Memorials › 1LT Daniel Wesley "Wes" Richey Jr

1LT Daniel Wesley "Wes" Richey Jr

18 Jun 1917 – 1 Mar 1943

Birth	18 Jun 1917
Death	1 Mar 1943
Cemetery	Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Lemay Township , St. Louis County , Missouri , USA
Added by	Jami on 06 Dec 2008
FaG	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31996372

Bio

Daniel Wesley Richey, Jr. was the son of Theodocia Josephine Hodges Richey and Daniel Wesley Richey, Sr. He was born on Monday June 18, 1917 in Ragley, Beauregard Pa, LA. Wes graduated from Ragley High School and attended Southwestern Louisiana Institute (S.L.I.) where he majored in Agriculture. Upon completing his studies at S.L.I., he enlisted in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He trained at Sheppard Air Field at Wichita Falls, TX then took advanced training at McDill Air Field at Tampa, FL. Upon completing training as a bombadier, he was assigned as a training instructor at Barksdale Field near Shreveport, LA. Wes was sent to North Africa when the Americans were concentrating their fighting forces there. He was a member of the 432nd Bomb Squadron which was a unit of General Doolittle's command. The Army Air Corps was assisting the ground forces in Africa and also flying bombing missions to Europe to destroy enemy supply depots. Wes served as the bombadier on several of these missions. On Monday March 1, 1943 the crew was returning from a mission over Italy and were en route to destroy the La Hencha Bridge in Tunisia. While flying over Tunisia, the B26 was disabled by enemy anti-aircraft fire. A survivor later told Wes' parents, "When the plane was hit, I ordered everybody to bail out. Wes had his chute on and was ready to jump when he saw that some men were having trouble putting on their chutes. The chutes had become tangled when they were put on the plane and no one had noticed. Wes returned to the fuselage to help. He and the two men he was trying to help went down with the plane and were killed in the crash." The bodies of Lt. Daniel W. Richey, SSgt Robert L. Snyder, and SSgt Willard M. Reince were buried in a joint grave at Jefferson Barracks, just outside of St. Louis, MO. Wes was 25 years, 8 months, and 13 days old when he was killed. The crew members who bailed out were Capt. Allen E. Karstens, Lt. Eugene F. Wagner, Lt. Ralph W. Johnson, and SSgt Willard M. Mickleson. They were taken as prisoners of war by German soldiers of the Afrika Corps. For his bravery, Wes was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart. The Department of the Army sent a letter to Wes' parents which said, "It is regretted that because of the fact it was impossible individually to identify the remains of your son, you were deprived of the comfort and consolation which you might have been afforded by interring his remains at home. You are assured that the grave will always be cared for in a manner fully commensurate with the sacrifice your son has made for his country." NOTE; Much of this information was taken from "The Richeys of Ragley," a book written by his sister Carmel Richey Estaville.

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