RICHARD G. LAYSER, CDR, USN
Richard Layser '47
Lucky Bag
From the 1947 Lucky Bag:
Richard Gene Layser
Myerstown, Pennsylvania
Gunner found that the only ship big enough to hold his mighty hulk was a sub. When the Math Department discovered that the only way he could add two and two was to get out his bead board, they closed in, and the next two years were more dangerous than a sub patrol The Mighty Midget found his athletic ability in lacrosse and proved to all that dynamite comes in small packages. He got more letters in one mail than his three wives did in a month, and all from "her." If you should ever feel someone poking you in the ribs, and saying, "Hey, Bub," reach and take him in tow a well found friend.
The Class of 1947 was graduated in June 1946 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Richard Gene Layser
Myerstown, Pennsylvania
Gunner found that the only ship big enough to hold his mighty hulk was a sub. When the Math Department discovered that the only way he could add two and two was to get out his bead board, they closed in, and the next two years were more dangerous than a sub patrol The Mighty Midget found his athletic ability in lacrosse and proved to all that dynamite comes in small packages. He got more letters in one mail than his three wives did in a month, and all from "her." If you should ever feel someone poking you in the ribs, and saying, "Hey, Bub," reach and take him in tow a well found friend.
The Class of 1947 was graduated in June 1946 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Loss
Richard was lost when his AD Skyraider crashed on February 4, 1965 while operating from USS Saratoga (CV 60) in the Mediterranean. He was Commanding Officer of Attack Squadron (VA) 35 at the time of his loss.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz, a compilation from the Lebanon Daily News.:
Richard graduated from Richland High School in 1940. He played baritone horn in the orchestra and performed solos and duets at concerts.
In July 1940, Richard enlisted in the Navy. In September, he was appointed bugler in his company at the Naval Training School at Newport. He completed Submarine School at New London in December and received appointment to the new submarine “Tuna.” In December 1941, Richard was in the submarine division of the U.S. Navy stationed at Mare Island. He served on the Tuna in the Kwajalien Islands and also in Pearl Harbor. The Tuna was one of the first underwater craft to enter Tokyo Bay at the beginning of the war.
His decorations included the Submarine Combat Pin with two stars, the Asiatic-Pacific Area Medal with three stars, the American Defense Service Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Area Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.
In May 1943, Richard was a gunner’s mate, 1-c, at Norfolk when he became engaged to Mary E. Kennard. They were married on June 3, 1946, at the Naval Academy Chapel. They had three children: Mary Teresa born in 1946, Rickie born in 1949, and Gay born in 1954.
In November 1946, he transferred to Pensacola for duty on the carrier USS Saipan. He also served on USS Brush and USS Hubbard and was an instructor at the naval academy for a time.
In 1950, Richard and his family moved from San Diego when he entered the Naval Air Force at Pensacola.
In October 1951, Richard received advanced training in multi-engine aircraft in Advanced Training Unit Twelve at Corpus Christi. After receiving his wings in January 1952, he took a course in aerial photography in Pensacola.
For three years, 1952-1955, he was a pilot in the Photographic Squadron 62, Sanford Naval Auxiliary Air Station. In August 1952, he was in Jacksonville, and in June 1953, he was a Naval photographer in Labrador.
Richard went with 60 others on an expedition in Greenland during the summer of 1953. His group was engaged in an aerial mapping survey. On his furlough in November, he gave a slide show of Greenland to his mother’s students at Millbach School, and he also enjoyed the hunting season “by daily tramps in the fields.”
In November 1953 to June 1954, he was stationed at the Naval Air Force in Sanford, Florida. In 1955, Richard was transferred to the naval recruiting and officer procurement office in Detroit, and in September 1956, he was transferred to California. In December 1957, he was serving with the Pacific Fleet Personnel Accounting Machine Installation at the North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego.
In May 1961, Richard participated in Phase III of Exercise Green Light, off the coast of California. The exercise involved Navy and Marine Corps undersea, surface, air and ground forces, supported by minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy. It also included a large-scale amphibious landing by the First Marine Division in the Camp Pendleton area.
Richard returned to San Diego in November 1961 after a three and one-half month cruise around Cape Horn while serving with Attack Squadron 115 aboard the aircraft attack carrier USS Kitty Hawk.
Two weeks before his death on January 22, 1961, he took command of Attack Squadron 35 at a ceremony at Cannes, France. He sent the ceremony’s invitation to his mother with this note on the back: “Dear Mother, I’ve got my squadron and with it enough troubles to keep me from writing. You have read and heard of my two pilots who landed in Algeria – and I also lost a plane last week when the engine failed. Fortunately none of my pilots were hurt.”
Richard was survived by his wife, daughter Terry (Mrs. Edward Youngs), son Richard, age 15, daughter Gay, 10, and sister Anita (Mrs. Sigurd Sundberg.) Richard was a member of the Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church in El Cajone, California.
He is listed on the "In Memoriam" page of USS Saratoga (CV 60)'s 1964-1965 cruise book.
He has a memory marker in California.
His wife, Mary Elizabeth, remarried but died with her husband when Egypt Air flight 990 crashed after departing New York. (From March 2000 issue of Shipmate.)
Photographs
His wife pins his wings. From Lebanon Daily News, and The Lebanon Daily Times on January 25, 1952
From Lebanon Daily News, and The Lebanon Daily Times on March 13, 1961
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