Richard Thomas King
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Richard Thomas King (10 October 1908 — 29 December 1995) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force.
Early life[edit]
Richard T. King was born on October 10, 1908 in Georgetown, South Carolina. King graduated from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina in 1929 and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1933. At West Point, he was played football, earning a spot on the 1932 College Football All-America Team and held the rank of Cadet Captain in the Corps of Cadets. He married Claire Elizabeth Swanson.[1]
Career[edit]
Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy, King was commissioned an infantry officer in the United States Army.[2][not in citation given] He entered Primary Flying Training at Randolph Field in October 1933 and graduated from Advanced Flying Training at Kelly Field in 1934. He entered the Air Corps Technical School at Chanute Field, Ill., in September 1936, graduated in June 1935, and joined the 99th Bomb Squadron at Mitchel Field, N.Y.
King served with the 44th Reconnaissance Squadron and 74th Bombardment Squadron at Albrook Field in the Panama Canal Zone. He assumed command of the 44th Reconnaissance Squadron in October 1941 at Atkinson Field, British Guiana, going to San Juan, Puerto Rico the following January where he served with the Air Task Force, Eighth Fighter Command and was a member of the staff of Caribbean Sea Frontier, successively.
Ordered to Washington, D.C., in April 1943, King was assigned as a member of the Latin American Theatre Group, War Department General Staff, and was assigned as an operations officer in January 1944. He assumed command of the 500th Bomb Group at Walker Field, Kan, April 1944. In October 1994, King deployed the group to Saipan. On Dec. 3, 1944, he was the aircraft commander of a B-29, "Rosalia Rocket," that took off from Isley Field on Saipan and was shot down by Japanese fighters north of Tokyo. He was captured by the Japanese and became a prisoner of war.[3] He was released Aug. 29, 1945 and assumed command of the 498th Bomb Group at MacDill Field, Fla. In February 1946, he entered the Air War College at Maxwell Field, Ala., and graduated in June 1947.
King joined the Strategic Air Command ad the director of personnel and administrative services at SAC Headquarters, Andrews Field, Washington, D.C., and moved with the headquarters to Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., in October 1948. He assumed command of Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico, in August 1950, and later became deputy commander of the [[55th Wing]. In August 1951, he went to England as chief of staff of the Seventh Air Division and graduated from the National War College in Washington, D.C., in June 1953.
Upon graduation from National War College, King was assigned to Air Force Headquarters as Assistant Chief of the Policy Division, Directorate of Plans, in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and became Chief of the Policy Division in May 1954.
King’s final assignment was Chief of the Air Force Section of Joint Brazil-U.S. Military Commission and Chief of the Air Force Section of the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 1959 to 1962.
Later life and death[edit]
Upon retirement from the Air Force, the Kings relocated to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In 1977, King was elected to the Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame.[4] He died on December 29, 1995 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Georgetown, South Carolina.
Education[edit]
- The Citadel, 1929
- United States Military Academy, 1933
- Air War College, 1947
- National War College, 1953
Awards and decorations[edit]
References[edit]
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