Randolph Winchester was the son of Mr. And Mrs. John Winchester, of Ercildoun, Pennsylvania. On October 1, 1943 these parents received a telegram from the Navy Department that their son, Randolph, who enlisted in the Navy in August 1942, was missing in action. No further details were given and the Winchesters did not know what vessel their son was on or where the action occurred.   Additional information was received by the parents on November 3, 1944 that Randolph Winchester, 22, ship’s cook, 3rd class, Navy, was presumed dead.  He had been missing in action since September 25, 1943, when his ship, the U.S.S. Skill, a Minesweeper, was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Italy.

A letter from James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, to the Winchesters, read as follows.

Your son, Randolph Winchester, Ship’s Cook third class, United States Navy, has been carried on official records of the Navy Department as missing in action since September 25, 1943.  He was serving on board the U.S.S. Skill when that vessel was torpedoed and sunk while engaged in anti-submarine patrol off Salerno, Italy.  The severity of the explosion caused the ship to sink very rapidly. Several American vessels in the area proceeded quickly to the scene of action and rescued the survivors.