Bios(Partial).Tulsa, OK- MULLINS, Richard ================================================================ USGenWeb NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free Information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ================================================================ Posted by Diane Christie on Mon, 15 Nov 1999 20 Nov 1949 (newspaper article) TULSA MOTHER HAPPY HER SON SIGHTED 18 DITCHED AT SEA The Central high school graduate who’s observing eye as a B-29 pilot led Saturday to the rescue of 18 stranded airmen brought tears of happiness to his mother, Mrs. Inez MULLINS... The Tulsa mother said her son, 1st Lt Richard MULLINS had returned to duty at Barksdale field in Shreveport, LA., only two weeks ago following a Tulsa visit.... Lt. MULLINS, a veteran of Chennault's Flying Tigers in the China-Burma Theater in World War II had been assigned this week to the mission of locating the airmen who went down in their B-29 near Bermuda. The Tulsa-born pilot spotted debris of the crashed plane approximately 260 miles northeast of the island Friday and relayed the message to headquarters. The information resulted in a concentrated search of the area by Navy vessels and the rescue of the airmen.... The Tulsa airman's flying career began in 1943, a year after he finished high school at Central. He had attended Whittier and Cleveland schools as a child. Young MULLINS was trained at Sheppard field in Texas, at Denver university and then on the west coast before he went overseas to fight with the Flying Tigers. He flew the "hump" on a number of missions. His decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Presidential Unit Citation and the Asiatic Theater ribbon with three battle stars. After the war, MULLINS returned to Oklahoma and studied civil engineering 2 1/2 years at Oklahoma A and M College before deciding to return to the Air Forces for a permanent career. The Tulsa Airman was married Oct. 31 of this year. He also has a sister, Betty Jean, who lives with her mother and is an employee of American Airlines. Richard's father, Fred, died in 1931. He was a civil engineer