Lt. Col. Richard D. Snyder

Lt. Col. Richard D. Snyder (USAR Retired), 93, of Gainesville passed away Sunday, November 4, 2018 following an extended illness.

Born in Bedford, Iowa and reared in the small town of Jasper, Arkansas, Richard joined the Air Corps in April, 1941. After basic training he volunteered for glider flight training. After completing training, he went to Liaison Pilot Training and graduated in April, 1943. After flying on the Tennessee maneuvers, he volunteered to go overseas with the First Air Commando Group. He participated in the invasion of Burma where he flew 420 missions. When the Korean conflict began, he volunteered for combat flying the A-26 bomber. He completed 55 missions attacking targets in North Korea. Returning home he volunteered for duty in the Strategic Air Command where he flew the B-47 bomber and the B-58 supersonic bomber. He later volunteered for combat in Southeast Asia, flying the RF-4C Phantom fighter. Returning to the U.S. he flew KC-135 tanker and returned to southwest Asia refueling fighter aircraft. Lt. Col. Snyder retired in 1973 after over 32 years service. He flew a total of 526 combat missions in three wars. His awards were: three Distinguished Flying Crosses, one Bronze Star medal, twelve air medals, the Air Force Commendation medal, three Presidential Unit Citations, one Korean Presidential citation, Asiatic Pacific Campaign medal with arrowhead and two bronze stars, Korean Service medal with two bronze stars, Southeast Asia Service medal with one bronze star, Outstanding Unit award with Combat V, and other service medals.

Col. Snyder was married to Maurianne Gladys Stowe for 44 years. She passed away in 1992. He is survived by many nieces and nephews.

Graveside services, with Military Honors, will be held Saturday, November 10, at 10:00 a.m. at the Tripp Family Cemetery in Woodstock, Ga.

Ingram Funeral Home Crematory, Cumming, Georgia is in charge of arrangements.