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DonaldRichardson
Donald Richardson flew many hours patroling in a PAM (Patrol
Bomber by Martin). He flew above President Roosevelt when he
went to Malta, to sign a Treaty of Peace. He served from Feb. 41
to Sept. 45 in the US Navy. He patroled on a daily basis 70+ hours
per day looking for enemy subs or ships.

If you want to start by telling us your story of being in the Navy and
everything.
I went to school in Trenton, New Jersey, and I got a baseball scholarship down to
Wake Forest. I was down there two years. Then, Roosevelt was on the radio saying
we were being attacked and we were at war, so I joined the Navy. I finished my
degree with Writer College in Trenton, New Jersey.
What did you do in the Navy? What was your job and your responsibilities?
I went through several schools first, and I was called a plane captain. I was in charge
of the crew. I was the best grandpa, husband and sailor.
Did you enjoy going on the Honor Flight?
It was very nice. Now, on your way home, they have what they call mail call. They
must go to the post office and get your mail. I had 53 letters. And for meals, theres
always a box put on your seat for lunch and dinner. I thought it was very nice. When
I was down there I had a group black people come up and they said, Well, what war
were you in? And I said WWII. They hugged me, patted me on the back, and
shook hands and everything. And they were all black, maybe 15 of them. They were
very nice.
Do you have any stories from your training?
I wasn't in any shooting or anything. We used to patrol. First, I was stationed just
outside of Washington. We started patrolling the whole East Coast. The planes are
amphibious, by the way, theyre not land planes. And then I was transferred to
Florida, where we did the same thing. We patrolled the coast looking for submarines
and ships from other countries. I dont know how long it was; how long we did that. I
was then transferred to Bermuda. It was very nice. We patrolled the west coast of
Europe, and we patrolled all the way down to South America. Our squad would do
this daily and we put in 10 to 15 hours a day in the plane. Before wed take of, since I

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was the plane captain in charge of that crew, I would give [the crew] assignments as to
where they should check. They would check and recheck the whole plane. Then, I
would check off all I have given them. Id
see if it was good or bad. If its bad, we
We patrolled that would be
would fix it; if it was alright, wed go to the
pilots and say its okay to take off. Coming
the west coast of Europe,
back, we did the same thing (as in checking
and we patrolled all the way
to make sure everything was okay). The
down to South America.
gunners checked their guns. There was a
nose g0unner, a rear gunner, and two sides.
Wed do this daily, our
That's four gunners and they each had .50
squadron, and we put in 10
caliber machine guns. They checked them
and made sure they were in operating order
to 15 hours a day in the
and had the material and bullets and all.
plane.
We had a flight engineer. He sat up with
the pilots and checked the gauges all the
time to make sure everything was working. We also had a radar man and a radio man,
and of course the radar man; he could find anything. He would report in what he was
finding. One time, we escorted a submarine into Bermuda and it was Italian. The
Italians had just surrendered and went over to the Allies. However, prior to that, they
were our enemy. But they came to Bermuda and I don't know what they did with the
crew, but it was nice to see an Italian submarine.We escorted Roosevelt--overhead of
course--down to Mulva where he signed the Peace Treaty. I have been there since that
though.
Did you guys have any more experiences of finding more submarines or
anything?
Just that one, thats all. We never found
any. We never had any problems.
Did you have any friends that were
at the same base as you were at?
Oh, my whole crew!
(Wife--Carol): He had some that after a
while he still heard from for a long time.
Im sorry. Most of em are dead.
(Wife--Carol): Yeah Im sure over the years most of them have died. But up until a

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couple years ago, he still heard from them.

