Biographies - Richard Witt
Richard "Dick" Witt
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Richard (Dick) Witt - Entered Service: June 14, 1943 -
Volunteered - Unit: B/276th
Medals: Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, 3 battle
stars, Good Conduct Medal |
Dick Witt was born a twin on July 15, 1924, in Casper WY. His twin
Robbie died at age six. Dick entered the service in June, 1943. He attended
the ASTP engineering program at Brigham Young University until ASTP was
disbanded in 1944. He became a private in the 70th Division at Camp Adair,
where he met Orman "Ole" Oleson and Wally Boehler, who became his best
buddies in B/276th. They saw action at Wingen. Dick was injured, and Wally
Boehler was killed, during the fighting on January 5, 1945. Dick returned to
the Unit on February 11th, as the Division prepared for the battle for
Forbach and Saarbrucken. He was promoted to Sgt. and was assistant squad
leader. During the occupation, he participated in a testing program in which
one enlisted man would be selected to receive an appointment to West Point.
To his surprise, he received the appointment and was able to return to the
States in September, 1945, with all the high point men as a result. He ended
up not attending West Point because he was disenchanted with the "regular"
Army. He always said it was harder to get out of West Point than it was to
get in. He finished college at University of Wyoming, became an accountant,
and moved to California. There he met and married Lois Foote in 1950. They
had two children, Robert and Gretchen. Dick worked for Shell Chemical Co. in
many locations, but ended up in New York City, where he worked until 1968.
At that point, he moved to Grass Valley, CA, and worked for the Placer
County Comptroller. He died on July 20, 1990.
Submitted by his daughter, Gretchen Witt |
Source:
http://www.aogusma.org/class/crmp/2003/bios/willis.htm |
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