943, was sent to Great Lakes Naval Base for basic training and assigned to USS Indianapolis (CA-35). He began his service on Indy on 28 April 1944 as Steward’s Mate Second Class, received from the Navy Barracks in Shoemaker, California. He was promoted to Steward’s Mate First Class on 1 October 1944. Albert served under two captains, Einar R. Johnson (6 July 1943 - 18 November 1944), and Charles B. McVay III (18 November 1944 - 30 July 1945). He participated in five of the ten Battle Stars earned by Indy, beginning with the Marianas Operation and the capture of Saipan/Guam. He was 20 years of age when the ship was sunk. Despite the loss of Albert’s life, multiple family members through subsequent generations have maintained the family tradition of military service. His brother Lee Roy Pitts served in the Air Force in Japan and Korea during the Korean Conflict. His sisters’ sons served in the armed forces during the Vietnam era. Evelyn’s son, Michael Pitts, served in the Army, and Alberta’s son, Alvin Lewis served in the Navy. Emmett Lockridge III, the grandson of his maternal uncle Alfred Lockridge, was admitted to West Point. Lee Roy Pitts has kept memories of Albert alive within the family. Albert continues to be a much-loved uncle in the hearts and minds of the nieces and nephews who never met him in body but love and respect him in spirit. On 11 June 2015, on what would have been Albert Rice’s 92nd birthday, the beloved brother and uncle was honored by the Second Watch Organization with a U.S. flag flown over the USS Indianapolis CA-35 National Memorial in Indianapolis, IN. After the flag was lowered, it was carefully folded and sent to Albert’s brother. "Knowing that Albert is still at sea, it means much to our family to have a flag flown during his birthday weekend to honor his service," the family wrote in expressing their appreciation to the Second Watch for initiating the flag program. | |
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 | Albert RICE, STM1-Steward's Mate First Class, 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). |
