World War II Honoree

Richard E. Bellgardt

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Chicago, Illinois

Honored By

Lynn Blackledge

Relationship

Daughter

He entered into the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1943 out of high school. He trained to be a Navigator and was assigned to the 801st/492nd Bomb Group, Special Operations in Kettering, England. He flew in B-24 Liberator named Bree Rabbit as part of a group known as the “Carpetbaggers.” He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and other air medals being part of the campaign that dropped equipment and agents behind enemy lines in support of the French Resistance in France and Belgium. Towards the end of the war, he flew in A-26 dropping troops by parachutes to fight in Berlin.