Graff

Pvt. Richard W. Graff was born in 1913 to Frank and Frances Graff. With his three brothers and sister, he grew up in Chicago at 4354 South Princeton Avenue and was employed by the Chicago Tribune as an advertising order clerk. He was known as "Rick" to his family.

Richard was married to Cecelia. In January of 1941, knowing that it was just a matter of time until he was drafted, Richard enlisted in the United States Army. He had always had a desire to serve his country. At the time, he had no idea how fateful this decision would be for him.

After enlistment, Richard was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for basic training. His drill sergeant was Ben Morin. At the same time, Headquarters Company, 192nd Tank Battalion was formed creating vacancies in the rosters of the tank companies. Since B Company had been an Illinois National Guard Company and Richard was from Illinois, he was assigned to B Company as a radio operator but was also qualified as a tank driver.

During this training, Richard and the other new members of the 192nd were housed in tents. Being it was late winter, the heaters did not always keep them warm. It was while living in the tent that Richard became friends with Ed DeGroot who had been assigned to A Company.

Richard finished his training as a radio operator and with Company B was sent on maneuvers in Louisiana during the late summer of 1941. After these maneuvers, the battalion was informed that it was being sent overseas. As a member of the 192nd Tank Battalion, his company was sent to Angel Island off the coast of California to prepare for duty in the Philippine Islands. While there, the soldiers received the necessary inoculations before leaving for the Philippines. After stops in Hawaii and Guam, the battalion arrived in Manila on Thanksgiving Day, 1941. For the next two weeks, the battalion prepared its equipment for use in the additional training they were expecting.

On December 8, 1941, Richard witnessed the Japanese bombing of Clark Field as they prepared to invade the Philippine Islands. For the next two months, he would fight the Japanese as they advanced in the Philippines. During the Battle of Bataan, Richard and the other tank battalion members were assigned to guard the eastern beaches of Bataan, that faced Manila, against a possible Japanese landing. It was during this duty, that the tanks of B Company were engaged in a "fire" fight with Japanese ships.

To prevent the Japanese from locating the tanks and half-tracks assigned to guarding the beaches, the tankers would move their tanks out onto the beaches at night and into the jungle during the early morning. Every morning a Japanese reconnaissance plane known to the Bataan defenders as "Recon Joe" would fly over the jungle trying to locate the tanks. Since the jungle canopy was so thick, the Japanese had no idea where the tanks were or how many tanks the Americans had.

One morning, an attempt was made by a Sgt. Walter Cigoi to end the daily flyovers of Recon Joe. Sgt. Cigoi pulled his halftrack out from under the jungle canopy onto the beach and started shooting at the reconnaissance plane. His attempt to shoot down the plane failed. As a result of this decision, the Japanese now had a good idea where the tanks were located. Twenty minutes later, four Japanese dive bombers flew to the location and pasted the tanks and half-tracks.

According to Frank Goldstein, when the bombs began exploding, he and Richard were about five feet apart. To hide from the bombs, Frank dove into a hole, while Richard attempted to hide beside his tank. Unfortunately, his tank provided very little protection. The falling bombs were exploding upon contact with the tree canopy high above the tanks. This situation resulted in shrapnel flying in every direction. When the bombing ceased, Richard was found sitting on the ground leaning against the side of his tank by Frank the other members of B Company. Frank recalled that Richard had a "peaceful" look on his face. At the time, they did not know that he had been hit in the back of the head by a small piece of shrapnel since they did not see any wounds at first. Richard was 28 years old when he died.

Pvt. Richard W. Graff was reported Killed In Action on February 3, 1942. After the war, his family had his remains returned to Chicago. He was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery on October 19, 1948. Today, he lies next to his mother and father at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery on the southwest side of Chicago .