Richard graduated from Swartz Creek High School in 2002 and joined the Army that summer as a Combat Engineer. Two years later on April 14, 2004 while serving his country in Iraq, Richard was killed in action when a roadside bomb went off beside his Humvee. Richard was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with Valor. His Lieutenant said “there was solid evidence that due to Rich’s actions he clearly saved the lives of the two comrades in the Humvee he was driving.”