What did your different hats symbolize?
These are all officers. Theyre pilots. I was sent to the University of Oklahoma to
become a pilot, an officer. But I had enough points to get out.
Did you ever do anything for fun
We escorted Roosevelt
when you were in the Navy?
down to Malta where he
When I was in Boot 11100 Camp, they had
signed the Peace Treaty.
what they called smokers, and I used to
box. We did a lot of things. We went on liberties. When I was in the squadron, we had liberties. Bermuda. How can you go
wrong? I had a car, a Station Wagon that I drove while I was there. We lived in a
house that we rented. There were six of us that rented this house. It came with a cook,
two maids, and it had a tennis court in the back. It was walled in. It was for patrons
coming, but we rented it, the six of us, because its not that big. It was a life. But we
had fun. I played football with the Vanna football team, and I dont know what we
were called but we used to play the soldiers there at the station. I was on the baseball
team and I pitched on that. I was on the basketball team too. I was captain of the basketball team, but I never played basketball.
(Wife--Carol: He liked all sports.)
How long had the war been going on before you had arrived?
I joined in February of 41. I was in for four
years.
Did you ever change jobs during the
war or were you always a flight captain when you were in the Navy?
No. Ive always had the same job. Now, if
you would have asked me if I ever changed
jobs when I came out, that wouldve only
been about 30 times.
Were you awarded any medals or
any certificates from the war?
No I want. I thought I got a sharp shooting

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metal, but I dont recall. I had a very easy war.

What was your first impression of the war?
I had a brother who was in the Battle of the Bulge. I was involved in it but I didnt get
into any shooting. Good thing, I probably would have missed.
(Wife--Carol: I think thats why he was in
the Navy. He wanted to do other things and
not have to be on the front line.)

I was on the baseball team

and I pitched on that. I was
on the basketball team too.

What was an average day for you?

10 hours. Flying 10 to 15 hours a day. That
was a long day. I was always checking radar and the flight engineer and this and that.
And they even provided us with some food for when we were out, so we would all eat
well.
What was the hardest part of being in the war?
Being away from people. People you know, home and friends. Besides that, they took
me out of college. I mean, I had a scholarship going in baseball and I left in two years.
I completed my degree in Writer College in Trenton, New Jersey.
(Wife--Carol: I think that was one of the harder parts for him because that ended the
scholarship.)
Did you return home from the war before it ended or when it ended?
I got home after it ended. Like I told you, we all had taken Roosevelt down to Mulva
where he signed the treaty. So I was still
in at the very end.
What was it like coming back
home?
Very good. I was recently married, and I
was married when I was in Washington
D.C. I got a liberty. I got married to a girl
I had met in Washington D.C. But she
died of cancer. I didnt kill her, though.
How were your living conditions
when you were on the base?
Very good. Thats another thing I was in charge of. Our barracks when we were on the

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base. I had to make sure they were all in bed by 9 oclock, and lights out and all this
business.
Did you ever hear about anything bad that was happening in the war?
Nothing bad happened. I felt sorry for a lot of guys. Like my brother, they were in the
Battle of the Bulge. That had to be bad.

Flying 10 to 15 hours a day.

What kind of job did you have when
you came home?
That was a long day. I was
How many do you want me to tell you
always checking the radar
about? When I first came home, I was married, and we went to live with my mother
and the flight engineer and
and father, and that was in Trenton. I was a
this and that.
marketing man for Thermoid Company.
They made fan belts, radiator hose,and
brake lines for cars and trucks. I used to go to their distributors and work with their
salesmen on selling our product. That was my first job. You dont want to hear about
all of them?
(Wife: He was mainly in sales all his life.)
I took a job at the malarmature in Lockhaven, Pennsylvania, and I covered the state of
Pennsylvania for them. They offered me a sales manager's job. So I moved up to
Lockhaven. I was sales manager, general __________ for about 8 years. So I was
offered a job by press delay. That was in Toledo, Ohio. Well my wife wouldn't move to
Toledo, she didnt like Toledo, she wasnt gonna move. Not everyday, once a week.
Finally after three years they came to me
and said Well you're gonna have to move
over because this is getting very expensive.
They used to fly me over, they had a car for
me, and I lived in a hotel suite. It was good
living. But they told me they couldnt keep
me if I wouldnt move. I said no I wouldnt
move. So I went in business for myself. I got
four lines, I was a manufacturers agent and
I covered Pennsylvania. That got to be difficult because I didnt have anybody working
for me. I used to call in a company called
Clark Auto in State College, Pennsylvania.
He wanted me to buy it because he was 65

