Dale Wayne (photo) RICHARDSON
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Additional RICHARDSON Surnames in FLATWOODS Cemetery
Additional RICHARDSON Surnames in STONE County
RICHARDSON, Audie AlbertRICHARDSON, Ava JaneRICHARDSON, Belzia EzeliaRICHARDSON, CatherineRICHARDSON, CarlosRICHARDSON, Connie MaeRICHARDSON, Connie Mae (photo)RICHARDSON, CrestonRICHARDSON, D WRICHARDSON, Davis BRICHARDSON, David WilliamRICHARDSON, DorothyRICHARDSON, Dollie ERICHARDSON, Dona TRICHARDSON, Dona V.RICHARDSON, Drucilla ORICHARDSON, Drucilla (photo)RICHARDSON, Earl ERICHARDSON, Earl E (original stone)RICHARDSON, Fay ARICHARDSON, General JacksonRICHARDSON, GradenRICHARDSON, Harold ARICHARDSON, Infant SonRICHARDSON, J DRICHARDSON, Jasper HRICHARDSON, Jerry DaleRICHARDSON, Julia ARICHARDSON, Lilbern CorneliousRICHARDSON, Lloyd JuliousRICHARDSON, M. EthelRICHARDSON, MaryRICHARDSON, Margarette EvalineRICHARDSON, Mary DeeRICHARDSON, Mary "Jane"RICHARDSON, Mary ElizabethRICHARDSON, MarvinRICHARDSON, Navada CRICHARDSON, Oral A.RICHARDSON, RoxieRICHARDSON, RoyRICHARDSON, Walter ARICHARDSON, WilliamRICHARDSON, Winnie HazelRICHARDSON, Zola
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Submitted: 10/23/17 • Approved: 12/5/20 • Last Updated: 12/8/20 • R1199760-G0-S3
MAJOR US Army
2nd Armored Cavalry
Vietnam
May 5, 1941 - May 2, 1970
Dale Wayne Richardson was born on May 5, 1941, in Stone County, Ark., to Carl and Edith (Lancaster) Richardson.
He attended public schools in Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois graduated from White Hall, Ill., High School in 1959, and attended Western Illinois University.
Dale was a skilled musician and amateur chemist, and had a life-long fascination with all types of aircraft. Vision restrictions prevented him from becoming a pilot, yet he was a decorated marksman.
Dale joined the United States Army in May 1961 and was assigned to the 2nd Armored Cavalry in Germany, where he worked on secret defense contingency plans at the height of the Cold War.
He graduated from the Field Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Okla. in 1966, and was promoted to lieutenant. He then joined the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor in Vietnam and served in combat until August 1967. He reenlisted for another two years and, following his marriage, returned to Vietnam and was finishing a second tour in the spring of 1970.
On April 30, 1970, President Richard Nixon announced a US incursion into Cambodia to destroy supplies stockpiled there by the North Vietnamese. On May 2, then-Captain Richardson was a passenger on a UH-1H (“Huey”) helicopter on a routine resupply mission in South Vietnam. The crew didn’t know that Dale was in fact carrying classified paperwork regarding the Cambodia operation. Ironically, bad weather forced the aircraft into Cambodian airspace, and it was hit by enemy fire. The Huey landed in a rice field, and all passengers disembarked and took cover; as the enemy charged the site, several soldiers returned fire.
One man made his way to a U.S. base camp after several days in the jungle, two died as prisoners-of-war, and two POWs were released in 1973.
Dale and two others were listed as missing in action until their remains were found together near the crash site and identified in January 2015. Dale had lost his life on that fateful day in 1970, three days before his 29th birthday. He was promoted posthumously to the rank of major.
Dale married Dianne (Leum) Anderson of Wisconsin on June 15, 1968, and had lived in Cashton and Sparta, Wis. In the 44 years between Dale’s death and the discovery of his remains, his father, mother, wife, and brother-in-law, Richard Bowles, passed away.
Surviving are Dale’s brother, Larry (Marianne) Richardson, Rochester, N.Y.; sister, Nancy Bowles, Jefferson City, Mo.; daughters, Jacqueline (Brent) Garberg, Ramsey, Minn.; and Gloria (Nick) Vranak, Dallas, Texas; grandchildren, Melissa and Amanda Vranak, Ariana and Adam Olson, and Levi Garberg; nephew and niece, John and Meaghan Richardson; and many cousins and other extended family.
MAJ Richardson’s remains are scheduled to arrive at Little Rock, Ark., on Thursday, August 27, and be escorted to Mountain View, Ark. Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 29, at 2:00 p.m. at Flatwoods Missionary Baptist Church in Mountain View. Borne by U.S. Army pallbearers, Dale will be accorded full military honors and interred near his parents in Flatwoods Cemetery.
In 1979, an MIA marker was erected in MAJ Richardson’s memory at Arlington National Cemetery. Common remains of the three soldiers recovered recently in Cambodia will be interred together at Arlington on October 20, 2015, with high honors. The public is invited to attend.
Dale’s family deeply appreciates the Department of Defense’s decades-long search for Dale’s remains.
They thank the U.S. Army Casualty Assistance Centers and ceremonial personnel, the congregation of Flatwoods Church, Mountain View VFW Post 4766, Patriot Riders, Arkansas Highway Patrol, local law enforcement, and Roller Coffman- Crouch Funeral Home for their support and assistance.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Vietnam Veterans of America.
Contributed on 10/23/17 by sandhollow
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Record #: 1199760