Richard Lee Rish

Richard Lee Rish was born in Sturgeon Bay, WI and moved to Mason City shortly after birth. He was a 1965 graduate of Mason City High School and joined the Army that June. He was a member of the local Bethlehem Lutheran Church. SP4 Rish had deployed to Germany and Okinawa, Japan prior to being sent to Vietnam in October 1969. SP4 Rish was a medical non-commissioned officer serving with Advisory Team 51, a part of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). He drowned to death on May 26, 1970 when the vehicle he was aboard overturned into a creek. The incident was deemed an accident. A funeral service was held at his local church and he was buried at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Mason City.