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In Memory of U.S. Army Sergeant First Class

Richard Ray Maynard

Sturgis, South Dakota, Meade County

November 17, 1949 – March 20, 1969

Killed in Action in Vietnam

   

Richard Ray “Dick” Maynard was born November 17, 1949, in Faith to Lawrence and Valera (Keegan) Maynard. He had four brothers, John, Larry, Ronald, and Buster, and one sister, Denise. As a child he lived in Dupree and enjoyed playing Tripoli, tag, and hide ‘n’ go seek. His cousin, Ruth Slaughter, remembers that he was funny and made everyone laugh and that he “was a very nice-looking kid, who was full of mischief and though he was very smart, he didn’t like classroom education much.” He also liked hunting and hanging out at the pool hall with his dad. He went to Dupree High School but then after his father’s death moved to Faith with his mother for a time before he moved to Sturgis and enlisted in to the army.

When Richard enlisted in the army on November 17, 1967, he was sent to Ft. Lewis, Washington, where he did his basic training and Folk Polk, Louisiana, for Special Forces training. Maynard became part of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. Before he went overseas, he came home on leave, where he “made a special trip back to Dupree to say good-bye” to his aunt and uncle, Clarke and Marie Edwards, and their daughter, Shirley. He went overseas to Vietnam on April 27, 1968. In one of his letters home to Shirley, he wrote: “I’m back out in the field now. I think I told you I was going on R&R the 8 of Dec. Boy I sure had a lot of fun. I think that was the best five days in my life.” He also wrote, “We go on another Stand Down in about 10 days and I’ll going to see if I can stay in the rear when they come back out.”

Sergeant First Class Richard Ray Maynard was killed in action in Vietnam on March 20, 1969, “as a result of heavy mortar fire from hostile forces.” His body was returned to the United States, and he was buried with military honors at Black Hills National Cemetery.

In closing, Richard’s cousin, Shirley, said simply, “He was very special to us.”

This entry was respectfully submitted by Amy Post, 8th grade, Spearfish Middle School, Spearfish, South Dakota, on February 8, 2006. Information for this entry was provided by Ruth Bakeberg Slaughter; Shirley Schmautz, and Dorothy Edwards, an application for a SD veterans bonus and Rapid City Journal, 3/30/69. Profile approval by Ruth Slaughter, Shirley Schmautz, and Dorothy Edwards.