Richard Engel grew up in Roebling, New Jersey. After finishing High School, he attended classes at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina where he was a Civil Engineering major. His Freshman and Sophomore years were spent as a member of Cadet Company D. During the 1942-1943 academic year, he joined the 3rd Battalion staff in the position of Cadet Intelligence Sergeant. Probably at the end of 1943, he left Charleston, South Carolina in his Junior year to enter the service of the US Army Air Corps. Having obtained his pilot wings, Richard was sent overseas and was assigned to the Replacement Training Unit (RTU) Headquarters 55th Fighter Group on 16 December 1944. He was killed on a training flight on 31 December 1944, flying on board P-51 Mustang Serial 44-14171. The aircraft caught fire and crashed into the sea. Richard Engel had managed to bail out, but it happened at too low an altitude, about 500 feet, and he lost his life. His body was recovered and buried at the temporary cemetery at Madingley, England. When the US Government proposed to his parents to have his remains repatriated to the United States, they chose to have him permanently interred overseas. He rests at the Cambridge American Museum in Cambridge, England, Plot F, Row 2, Grave 109. On 2 November 2005, the Florence Township Council (Roebling, New Jersey) resolved to name nine streets in honor of local WW I, WW II and Korean War veterans, including “Engel Court” (Resolution NO.2005-207, following a motion by Elizabeth Ryan.) During the session, Rev. Henry England, Engel family, spoke on behalf of his grandfather and grandmother regarding the honor given his Uncle Richard Engel.