Georgia Military Veterans’ Hall of Fame Spotlight
David F. Richards, Jr.
2018 Georgia Military Veterans’ Hall of Fame Inductee (Service)
Attention All Georgia Military Veterans!
mission of honoring Georgia Veterans
Georgia, or entered the military in Georgia, or have lived in
12 | February 2019 | Real Hero Report
packets are accepted through the
Veterans Building across the street
U
David Forest Richards, Jr., from Savannah, Georgia,
was inducted into the Georgia Military Veterans’ Hall
of Fame Class of 2018 for his 30 years of dedicated active
duty service and in retirement, his continued devotion to his
community. He began his military career as a 17-year-old private
one of the leading, most knowledgeable, and experienced experts
in all aspects of military parachutes including design, engineering,
testing, evaluation, maintenance, and safety.
As both a Master Parachutist and Master Parachute Rigger, he
amassed more than 1,200 static-line jumps, of which many were
testing new equipment which would eventually be used by our
airborne forces. During assignments with the Airborne Test &
Evaluation Board and with the Natick Research & Development
Labs, Richards assisted with the development and testing of
individual and heavy equipment parachutes. A large and unknown
number of parachute operations have been made safer and many
lives have been saved by his dedicated devotion to excellence. He
For his contributions to the improvement of airborne
a recipient of the Distinguished Order of Saint Martin, which is
Army Quartermaster Corps.
of Savannah
and Chatham
County,
Richards has
served in
various roles
for many
prominent
civic
In recognition
of his service
to his fellow
2008 he was selected to be the Grand Marshall for the Chatham
County Veteran’s Day Parade.
Richards has rightfully earned the rare and noble honor to be
inducted into the Georgia Military Veterans’ Hall of Fame.
Mr. Richards passed away on February 5, 2019. Our
thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends on their
loss, and we thank Mr. Richards for his many years of service
to our country.