Page Keith is 'Home to Stay'
Ralls Marine, Killed In Korea, Is Buried In 'Land of Dreams'
By Kenneth May
Avalanche Staff Writer
RALLS, July 22 — An American solider was buried today in the soil he would have liked to farm.
His body was lowered into its grave shortly before 2:30 p.m. as his nation's flag flew at half mast above his head.
Sgt. Page L. Keith was his name. It could have been Smith, or Davis, or O'Mahoney, or any one of the thousands of others who gave their lives fighting a "stalemate war" in a place called Korea.
They buried his body with a prayer that his death May 28 will not have been in vain. The Stars and Stripes, which draped his coffin, was carefully folded and presented by a military escort to his father, Raleigh I. Keith of Ralls.
Marines Pay Honor
"We commit his body to its final resting place and commend his spirit to God." said a chaplain, Seven Marines fired a military salute.
For most of his 22 years, Page Keith had dreams of football and of hunting and fishing of earning a living, and of the girl who would be especially his.
But dreams are funny things. And Page Keith's never came true.
He was graduated from Ralls High School in 1948, spent a few months at Highland University in Las Vegas, N.M., and joined the U.S. Marine Corps on Feb. 5, 1951.
Trained Recruits
"He was training recruits at Camp Pendleton, Calif.," said his father. "He could have stayed there, but he volunteered for Korea.""If he had only stayed," said a friend.
"That's all past now," replied the father. "He was hoping to come back here and go to farming. He had it all planned, in his dreams."
When he was seven years old, Page's mother died. From then until the time he finished high school, he lived with his father and spent a lot of time in the home of his grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Page of Ralls.
He liked football, in which he starred as quarterback, and he liked to hunt and fish with his father during their summer trips to Las Vegas. When it came time for him to serve his country, he chose the Marines.
Never Without Smile
His father went to California last Nov. 19 to see him leave. Page flashed the smile a friend said was always on his face and left to fight a war.
"I never saw him without that smile," said a friend. "I wouldn't have known what to think if I had."
Page hadn't expected to die. He had plans for himself and unofficially, they included a girl he had met while he was in school. But, just in case, he requested that, if he didn't make it back, the Marines be called to conduct his final services.
So that was why an honor guard of Marines was flown from Dallas today to stand near his grave as a small band of relatives and friends gathered in the Ralls Cemetery.
Hit By Shrapnel
Keith was killed when in the Korean semi-darkness of May 28, he raised his head slightly above the hatch on his tank to better see how to direct the three tanks under his command. Enemy fire struck nearby and a small piece of shrapnel hit the young sergeant in the forehead. He died almost instantly.Another Marine accompanied his body back to Ralls and stayed until Keith was buried almost within sight of the gridiron on (rest of article not scanned)
Survivors include the father, of Ralls; two sisters, Mrs. Joyce Kahler of Ralls and Ruth DeRema Keith of Tadlena, N.M.; his stepmother, Mrs. Gladys Keith of Tadlena; his grandmothers, Mrs. Page and Mrs. Ira Keith, both of Ralls; two paternal aunts, Mrs. W.A. Martin and Mrs. C.J. Hollingsworth, both of Lubbock; two maternal aunts, Mrs. Nobe Vriend of Pittsburg, Calif., and Mrs. Ola Kennedy of Grady, N.M., uncles M.M. Page and Frank Page, both of Lubbock; and Clyde Keith of Denver City.
Out of town relatives and friends here for services included: Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Keith, Carolyn and David, Denver City; Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Martin, Bruce Martin, Margie McQuarty, Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Hollingsworth, Billy Hollingsworth and Elaine Portwood, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Evans, Mr. and Mrs. J.L. Bridwell, Dr. and Mrs. W.C. Snow, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Page, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Smith, Mrs. Ferguson, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Vessey, Mr. and Mrs. J.N. Payne, Mrs. Charlie Chambers, J.C. Chambers, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Kennedy, and Mr. and Mrs. M.M. Page, all of Lubbock.
Miss Virginia Reid, Canyon; Mr. and Mrs. Don Hickham, Dallas; Rev. W.R. Derr, Abilene; Mr. and Mrs. Prentice Onstott of Idalou; Mr. and Mrs. A.B. Exum and Mr. and Mrs. George Strange of Crosbyton; Mrs. Lute Ellis, Bob and Ellis Brown and Mr. and Mrs. Joe (rest of article not scanned)
©Lubbock Avalanche Journal, July 22, 1953
Sgt. Keith Laid To Rest
RALLS — Services for Sgt. Page L. Keith, 22, of Ralls were held at Ralls First Methodist church at 3 p.m., Sunday. Rev. W.A. Appling, pastor officiated, assisted by Rev. James Abernethy, Baptist pastor. "All Is Well," "Does Jesus Care" and "Sweet Bye and Bye" were sung by the choir.
