RICHARD PAUL PADGETT, Class of 1944
On April 30, 1945, 2Lt. Richard “Paul” Padgett, ’44, native of Walterboro, South Carolina, was killed in action in the vicinity of Tirschenreuth, Germany near the Czech border. Born to Mr. and Mrs. C. Gadsen Padgett on February 16, 1923, Paul was a standout student leader at both Walterboro High School and The Citadel.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRzLEB2wV6Y&w=560&h=315]A member of The Citadel’s Class of 1944, he was 4th Battalion Ordnance Sergeant his junior year. He was a member of the Bond Volunteers and a member of the Sphinx, Ring, and Standing Hop Committees. Indicative of his standing among the Corps of Cadets, Paul was chosen by Gen. Summerall to be the Cadet Aide to the Governor of South Carolina during the latter’s visit to The Citadel during the school’s Centennial Celebration, December 1942.
Richard Paul Padgett, Class of 1944 [1]
February 16, 1923 – April 30, 1945
Overseas in the European Theater of Operations serving with Company “G”, 303rd Infantry Regiment, 97th Infantry Division, 2Lt. Padgett was killed in action a week before the surrender of Nazi Germany. His wife, Lavinia Anne Ficken Padgett, gave birth to their son, Richard Paul, on May 15, 1945. Awarded the Purple Heart medal, 2Lt. Padgett rests in peace at Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France.
About the video:
In this presentation filmed on July 20, 2015 at Lorraine American Cemetery, Mr. Pren “Dunn” Woods, a seventh-grade world history teacher at Alston Middle School in Summerville, South Carolina, remembers Paul Padgett’s life and sacrifice. This was made possible by the joint ABMC and NHD “Understanding Sacrifice Program – An in Depth Study of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen during World War II in Europe.”
Sources:
[1] 1943 Sphinx, The Annual of The South Carolina Corps of Cadets, Charleston, S.C.
