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| Fighter ace Lt. Richard Deakins served with the 325th Fighter Group in Italy. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71089371/richard-sherfey-deakins https://ace1945.com/images/mm6.jpg |
Richard Sherfey Deakins never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on March 6, 1919 in Tennessee. His parents Argil and Blanche were also both born in Tennessee. His father worked as a farmer. Richard had an older brother, an older sister, two younger brothers, and one younger sister. Richard completed four years of college, graduated from the University of Tennessee and worked as an architect.
He volunteered for the Army Air Forces on March 31, 1942. He tested out to fly fighter planes. He became a first lieutenant and P-47 / P-51 pilot in the 318th Fighter Squadron, 325th Fighter Group, 15th Air Force. The 325th FG began flying P-40s. It switched over to P-47s in December 1943 and then P-51s in May 1944.
Lt. Deakins flew 53 combat missions over Italy, Austria, and the Balkans, and shot down five enemy planes (three flying a P-47 and two flying a P-51). He was one of only eight aces in the 318th FS. He was award the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was killed in a plane crash in northern Italy on November 24, 1944.
His grave is at Sulphur Springs Cemetery in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Last year on this date I profiled F2A Buffalo carrier pilot Joseph Welle and his carrier pilot brother Jack. You can read about the Welle brothers here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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