Richard Eugene Higley was born on September 21, 1915, in Tulare, California. He was the son of Theodore Sylvester Higley and Anna Margarete Miller Higley.

Richard resided in Alameda County, California prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet on February 8, 1943, at Boca Raton Army Airfield, Florida. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Draftsmen and also as Married.

Richard served in the 509th Bomber Squadron, 351st Bomber Group, Heavy, as a First Lieutenant and was a passenger aboard the B-17G #44-8639 at the time of his death. He was Killed in Action on June 8, 1945, when his airplane clipped the high ground on a ridgeside, then skidded along the mountainside of Craig Cwm Llwyd near Barmouth, Wales, and burst into flames. His B-17 was returning to the United States following the conclusion of hostilities in Europe. They were flying from Polebrook in Northamptonshire to the RAF Valley Airfield on Anglesey before the final leg back to the United States. All men aboard his plane were killed as a result of the crash.

1Lt Higley is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov