1LT RICHARD S. SMITH, USAF

Class 1955

Born October 12, 1932

Died January 22, 1959

Age 26

Hometown Chicago, Illinois

Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1955 Lucky Bag:

RICHARD SHERWOOD SMITH

Dick was born in River Fall, Wisconsin, and since has globe-trotted over a large part of the country. For a while he lived in Cheyenne, Denver, and Minneapolis before moving to his present home in Chicago. In June of 1950 Dick graduated from Lane Technical High School in Chicago. He then attended Wright Junior College in the same city for one year before coming to the Naval Academy. During his periods of leave Dick liked to spend his time out of doors fishing, hunting, and skiing. In the past Dick spent a large part of his summers in northern Wisconsin and Canada on fishing and hunting trips.

Loss

Dick was lost on January 22, 1959 when the KB-50J refueling tanker he was co-piloting crashed shortly after takeoff from England Air Force base, Louisiana. All five other crewmen aboard also perished; they were members of the 622nd Air Refueling Squadron.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz: “At Lane Technical, he was known as Dick. National Honor Society, German Club, Spur and Saddle Club, Slide Rule Club, I. M. Sports. Richard received a congressional appointment to the Naval Academy.”

Richard was survived by his wife, Phyllis, daughter, and parents. He is buried in Louisiana.

Note: The Register of Alumni and a Class of 1955 decedent affairs representative both incorrectly list the date of his loss as January 1, 1958.

Photographs

From the Lucky Bag

From his high school yearbook

From The Daily Calumet on July 31, 1952

Class of 1955

Richard is one of 34 members of the Class of 1955 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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