Richard Wilson Brett was born on 12 September 1915.  He attended Findley Elementary School and then graduated from North High School in Akron in  June 1933. He lived at 1052 Oakland Avenue,  Akron, Ohio.

He was married and entered military service on 23 December 1941. He served in the United States Army Air Forces, European Theater of Operations,  as a Second Lieutenant (Service # 0-663125) and was killed-in-action on 9 November 1942 over
     Casablanca, Morocco during the Allied invasion of the Algerian and Moroccan coasts.  He was awarded the Purple Heart  Medal. He was just twenty-seven years old at the time of his death.