Page Larkin Keith, son of Raleigh Keith of Ralls and the late Mrs. Eunice Page Keith of Ralls, was born in Ralls Aug 9, 1930. After his mother passed away in 1937, he lived a number of years in the home of his maternal grandparents, Mrs. Sarah Ann Page and the late S.W. Page.
He graduated from Ralls high school in 1948, where he was a star quarterback on the Jackrabbit football team. After graduation from high school, he went to Las Vegas, N.M., where he attended Highlands University for almost two years.
A girl friend, Miss Virginia Reid of Canyon, who also attended the University later visited in Ralls with Keith. Miss Reid spent the past week here and and attended funeral services.
While in New Mexico he was employed by the Las Vegas Public Service company. He returned to Ralls and enlisted in the Marines in February, 1951. He trained at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and was stationed there until Nov. 19, 1952 when he sailed for Korea and served on the front line most of the time for several months. At Camp Pendleton he volunteered for service in Korea. He was commander of three tanks in Co. B, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division. He was killed instantly on Vegas hill May 28, when he raised his head above the opened hatch on his tank to better see how to direct his command. A sliver of shrapnel hit him in the forehead. Page often mentioned in letters he hoped to be home by Christmas, 1953 and planned to farm here.
His father went to California to see him leave for overseas. On his last visit home he told his sister, Mrs. Joyce Keith Kahler, if anything should happen to him to have Marines conduct his final rites. That is why an honor guard of Marines was flown from Dallas to conduct graveside services yesterday at 2 p.m.
Six Marines acted as pallbearers for the casket and held the American flag above the casket while Chaplain J. Bond E. Johnson of Camp Pendleton, Calif., a former Texan and a life-long friend of Mrs. Gladys Keith, read military rites. The Marines fired a three gun salute, the pallbearers folded the flag, presented it to the escort, T/Sgt. Cyril Gonzales of San Francisco, who accompanied Keith's body here. The sergeant presented the flag to the father.
Taps was sounded by Roger Flowers, a Ralls high school student.
Close friends of Keith who were pallbearers for the civilian service stood by the Marines during graveside services. They were: Bill Mayes, who served with the 1st Marine Division during World War II, Bill Gilbreath, USN, now in service, Wright Carlisle, Odell Heathingotn, Duane Norris and B.L. Anderson.
Survivors include the father, of Ralls; two sisters, Mrs. Joyce Kahler of Ralls and Ruth DeRema Keith of Tadlena, N.M.; his stepmother, Mrs. Gladys Keith of Toadlena; his grandmothers, Mrs. Page and Mrs. Ira Keith, both of Ralls; two paternal aunts, Mrs. W.A. Martin and Mrs. C.J. Hollingsworth, both of Lubbock; two maternal aunts, Mrs. Nobe Vriend of Pittsburg, Calif., and Mrs. Ola Kennedy of Grady, N.M., uncles M.M. Page and Frank Page, both of Lubbock; and Clyde Keith of Denver City.
Out of town relatives and friends here for services included: Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Keith, Carolyn and David, Denver City; Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Martin, Bruce Martin, Margie McQuarty, Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Hollingsworth, Billy Hollingsworth and Elaine Portwood, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Evans, Mr. and Mrs. J.L. Bridwell, Dr. and Mrs. W.C. Snow, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Page, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Smith, Mrs. Ferguson, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Vessey, Mr. and Mrs. J.N. Payne, Mrs. Charlie Chambers, J.C. Chambers, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Kennedy, and Mr. and Mrs. M.M. Page, all of Lubbock.
Miss Virginia Reid, Canyon; Mr. and Mrs. Don Hickham, Dallas; Rev. W.R. Derr, Abilene; Mr. and Mrs. Prentice Onstott of Idalou; Mr. and Mrs. A.B. Exum and Mr. and Mrs. George Strange of Crosbyton; Mrs. Lute Ellis, Bob and Ellis Brown and Mr. and Mrs. Joe (rest of article not scanned)
©Lubbock Avalanche Journal, July 23, 1953
Submitted by Ralls Historical Museum
Photo's submitted by Grace Ashley
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