Veteran's History Project - Richard S. Ryder

Richard S. Ryder

Machinists Mate 3rd Class

U.S. Navy

World War II

Editor's Note: This story is one of many American Veteran accounts published in The Sidney Sun-Telegraph. The writer, who is from Potter, is conducting the interviews as part of the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project.

In early 1942, Richard Ryder and a few of his buddies went to the local recruiting office in Parkersburg, W. Va. They were ready to sign up. It didn't much matter which branch of service they were going into.

Like so many young men at the time, they wanted in the fight. The recruiter told the young men t...