Interviewed by:
Paula Whittle and Devin Montgomery

"So, if you work hard enough you get where you want to go. That's all I can say really.

You know, you have to have a dream and you have to pursue it."

~ Richard Whittle (26:57)

Richard Whittle's Story:
Richard Whittle was born on April 6, 1928 in Weymouth, MA. He attended Weymouth High School and then joined the service. Once he enlisted he was sent to San Antonio, Texas to be in the Air Force. He did basic training and then he worked at the hospital on the Air Force base, but hated it. One day his Sergeant asked him if he wanted to work on airplanes instead. He then had to talk to a Major who told him that they needed more people like him who were interested in the work. Everyday Richard had a list he had to check off to inspect the airplanes. If there was a problem with the plane he would mark it with a red "x". This was so people knew you couldn't fly the plane. He had to take courses where he would read technical manuals about planes, too. Richard never learned how to fly in the military, but learned through a friend.

At one point Richard noticed that all the planes were being swapped out for new ones at the end of the war. He later found out that it was due to the start of the Korean War, two years later. There were chain-link fences put up and a guard gate. He didn't understand why these changes happened until after the Korean War.

On March 31, 1948 Richard had served his time in the Air Force and was allowed to go home. He went to Thayer Academy to brush up on his math and then went to Tufts University to study engineering. He then got a job with Hamilton Standard Company making airplane propellers. Today Richard lives in Chatham, MA.