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and wanted to retire. I went to two doctors in Lockhaven and the guy who owned
Lockhaven Auto Parts. I asked them if they would finance this thing with me. So we
each put in eight ____ amount of money, and we bought the business. I managed it
and I was there for I dont know how long. The guy that owned Lockhaven Auto said to
the two doctors, that if we can get in we can buy him out. He said Ill put a manager
in there and he said Ill give you an interest in my business too, in the Lockhaven
business, and well and thats quite an
...hes the only one in the
anchorage for them. They asked me and I
told them Well you can buy me out, and so
whole barracks that said
they bought me out. Just before I was leavprayers every night.
ing I got a call from a guy I used to call on
with press delay. His name was Harris
Steiscole was the name,
Fisher and he owned Valley Forge Products.
Daniel Steiscole.
He called me on the phone and offered me a
job for vice president of marketing for Valley
Forge Products. So we moved to New York and then to Long Island. We had a nice
home, and that purchase is what bought the house. I was there for six years. Valley
Forge Products sold through a company called Lavineth. So I was out of a job. I took a
job with an agent out of Long Island, his name was George Klein and I worked for him
for a year. I got in an argument with him over one of our customers. He said If you
dont like it, Im the boss, you can leave. I had all these samples of stuff that we had.
And I took them out, he had an office upstairs, I put them on the steps and I left. I was
offered, I had a write-up in Wall Street Journal, a guy called me up from a company in
West Point, New York and offered me job as a sales manager of his automotive division. I accepted that and they made a regulator
in the cars that they used to have. They dont
have them any more, there inside the oilinator
there about that size. And they used to make it
with a computer. It was a chip. and that was
about the extent of the automotive then, but
they did have electronic ignition. I worked for
them for I dont know how long, but I wanted
to call in original equipment manufacturers
with their electronic ignition. It was with
General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler because I
was friendly with all them. They said, no, they
had a man doing that, and I said he must not
be doing very well because he hadnt sold anything to them. They said No, we cant do that
hes a friend, and I said Okay I quit. After I

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quit that and I got home, there was a phone call from General Battery and they wanted
me to come down and manage a plant in Cooper, Texas. I said Im not moving to any
Cooper, Texas, and they said No you can
operate out of Reading, Pennsylvania, thats
I went in business for myself.
their home office and they have eight plants
throughout the country and I said okay.
I got four lines, I was a manuThey bought my house, moved me, gave me
facters agent and I covered
a new car. We got an apartment over there
Pennsylvania. Well that got to
and it was nice. I went down to Cooper,
Texas about once a week, flew down, and see
be difficult because I didnt
how they were doing and what we could do
have anybody working for me
to increase their business they were doing
about $100,000. I said we were gonna put
and no help at all.
our product in all eight plants of General
Battery, some of it, and I met with a salesman and made up a new catalog and told
them they could get commision on it, and it worked out real fine, I went over
$1,000,000 in the first year. Pretty soon after a while I was working there and I used
to ship our product with the batteries they shipped by their own truck, they had their
own trucks. Well if they had a full load of batteries, they backloaded my product. I said
No, no you cant do that because were gonna lose customers, and we did lose customers. Pete Nosneski was the president and owner of General Battery at that time, he
and I were good friends. I said Pete, I got to have trucks of my own. Cant do it, okay.
I said Im leaving. So, I left them and I got a job with Eckland Ignition and it was in
Connecticut. I moved up there.
But anyway I was up as a sales manager of special
accounts, private accounts, and my wife hated it up there.
We lived in an apartment, she said it was a bad apartment
and all kinds of complaints. I usually get this call from this
guy in Edgar, Wisconsin. He would say to me come pick
the money tree and I thought what kind of business are
you in, I mean he was a battery distributor but he must
have a good business, and he wants to retire. So I go look
at it and I bought it and I moved to Edgar, Wisconsin and
thats how I got to Wisconsin. You dont need to know from
there. After I sold Badger Battery, I had Badger battery
after that, Ive been all over the map
Wife: He always found a job.

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Where did you live as a kid?

