CHAPMAN, Richard E., St. Helena Parish, Louisiana File prepared by D.N. Pardue and submitted by Inez Bridges Tate. ************************************************ Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ From "St. Helena Vets Remember World War II: Personal Interviews With World War II Vets", published by St. Helena Historical Association, 1995. Compiled and edited by Inez Bridges Tate and reprinted with permission. Richard Emmett Chapman was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and attended schools there and in Shreveport until about 1938 when he moved to St. Helena Parish to live with his grandmother, Mrs. Emmett Lathrop Chapman. He graduated from Woodland High School in 1940 as valedictorian of his class. On June 4, 1940, following graduation, Richard joined the Louisiana National Guard and was subsequently mobilized and inducted into active service on November 25, 1940, reporting to Camp Blanding, Florida for infantry training. After five months of training he, his first cousin, Wendell Emmett Morgan and Joe Pevey, transfered to the Army Air Corps, enlisting at Hunter Field, Savannah Air Base, Georgia. His sense of humor is reflected in a poem he sent to his family: "On the morning of the 25 of November (Tis a date I will always remember) I'll start living a life that is hard For I go training with the National Guard. Will be gone a year, maybe more Oh how I hate to leave the girl I adore Far from her I'll soon be carried And when I return she'll probably be married." Richard was assigned to the 89th Bomber Squadron, and left the United States on January 31, 1942 after having spent Christmas in Savannah with part of his family. He arrived in Brisbane, Australia in February 1942 and was stationed at Charters Towers, from March 1942 until his death there on August 9, 1942. Quoting from an article by Mrs. Betty Morgan Munn, Richard's first cousin, concerning his death, she had talked with Joe Pevey, formerly of the Hillsdale Community, who was near the airstrip where Richard's airplane crashed: "On the day before his unit expected to go into action (89th Attack Squadron), consisting of the pilot (probably a Lt. Williams), Richard, who was a gunner, and another man (Durrell Hagan, a gunner from another crew just up for the ride) decided to make one last test flight. Joe was near the runway when they returned. It was obvious the plane was having trouble and would crash. (Joe Pevey was in a supply shack, and hearing the crash, he jumped into a Jeep and sped to the crash site). Everyone nearby ran to the plane as soon as it hit the ground and removed the crew. (The Douglas A-20-A attack bomber struck nose first separating the engine all the way back to the cockpit, and flip- ped upside-down landing on top of another A-20-A, nose-to-nose, tail-to-tail). Jose said that Richard was seaated, but that the other man had been standing. It was apparent that Richard had grabbed the man's upper body and legs and held him as tightly as possible in an attempt to protect him. The man surely would have been killed if he had remained standing. Richard was wound- ed so severely he did not regain consciousness. He died the next day in the hospital. The pilot and the other crewman were in the hospital. . ., but both recovered. (The pilot suffered severe shock, but was otherwise uninjured. The man who was standing suffered a broken leg). "Joe was in charge of the military funeral service. Richard was buried in the American Cemetery in Townsville. Later, his body was removed and reinterred in a beautiful setting in the United States National Cemetery, Port Hudson, Louisiana." On August 1, 1942, a week before his death, Richard was promoted to rank of Staff Sergeant, Army of the United States. Decorations and awards he was authorized are the American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with one Bronze Service Star, World War II Victory Medal, and the Distinguished Unit Citation Emblem. He was 20 years, four months old and single. Information, other than that quoted from Mrs. Munn, was provided by her brother, Marvin David Chapman Morgan who inter- viewed Joe Pevey in 1990 at his home in Grand Prairie, Texas. - - - - - Newspaper Clipping: 2 Oct. 1942 RICHARD CHAPMEN KILLED IN ACTION ABOUT AUGUST 9TH The war department has notified the relatives of Private Richard Chapman of his death, which occur- ed in the Samoan Islands about August 9. He was buried in Queens- town, Australia, until after the war. Private Chapman enlisted in the United States Air Corps in Sep- tember, 1941, as a machine gun operator and is the first man from St. helena Parish to lose his life in active service. He was 19 years old, a graduate of the Woodland High School and a son of Mark Chapman and the late Mrs. Lydia Lanehart Chapman. His mother died when he was 11 days old and he was reared and educated by his grandmother, Mrs. Annie Chapman, and the late Emmette Chapman. * * * * *