Eiting, Richard E.

RICHARD EDWARD EITING

TEC 5
U.S. ARMY

Richard Edward Eiting was born on August 23rd, 1920 in Decatur Indiana. His parents were Benard Benjamin and Elizabeth (Miller) Eiting. He was the second youngest of six children including sisters Catherine (1908), Francis Margaret (1910), Mary (1915), Elizabeth (1924); and a brother, Robert (1912). Elizabeth died as an infant and Mary died at age seven. During Richard's youth, he went to Decatur Catholic High School and graduated in 1939. He worked at Cal E. Peterson clothing store, along with other clothing stores in the town of Decatur during high school before enlisting in the Army. Richard was also a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Richard's brother Robert also served in the Army as a Sergeant in an ordinance company and his sister, Ensign Margaret Eiting, was a Navy nurse stationed in Oakland, California. His sister Catherine moved to the Bronx in New York to become a teacher at the Sisters of St. Angnes. She professed her vows in 1929 and became Sister Virginita Eiting. His parents later moved to Bluffton, Indiana.

Richard enlisted on July 15th, 1942 into the United States Army and trained at Camp Forrest, Tennessee; Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Phillips, Kansas; Yuma, Arizona, and Camp Dix, New Jersey. He would go on to earn the rank of Tech 5. Eiting married Louise Bir, a Fort Wayne nurse, on May 14th, 1944, while he was home from training. He was shipped out later that July. 

Upon completion of his training, Eiting was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division. The 80th Division was activated on July 15, 1942 and would set sail on July 4, 1944 aboard the SS Queen Mary eventually landing in Greenock, Scotland.  From there, the 80th Division moved on to France, landing on Utah Beach on August 3, 1944. The 80th Infantry served in numerous campaigns including Northern France, Rhineland, and Ardennes-Alsace. Additionally, elements of the 80th participated in the liberation of both Buchenwald and Ebensee Concentration Camps in April 1945.The division recorded 239 days of combat and became inactive on January 5, 1946. The 80th Division, known as the "Blue Ridge" Division lost over 3,500 men in combat from D-Day to VE Day. Included in these numbers are eight men from Adams County. 

Richard was killed in France on September 17th, 1944 in an Army Hospital by wounds he received in action 2 days earlier on September 15th at the age of 21. The family was notified of his death on October 21st. 

His remains were temporarily buried in an American military cemetery in Andilly, France. 

Shortly after word of Richards death, his wife, Louise, enlisted in the Women's Army Corps as a nurse. Second Lieutenant Louise Eiting reported for duty at Fort Knox, Ky on April 22, 1945.She eventually attained the rank of Captain before returnig home after the war and marrying Harry Evans in 1946.

His brother, Sgt. Robert Eiting, was able to visit Richard's grave while on leave from Germany in August 1945. A fellow soldier provided a ride to the cemetery on motorcycle. Robert had previously written about seeing President Truman and General Eisenhower drive through the streets of Frankfurt Germany. The American leaders were on their way to the Potsdam Conference to meet with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin to begin planning post-war Europe and determine the next stage of the war in the Pacific. 

After the war, at the request of his family, TEC 5 Eiting was returned home to be buried in the St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery. His remains were returned aboard the US Army Transport Ship Carroll Victory along with the remains of 7,000 other soldiers. Eiting's remains arrived in Decatur on December 22, of 1948.

A memorial scholarship fund through the Adams County Community Foundation is given in Richard's honor each year to a Bellmont High School student who plans to study nursing.

For his service and sacrifice, TEC 5 Eiting earned the Purple Heart, WWII Victory medal, American Campaign Medal, and European Campaign medal. 

Information researched and collected by Vanessa Robinson, 2015.

SOURCES

SUPPLEMENTARY