Rafferty, Richard Raymond (Interview outline and video), 2015

Notes:

Richard Rafferty was born on October 31, 1924 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He grew up in Grand Rapids and in the December 1942 he enlisted in the Navy Reserve as an Aviation Cadet. He was called up for active service in April 1943 and received training at Ohio Wesleyan University, St. Mary's College of California, Whitman College, Max Westheimer Field, and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. Richard graduated from training on November 1, 1944 and became a Naval Aviator with the rank of ensign. He received operational training at Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida and qualified for aircraft carrier service aboard the USS Solomons at Port Everglades, Florida. From Florida he went to Seattle to join VC-80 Squadron, a torpedo bomber and fighter squadron. They operated in Coos Bay, Oregon and Holtville, California and when the war ended in August 1945 he helped decommission the squadron. He also served at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile, Michigan as an operations officer then went to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois to be discharged from active duty in November 1945. After the war he stayed in the Navy Reserve for 25 years serving at Grosse Ile, Battle Creek, and Jackson, Michigan.

Date Created:

2015-04-16T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Grand Valley State University. University Libraries

Collection:

Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Subject Topic:

Oral history, Veterans History Project (U.S.), United States--History, Military, Veterans, Video recordings, World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American, and United States. Navy</dc:subject

Language:

eng

Rights:

<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>

URL:

https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/document/41083