Trenton, New Jersey. Whitehorse that was.
And what was your childhood like growing up?
Very good. No Problems. My mother used to hit me with a rake because I was lazy but
outside of that no. The school was right
across the street from me, so I had no probI got in a argument with
lem. We would throw balls up against the
building and catch them, climb up on the
him over one of our cusroof, things like that. I had a bad habit of
tomers. And he said if you
walking around getting up and walking
dont like it, Im the boss,
around in the classroom. The teacher said,
Could you go home and get me a rope I want
you can leave.
to do something with it. She tied me to my
seat. Oh well, a little extent of my childhood.
but it was a good one. I had no problems. What else would you like to know?
Did any of your friends from your childhood go into the war?
Oh, Im sure, yeah. I knew several of them. Only one that I knew went into the Navy
and his name was Dick Melford. But they went somewhere else. Leon Thompson, he
still owes me ten dollars by the way. We had a football team in Whitehorse called
Whitehorse Red Raiders and Thompson played tight end, Mugsy we called him. He
was 64. We had a really good team. We used to play on Sundays, take a collection, I
got two bucks out of that, too. But I did have a good childhood.
When you were stationed at your base, did you ever want a different job?
No I was fine. I wouldnt mind going for the Air Corps. I took a test for flying when I
was first in there, and they said there was something wrong with my eye or something.
And they didnt pass me but when I went to University of Oklahoma I could've passed
that I could have been a pilot for the navy. But no, I never wanted to, I for sure didn't
want to go in the army.
Were there any events in the war you can remember that made some sort
of impact on you?
Yeah I have a big bruise on my rear end. No.
Wife: You weren't in the war then.
She said anything that had an impact on me. No nothing serious. Hearing.

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Wife: His hearing is bad because of prop planes.

All they had were prop planes, no jet planes. They were loud.
Wife: They didnt have any ear protection.
Did you want to be stationed overseas
or did you?
Didnt matter. Anywhere it didnt matter. Now
I liked it when I was in Bermuda, I was living
in luxury. No it didnt. Weve been all over
Europe.

He would say to me come

pick the money tree and I
thought what kind of business are you in...

Did you have to live up to any expectations that others had for you?
Did I have to live up to em?
Yeah.
Youd better or theyd discharge you! And dishonorable, too.Yes. Yeah I had one guy in
my group, he was a radioman, and I gave him something to do, to check the dials on
the pilot and see if everything was operating and he never checked the lights and we
fly at night too and I think he got discharged I am not sure. Because I reported him.
When you were stationed at your base when you were still in the navy,
did they let you receive letters and mail from other people?
Oh yeah. Yes, yes.
Did you like write to everyone during your free time?
Well to my mother, in fact I have a copy. I dont have it with me. I have a copy of a
thing I used to send her every year on her birthday, and tell her she was the best mom
in the world. And heres the woman who used to beat me with a rake.
Then when you started and were stationed to the time that you were
done in the navy, did you see any changes with the technology that you
had?
Oh Yes. Yes. Sure, they had the, you know, the bomb. What was it? That was new. You
see we used to carry a depth charge on a plane and we had these four gunners, and
that bomb was not like they have, now. Now they have the nuclear bomb.
Thats another thing. In the Navy you eat well. You get fed well everyday. Whether it
was on the plane or on the ground, you got fed.

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What was your favorite meal that you ever had ?

I dont remember that. What was my favorite meal? I don't know. I like italian food.
We went to Italy.
(Wife says: You did get that in the service i'm sure. He always talks about eating well
in the service.)
Do you know how others viewed the
war, like those who weren't in it or
associated with it, what they thought
of the war?
Oh, jeez. It was bad, real bad. How many
people were killed on that Normandy thing?
And a lot of people were killed. Course all
the wars were, Vietnam even, a lot of soldiers killed.

I took a test for flying when

I was first in there, and they
said there was something
wrong with my eye or something. And they didnt pass
me...

(Wife says: Well then it seemed like when the soldiers came back, especially, you know
WWII and some of them, they didn't, they didn't talk about it. A lot of this I didnt even
hear before because they just didn't talk about it much until when he went on that
never forgotten Honor Flight thing. Some of the stories came up they came home and
they just went to work and they just wanted to forget about it. You know, it was just so
bad to them.)
How did you feel once the war had ended?
Oh, I feel okay.
(Wife: Relieved probably, uh?)
I got remarried after my first wife died. Weve been together 31 years and my first wife
34 years. So Im an old man, you know?
(Wife says: Yeah, I think it was a real relief when the war ended, you know when it was
(?) like that.)
What was your favorite part of going on Honor Flight? When you went
to visit the memorial?
The whole thing is good. Youll have through it and see, this is from WWII. No, no. It
was very nice if you have a friend that is a veteran, tell them to go. Cause its well

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worth it. I didn't like getting up that early. Had to get up at five in the morning and I
got home eleven at night, but, it was nice. And coming home, they have what they call
mail call and they pick up your letters, someplace I dont know where, I had 53 letters
and about ten of them were from
(Wife says: Probably these kids)
Yeah. You didnt write one?
I think ah, the sixth and seventh graders
do. The younger kids do.
Oh, some sent me a box of cookies

I liked it when I was in

Bermuda, I was living in
luxury.

