Colonel Richard Leo Dooley 0-24456

Colonel Richard “Dick” Leo Dooley O-24456 US Army.  He was born on March 9, 1917, in Maysville, Kentucky, he was the son of Charles Michael Dooley and Helen A. Coffey (Dooley). His family moved to Cincinnati Ohio when he was 6. He married Alice Marie Topmoeller on December 31, 1942, in Lewis and Clark, Montana. They had four children during their marriage. Richard graduated from high school in 1935 and went to Xavier University and was in ROTC.

He graduated in 1939 and was commissioned an officer and served in the 19th field artillery 5th Infantry division at fort Knox before the war and he took part in the pre war maneuvers. Richard was teaching ROTC at the time of Pearl Harbor and continued teaching until May 1942 when he was sent to Fort Brag. Shortly after that he was sent to Fort Harrison near Helena, Montana and joined the 1st special forces he earned his jump wings with them he had never skied before joining the 1st special forces. After serving with them for a few months he “took a tumble on a pair of skis and tore a knee up” and was hospitalized for a few months. He was then sent to the 63rd Infantry Division at Camp Van Dorn Mississippi.

By the time he entered the 63rd he was the rank of Captain, He 1st served in the 63rd Divisions Artillery, he was then transferred to A Battery, 861st Field Artillery battalion, 63rd Infantry Division. He was promoted to A Battery Commanding officer on May 4, 1944. He transferred to Headquarters Battery, 861st Field Artillery battalion, 63rd Infantry Division on July 28, 1944. He would continue to serve in Headquarters Battery for the remainder of the war. He served as a Forward Observer attached to 2nd Bn HQ Company 253rd Infantry. On April 6, 1945 when 2nd Bn HQ Company was in Buchhof when the 17th SS launched a counter attack and made their way into the town. Captain Dooley, as Liaison Officer with the Second Battalion, 253d Infantry Regiment, took charge of the men around him and organized a strongpoint which successfully resisted the enemy attack. Captain Dooley would remain on the front line with 2nd Bn HQ Company and was wounded in Action on April 10, 1945 near Stine Germany. After Combat was over he was transferred out of the 63rd Infantry Division and was promoted to Major.  He remained on Occupation duty until July 1947. He was still in Germany when the Nuremberg trial was going on and had the chance to go and watch and listen to some of the Nuremberg trial.

When the Korean war broke out he was on a ship traveling to Panama for his next assignment. He went to Korea towards the end of the Korean War, he served as a Lt. Colonel in the 1st Cavalry Division for 6 months before being promoted to Colonel and sent to Seoul Korea. After the Korean War he served with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon from 1954 – 1958. He retired in 1970 after serving in the US Army for 31 years and as a Colonel for 17 years. He was awarded The Silver Star Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, the American Defense Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany), the National Defense Service Medal, Jump Wings, the Korean Service Medal and many other awards. He died on December 12, 2010, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the age of 93, and was buried in St Bernard, Ohio.