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Contact Info
Home Town Hillsboro, Texas
Last Address Washington, DC
Date of Passing Apr 14, 1983
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
On Jul 6, 1928, Richard Carmichael enlisted in the Texas National Guard and was honorably discharged on Jul 5, 1932 so as to enter the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His flight training was with the Army Air Corps at Kelly Field where he received his Pilot Wings.
In April of 1944 then Colonel Carmichel deployed to India until he was shot down over Japan and taken a Prisoner of War on Aug 20, 1944. On Aug 29, 1945 he was repatriated. He was hospitalized for his injuries at San Antonio, TX from about Aug of 1945 to Feb of 1946. From Mar to Aug 1946 he was an Administrative Officer at Wright Field, OH. He attended Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell Field, AL and after completion remained at Air University as Chief of the Air Power Employment Branch until Jun 1949, after which he joined the 11th Bomb Group as Commander as depicted on the right panel. He medically retired from the U.S. Air Force on Jan 19, 1961 while he was Commandant of the Air Command and Staff College with Air University at Maxwell AFB, AL.
First Award of the Distinguished Service Cross:
"Carmichael, Richard H. (POW)
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Richard H. Carmichael, Lieutenant Colonel (Air Corps), U.S. Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a B-17 Heavy Bomber and Commander of the 19th Bombardment Group (H), Fifth Air Force, while participating in a bombing mission on 7 August 1942, against enemy ground targets in the Southwest Pacific Area. On this date, as Commander of the 19th Bombardment Group, Lieutenant Colonel Carmichael led sixteen B-17 bombers in a daring daylight, high-level raid over Rabaul. After dropping his bombs, Colonel Carmichaels' bomber was attacked,during which a crewman was wounded and the oxygen system was shot out. Colonel Carmichael dove to a lower level, evading enemy attackers until he could find the safety of the clouds and return to his base. The Personal courage and devotion to duty displayed by Lieutenant Colonel Carmichael on this occasion have upheld the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 5th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces. Headquarters: South West Pacific Area, General Orders No. 27 (1942)"
Note: The second Distinguished Service Cross (Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster) was awarded in 1945 for actions while he was a pilot with the 462d Bombardment Group, 20th Air Force.
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America between 1926 and 1941. The statutory administrative forerunner of the United States Air Force, it was renamed from the earlier United States Army Air Service on 2 July 1926 and part of the larger United States Army. The Air Corps was the immediate predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), established on 20 June 1941. Although discontinued as an administrative echelon during World War II, the Air Corps (AC) remained as one of the combat arms of the Army until 1947, when it was legally abolished by legislation establishing the Department of the Air Force.
The Air Corps was renamed by the United States Congress largely as a compromise between the advocates of a separate air arm and those of the traditionalist Army high command who viewed the aviation arm as an auxiliary branch to support the ground forces. Although its members worked to promote the concept of air power and an autonomous air force between the years between the world wars, its primary purpose by Army policy remained support of ground forces rather than independent operations.
On 1 March 1935, still struggling with the issue of a separate air arm, the Army activated the General Headquarters Air Force for centralized control of aviation combat units within the continental United States, separate from but coordinate with the Air Corps. The separation of the Air Corps from control of its combat units caused problems of unity of command that became more acute as the Air Corps enlarged in preparation for World War II. This was resolved by the creation of the Army Air Forces (AAF), making both organizations subordinate to the new higher echelon.
The Air Corps ceased to have an administrative structure after 9 March 1942, but as "the permanent statutory organization of the air arm, and the principal component of the Army Air Forces," the overwhelming majority of personnel assigned to the AAF were members of the Air Corps.
