Richard was the son of James Thomas and Lorena Ransom Sargent. His father died in 1929, and Richard moved with his remaining family to North Girard, now known as Lake City. He graduated from Girard's Rice Avenue Union High School. He enlisted in the United States Army following one year of college and joined the Army Air Corps. From September through December of 1942, he was at Air Corps technical School, Keesler Field, Mississippi. In September of 1943, Richard had earned his Sergeant's stripes and was stationed with the 604th Bomb Squadron at Wendover Field in Wendover, Utah. In December of 1943, he was deployed overseas. On April 16, 1944 a B-24 Liberator crewed by airmen, including Richard, was returning to the aerodrome at Nadzab, New Guinea, after bombing enemy targets near Hollandia. The Liberator was altering course due to bad weather and was proceeding to the aerodrome in Saidor, but it never returned. In 2001, the US Embassy in Papua New Guinea notified the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, (JPAC), that wreckage of a World War II bomber had been found in Morobe Province. Early the next year, a JPAC team surveyed the site and found wreckage and remains of the Airmen who were aboard the Liberator named "Here Tis".
He is buried here with his fellow crewmates in a common grave. He is also buried in his hometown at Girard Cemetery and his name is on Manila American (ABMC) Cemetery and Memorial .
He is buried here with his fellow crewmates in a common grave. He is also buried in his hometown at Girard Cemetery and his name is on Manila American (ABMC) Cemetery and Memorial .
Richard was the son of James Thomas and Lorena Ransom Sargent. His father died in 1929, and Richard moved with his remaining family to North Girard, now known as Lake City. He graduated from Girard's Rice Avenue Union High School. He enlisted in the United States Army following one year of college and joined the Army Air Corps. From September through December of 1942, he was at Air Corps technical School, Keesler Field, Mississippi. In September of 1943, Richard had earned his Sergeant's stripes and was stationed with the 604th Bomb Squadron at Wendover Field in Wendover, Utah. In December of 1943, he was deployed overseas. On April 16, 1944 a B-24 Liberator crewed by airmen, including Richard, was returning to the aerodrome at Nadzab, New Guinea, after bombing enemy targets near Hollandia. The Liberator was altering course due to bad weather and was proceeding to the aerodrome in Saidor, but it never returned. In 2001, the US Embassy in Papua New Guinea notified the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, (JPAC), that wreckage of a World War II bomber had been found in Morobe Province. Early the next year, a JPAC team surveyed the site and found wreckage and remains of the Airmen who were aboard the Liberator named "Here Tis".
He is buried here with his fellow crewmates in a common grave. He is also buried in his hometown at Girard Cemetery and his name is on Manila American (ABMC) Cemetery and Memorial .
He is buried here with his fellow crewmates in a common grave. He is also buried in his hometown at Girard Cemetery and his name is on Manila American (ABMC) Cemetery and Memorial .
Inscription
TSGT, US ARMY AIR FORCES WORLD WAR II
