Maj Richard M. Cole, U.S. Air Force (1970-1992)

Military service has become a tradition in my family. One of the things that has kept me busy in retirement is genealogy research. Through my research, I discovered that my fourth great-grandfather, William McLee “Mack” Cole, served with Company B of the South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, which drew the majority of its men from Laurens County. Pvt. Cole died of pneumonia following the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va. He died in Chimborazo Hospital Number 5 and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, Va. Men were dying in large numbers at the hospital and were buried in Oakwood with as many as six men to a grave. A small stone cube marked the graves with numbers on them that correlated to a grave registry book listing the names of the men in each grave. When I discovered that my grandfather did not have a headstone, I attempted to obtain one for him through the VA, only to have my request denied. They stated the stone cube and grave registry were sufficient markings for his grave. So, I purchased him a headstone and, with the assistance of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, had it installed over his burial site at Oakwood.

My third great-grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Cole, served briefly as a drummer with the 1st South Carolina Infantry (Gaillard’s Battalion) when he was 12 years old. When his father, Pvt. William McLee “Mack” Cole passed away from pneumonia following the Battle of Fredericksburg, and “T.J.” was released from service.

T.J.’s son, and my great-great-grandfather, William McLee “Lee” Cole, is the only family member not to serve in the military. He was a farmer in Laurens, South Carolina. Lee’s son, Richard Eugene Cole, my grandfather, served twice during World War I. First, he enlisted to serve in Company D, 113th Machine Gun Battalion, 2nd South Carolina Infantry, 30th Division (“Old Hickory”) and was discharged due to medical reasons. He was then drafted and served briefly as an ambulance driver with the 68th Medical Replacement Battalion, South Carolina National Guard, before being medically discharged a second time.

My father, Richard Gerald Cole, served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II as an aircraft instrument repair technician. Following technical training at Chanute and Keesler Army Air Force Bases, he served principally at Thermal Army Airfield, Calif. Following the war, he took flying lessons and earned his pilot’s license. He purchased a war-surplus BT-13 trainer and flew around the United States for a couple of years. He bought the airplane in Arizona and sold it in North Carolina. Following the war, he also applied the skills he learned in the military to help build and maintain racing hydroplane boats that competed on Lake Havasu, Arizona.

I enlisted in the Air Force on September 21, 1970, and was discharged in December 1975. I reentered the U.S. Air Force as an officer on December 26, 1977, and retired as a major on September 30, 1992.

My son, Richard Matthew “Matt” Cole, enlisted in the Army and attended the Defense Language Institute during Operation Desert Shield/Storm, learning to be an Arabic linguist. So far, none of my three grandsons has entered the military.

Read the Military Memories of our Runner-Ups.