ABOUT US

 

The Ralph Broiles VFW Post 6563

Fontana, California

South from Tjilatjap | Naval History Magazine - April 2009 Volume 23, Number 2


 
On March 3, 1942, in the black waters of the Java Sea,
the American gunboat USS Asheville PG-21 stood alone against overwhelming Japanese naval forces.

Cut off from support.
Outgunned.
Outnumbered. 

Japanese heavy cruisers and destroyers closed in and opened fire. They would fire more than 300 shells at the Asheville.Steel and fire ripped into her hull. Her engines were crippled. Smoke poured skyward. Metal screamed. Men were wounded and dying at their stations.

And still
She fired back.
Her guns answered shot for shot.

Until the very end, the USS Asheville continued to return fire. Her crew stayed at their posts. They did not abandon their stations. They did not strike their colors. They did not surrender. She fought until she could fight no more. And then she slipped beneath the sea. Nearly her entire crew was lost, including Ralph Broiles, the man whose name our Post proudly carries.

Only one American sailor survived to tell the story.

They Knew the Odds

The men aboard the Asheville were not naive.
They understood what it meant when their engines failed.
They saw the flashes of enemy guns on the horizon.
 
They knew.
And they fought anyway.
That is courage.
 
Not the kind born of certainty 
but the kind born of duty. 

They chose to stand.

Why His Name Is on Our Charter 

Ralph Broiles was not seeking recognition.
He was not commanding a fleet.
He was an American sailor doing his duty in the face of impossible odds.
And when the moment came, he stood his watch.

That is the legacy we inherit.

Our Post. Our Standard.

VFW Post 6563 in Fontana, California does not carry that name lightly.
Fontana once known as "Steel Town” forged the steel that armed America in World War II.
This city helped build the machines of war that defended freedom across the globe.
One of those ships fought to the last shell.
We exist to remember men like that. 

We are veterans.
We are brothers and sisters who understand sacrifice.
We are committed to standing for veterans and their families especially when it is difficult. 

Because that is what the Asheville did.

She stood.

What We Fight For Now

Today, we fight different battles:

Helping veterans navigate the VA system, Supporting families in crisis, 
Preserving the rights earned through sacrifice, Serving the Fontana community Honoring the fallen.

We do it together.

And we do it with the memory of a ship that refused to quit.

The Lesson of the Asheville

Victory is not always measured in survival.

Sometimes it is measured in resolve.

The USS Asheville absorbed over 300 enemy shells.

But she answered with every round she had.

That is defiance.

That is honor.

That is the standard.

And that is why the name Ralph Broiles lives on in Fontana, California.


 


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