USAAC Lt. Ronald Hixon "Hardtack" Eddins was born in Pensacola, Florida on September 29, 1923, the son of George Martin Eddins Jr. (1891-1990) and Clara Mae Jackson (1898-1949). His father supported the family as a joiner at NAS Pensacola Civil Service out of their 1945 home at 1203 North Green Street. His sons would attend Pensacola High School with Ronald graduating in the Class of 1942. He was originally supposed to graduate in 1941, but on his way home from football practice his car was hit by a drunken sailor resulting in a broken leg. The injury put him one year behind his graduation class. Several months after graduation, Ronald married Helen Lee "Billie" Price Mondean (1927-1973) on October 31, 1942 in Pensacola, Florida. She was the daughter of Frank Marshall Mondeau (1902-1982) and Bessie Naomi Lewis (1909-1986).
When the war began, Ronald was working at Saufley Field for the Civil Service in a storeroom. But as the war progressed, more and more soldiers, sailors, and airmen were needed. So, Ronald enlisted in the US Army Air Corps on January 31, 1943 and was sent to Miami Beach, Florida for processing and orientation. Upon completion, he began his flight training that was offered in a series of phases culminating in his commission and silver wings as a bomber pilot on March 12, 1944. By the time he was shipped overseas, he had Helen established in a rented house at Rt. 3 Box 494A along with his one-year-old daughter Diane.
After the islands of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian were secured by the Marines in July 1944, the Navy Seabees went into a frenzy building or improving the airstrips on the newly captured islands. The purpose of securing these islands was to begin a full-scale bombing of the Japanese homeland. Tinian and Saipan were now close enough to Japan so that the heavy bombers could reach their target and return safely. As soon as the fields were operational, Lt. Eddins landed his B-29 bomber with his 1st Bomb Squadron, 9th Bomb Group that had been assigned to the 313th Bomb Wing of the 20th Air Force.
In April 1945, his squadron was ordered to bomb Japanese aircraft plants and the Kyushu airfields that were launching Kamikaze attacks against the Navy off of Okinawa. His brother Vernon (Pensacola High Class of 1943) was fighting on Okinawa with the 3rd Marine Division. But by May 18th, Ronald and the others were ordered to redirect their efforts to mine-laying operations. This entailed flying over the targets at night at 5,500 feet and dropping their mines over the Shimonoseki Straits, the harbors on Kyushu, and the northwest coast of Honshu. These areas were one of the most heavily defended targets in Japan. To this end, he and his crew revved up their engines on May 20th and jammed their throttles forward as they raced down the Tinian runway for a perfect liftoff. But for whatever reason, the veteran of fourteen bombing missions suddenly lost altitude and crashed on takeoff and was killed instantly.
His body was recovered from the wreckage and buried in the Tinian Cemetery until after the war. However, his parents had requested his body be shipped back to Pensacola so that he could be interred with his loved ones. In 1949, his remains were shipped home aboard the SS Sinnet along with Pensacolian USMC Leon E. Ryals, who had been killed in action on Okinawa. Upon arrival he was buried with military honors in the Bayview Cemetery.
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