A Hero in the Sky
By Woody Freeman
Richard Allen Wirkkanen
9/29/1941 - 12/14/1992
Richard Allen Wirkkanen was born in Park Rapids, Minnesota, on September 29th, 1941.[1] He was born to his father, Allen Alfred Wirkkanen and mother, Esther Luella Wirkkanen, and had one older sister, Mary Ann Wirkkanen, who was born in 1939. Richard Allen would attend Ely Memorial High School from 1955 to 1959 in Ely, Minnesota. Before being drafted into the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War, Richard Allen moved to Colorado. Richard would be drafted into the United States Air Force and start his military service on February 21st 1962, and serve in the Vietnam War at the age of 21.
Richard Allen would remain as an Airman 2nd Class throughout his service from 1962 to 1966. Airman 2nd Class (A2C) was the second enlisted rank in the US Air Force at the time and, since the end of the Vietnam War, has been removed and replaced with the rank of Airman 1st Class. The rank of Airman 2nd Class could be given to both pilots and Air Force personnel on the ground, and so little is known about Richard’s military service. At the time of his service, the United States Air Force was performing close air support for South Vietnamese forces and conducting aerial reconnaissance on Viet Cong positions. Wirkkanen would end his service on February 18th, 1966, and return to the United States. In 1970, Richard married Carol Callahan in West Hurley, New York. They would soon move to Boulder County, Colorado, in 1972 to welcome to birth of their son Richard Wirkkanen Jr in Longmont, Colorado. Richard would get a job as a senior software engineer in 1974.
Richard Allen remained in Colorado until his passing on December 14th, 1992, at his home in Westminster, Colorado at the age of 51. For his service in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War, he was buried in Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver and received his final roll call on March 24th, 2017
Footnotes ↓
Information for this biography can be found at:
[1] https://infoweb-newsbank-com.du.idm.oclc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EB4DC0037FC3B8C https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/177673183/richard-allen-wirkkanen https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/RICHARDALLENWIRKKANEN/0318105 https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/55031499/person/27335675102/facts https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1265/records/812971227 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6KWM-4MVJ?lang=en https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVR5-WWVB?lang=en
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