Richard Michael Sendlbeck was born on November 2, 1922 in New York. He resided in Erie County prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on August 20, 1942 in Buffalo, New York. He was noted as being employed as a Structural and ornamental metal worker and also as Single, without dependents. Richard served in the 545th Bomber Squadron, 384th Bomber Group, Heavy as a Sergeant during World War II. He was the Left Waist Gunner on B-17 42-102446 "Little Chub", which on April 24, 1944 headed to Switzerland on a mission to cripple the production in the Dornier-Werke GMBH aircraft plant in which the DO 335 Multipurpose Fighter was being built. This innovative aircraft was seen as a substantial threat to allied fighter and bomber forces. After bombing LFT formation and headed for Switzerland, they were struck by flak on bomb run and was shot down by Swiss aircraft, crashing into the Greifensee. SGT Sendlbeck was Killed in Action. He was temporarily buried in what was then the American Cemetery in Münsingen, Switzerland. His final resting place is in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Cheektowaga, Erie County, New York, USA. The aircraft was recovered from lake in the 1950's.