PORT TOWNSEND — A July 30 Port Angeles ceremony is being planned in memory of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. William Taylor Richards, the son of Jefferson Healthcare hospitalist Dr. Steven Richards, who was buried Saturday in Tennessee after he was killed in combat in Afghanistan last month.
The fallen Marine, who had played bluegrass banjo with Port Townsend musicians, died June 26 in Helmand Province in Afghanistan.
A funeral was conducted Saturday in Chattanooga, Tenn., where news reports said he was remembered as a fine young man, husband, father and a brave Marine.
Dr. Richards, who lives in Sequim and who also has worked at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles, was said to be still on the East Coast and was unavailable for comment Wednesday, an official with Jefferson Healthcare hospital said.
Dr. Ed Gacek, who worked with Dr. Richards at OMC for about six years, said the physician was expected to return home sometime today.
“It’s just such a loss, especially around the Fourth of July,” Gacek said, recalling stories of Cpl. Richards coming to Port Townsend in the summers.
He performed on the banjo with bluegrass musicians at such venues as The Upstage, and played anjo and guitar with his father, Gacek said.
Bell-ringing ceremony
To honor his memory, Port Angeles Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1024 are tentatively planning a July 30 bell-ringing ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park on Lincoln Street in Port Angeles, said VFW Post 1024 Cmdr. Bill Minor, but plans had not been finalized with Dr. Richards as of Wednesday.
Minor said he hopes the doctor can join Port Angeles veterans who would present him with a ceremonial U.S. flag honoring the memory of his 20-year-old son.
Bell-ringing ceremonies for veterans who have died in the past month are conducted on the last Friday of the month at the park on Lincoln Street, Minor said.
Paula Dowdle, chief operating officer at Jefferson Healthcare said the doctor has served as a hospitalist, or in-house doctor, for the hospital the past two years.
“He was at an education seminar out of state when he learned about it,” Dowdle said, referring to Cpl. Richards’ death.
Cpl. Richards was from Trenton, Ga., where he attended Dade County High School, southeast of Chattanooga, Tenn.
Musician, father
Cpl. Richards’ family released a statement last week saying the Marine was “an excellent musician” and a “dedicated father,” the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
The statement also said that his commanding officer told family members that Cpl. Richards was “a brave man and a fine Marine.”
Cpl. Richards had been serving in Afghanistan since March.
He died “as a result of a hostile incident while supporting combat operations,” said a Department of Defense prepared statement.
Cpl. Richards was a squad automatic rifleman, handling one of the heavier machine guns for the squad of about 15 Marines.
He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Cpl. Richards was a 2008 graduate of Dade County High School in Georgia.
He is survived by his wife, Emily Mitchell Richards, and daughter Kayden Lee, 9 months; mother Barbara Pouliot of Ringgold, Ga., and his father, who was originally from Hixson, Tenn.
________
Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