(Wife says: Yeah, they try to replicate mail call. They had called me, and thats how he
got the letters, and they said they wanted to get him 20 to 25 letters or cards or something because when they were in the service, they said this was the one thing they all
waited for. There wasn't email and there wasn't text messaging and phone calls and
they waited for letters, they wait for mail call. What mail call was is they all lined up to
hope they had some mail from home and, so they wanted to replicate this on the flight
and, Mrs. Holgum (?sp) she helped me with that to.)
I got one from Governor Walker and Duffy
(Wife says: And Senator Johnson. So yes, we really enjoyed that. He just, he said he
feels (?) for him)
What was the best experience you had when you were in the Navy?
I don't know what her name was. I don't know.
(Wife says: I think the one he talks about the most is escorting Roosevelt)
That would have been really cool
(Wife says: Escorting Roosevelt, to Malta (sp?))
Oh, yeah.
(Wife says: That would be the one you talk about the most. I think, you know, to sign
the peace treaty was really impressionable)
Yeah, we flew all the way to Malta (sp?), it was a long trip. When we were patrolling

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the coast of the United States we went down to (?), Brazil and then went back up
again.
When you were flying did you feel safe or did you ever feel unsafe?
Oh, I felt safe. Yes. I had one guy in the crew, (?) Simpson his name was, he didn't like
flying. He finally got out of it, but he used to lay
on the floor and cry. This is when were out on
Be friendly to your
patrol, and you know hes got his duties to do.
neighbors.
And he was supposed to be the tough guy. I
don't know what happened to him. Brain wise
he wasn't very tough.
(Wife says: He often wonders what happened to some of these fellas now, you know
like I said, some of these he sends Christmas cards and some of them yet. Last time
though, almost all them came back, but I wish we knew, maybe some of them
did die.)
After being involved in the war, have your thoughts changed?
No, it was bad. No, I dont, I had bad thoughts about it, because my father was born in
England and my mother was an Irishman, so they moved here and he started farming,
but he was in bad shape. He didnt, he finally went into ceramics making things and
bathroom fixtures and everything like that, but he died of cancer. He was very unhappy about the war, he was too old to get in it, but a he had family in England and they
were bombed and London was bombed and it was a concern. I never met any of his
family. I didn't know his father. I didn't know his mother, I didn't know, he had a couple sisters, three I think, and I imagine they are all dead because they have to be old
now.
What did you think of the enemy?
I hated them. Well, I don't know if, you know if you get talking to people that were in
the war over in Europe and theyre now living here, well they treated the Jews real bad
and the Germans did, but we have a lot of Polish people in Wisconsin and some of our
best friends are Charlie and Diane Wilkowski (sp?), and they are the best friends we
got. They have been back to Poland, but it was nasty there, very bad. They used to
burn people.
Is there anything you want to say to the young people today about the
war?
Be friendly to your neighbors. No, I don't have any advice because I don't know, but
its not nice to get into a war and just like the Arabs say they want to exterminate the

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Jews, thats talking stupid and I think the Muslims are a lot of cause to this, of this
thing were having now but and our president, maybe hes Muslim, I don't know.
Is there anything else you want to add about your experience?
No, I wouldn't want to stay in the service, I wouldn't want to do that. Its too routine,
you know, but I enjoy what I was in, the Navy. I think everyone should join the Navy
because I think its the best branch and we have no problems with food, no problems
with places to sleep and things like that. I started playing golf in the service.
(Wife says: And in all the years he was in the service, he never smoked. You always
heard of people getting smokes and my first husband was in the Army and with their
meals they always got some cigarettes, I think he said three on their tray and he started smoking, but quit later on, but Don never smoked and i thought that was kinda
unusual because so many people did, especially years ago.)

He now worked at WP Marketing Valley Forge

Products. He owned Badger Buttery. He is a husband and a father of two boys. He is two years
widowed and has been remarried for 31 years. He
also has three grandchild.