Lieutenant Richard A. Knobloch
- First name: | Richard |
- Middle name: | August |
- Last name: | Knobloch |
- Nickname: | Knobby |
- Rank Doolittle raid: | Lieutenant |
- Last rank: | Brigadier General |
- Service number: | 0-421816 |
- Date of birth: | 27 May 1918 |
- Place of birth: | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
- Date of death: | 13 August 2001 |
- Place of death: | San Antonio, Texas |
- Place of the cemetery: | San Antonio, Texas |
- Name of the cemetery: | Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery |
Additional info
Richard A. Knobloch was born on 27 May 1918 in West Allis, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father was William Knobloch and his mother was Mary Knobloch. Richard had one older sister and one younger brother.
He graduated from Lake Forest High School, Lake Forest, Illinois and entered the University of Wisconsin in 1936 to began studies to be a veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He joined the ROTC program there. Knobloch met the woman that would become his wife at an ROTC spring formal.
Lake Forest High School, a privat high school.
They had dated for about a year when, in 1940, he made a decision. He knew that he had to 'do something' about the war situation and joined the aviation cadet program.
He married on 1 August 1943 with Rosemary Alma Rice in Madison, Wisconsin. The couple had two daughters. Sandra Knobloch of Dallas and Lynda Lillywhite of Evergreen.
His first assignment was to the 37th Bombardment Squadron, Pendleton, Ore., as pilot and assistant operations officer. The squadron's mission was submarine patrol of the U.S. West Coast. During World War II, General Knobloch participated in a secret mission which culminated in the first bombing of Tokyo 18 April 1942.
Aftr bombing Japan, on 18 April 1942, the same day at 2245 pm while on autopilot the entire crew bailed out near Poyang, China. The crew bailed out successfully above China, within three miles of Japanese forces, but were not detected. Taken to Poyang by Chinese soldiers, they were recovered by way of Poyang Lake, Chaozhou, bused to Hengyang and flown to Chongqing.
After serving 30 years in the Air Force he joined United Technologies Corporation as Vice President and also served on the board of directors of Barclays Bank of New York, chairman of the Air Force Salute Foundation, a trustee of the College of Aeronautics, member of the Advisory Committee of the Harmon International Trophy, chairman and president of the Wings Club, chairman of Doolittle Tokyo Raiders, and trustee of the Daedalian Foundation.
On the right is a silk shirt given to Charles A. Knobloch by the Chinese when he entered friendly territory.
On 25 October 1997 Richard Knobloch was inducted @ the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame in Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Richard A. Knobloch died on 13 August 2001 in San Antonio, Texas and he is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery also in San Antonio, Texas
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