Forrest Richards
Date of Birth: November 24, 1911
Place of Birth: Manhattan, Kansas
Father and Mother’s Names: Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Richards of 530 Moro St.
Date Entered Service: June, 1942. Trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky and Fort Bragg, Texas.
Service Branch: Army
Rank/Specialty: Private
Service ID: TBD
Division/Company/Unit info: TBD
Riley Connection: Part of the 1931 graduating class at Manhattan High School. Forrest grew up in Manhattan and even delivered the Morning Chronicle with his brother Wayne. Later he worked at Nolder's (store). He was a member of the United Presbyterian Church.
Date of Death (and Age): August 8, 1943 as the result of an ammo dump exploding (age 32).
Place of Death: Somewhere in Sicily. A letter to his parents dated July 27, 1943 stated he was in on the landing operations in Sicily. At the time the letter was written the fighting was over for his battalion and they were at a camp resting while waiting for replacement equipment they were short of. Apparently this was where he was when the ammo dump blew up killing him and others. - Source Mercury's Obituary dated August 28, 1943.
Grave Location: TBD
Bio: Forrest was born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas. He joined the Army in 1942 and landed with American Forces in Africa on December 24, 1942. Fought through to Sicily where he died in an accident at a rest area waiting on replacement equipment.
The information available for this veteran is incomplete. We would like to include as much information about all our veterans as possible, so if you or someone you know has any additional information we encourage you to contact us at: peacememorialmanhattan@gmail.com. Thank you for your support.
