Richard John Rudd Jr

Richard John Rudd Jr. was raised in Lee County and graduated from Keokuk Senior High School in the class of 1965. He joined the Marine Corps and completed training in San Diego, CA. A fellow Marine recruit described Rudd as “a simple country boy with a gentle spirit and a good heart.” He began a thirteen month tour in Southeast Asia in February 1968. While in Vietnam he was a field radio operator. Two months into his deployment he was killed in action. PFC Rudd was killed on April 21, 1968 from multiple fragmentation wounds to his head and body inflicted by an enemy mortar attack. He was 21 years old at the time of his death. Rudd’s body was returned to Iowa and buried at the Keokuk National Cemetery.