Richard was the first Downers Grove boy to enlist in the army flying corps; signing up two years after training. He was born in the Village of Downers Grove in 1917 to Mr. and Mrs. W.M. Mansfield who lived on Maple Avenue. He graduated from Downers Grove High School with the class of 1935. After working for several years, he enrolled in the University of South Carolina for two years and enlisted in the air corps. He majored in aeronautical engineering which was supposed to be his career. He became a second lieutenant. He died in California when the plane he was on crashed on a training mission. He is buried at the Clarendon Hills Cemetery.
Lieutenant Richard Mansfield’s name is engraved on the plaque at Memorial Park in Downers Grove honoring local servicemen who never returned home from World War II.
