Veteran Voices from LifeBio: Richard Pool

In honor of Veterans Day, we are featuring stories of Front Porch residents who served in our armed forces. This is the story of Richard Pool, a Fredericka Manor resident who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War all while completing his study to become a nurse.

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, as of September 2016, there are now 6.9 million living Veterans of the 8.7 million Americans who served in the Vietnam War (1964-1975). 

My name is Richard Pool. I was born on July 10, 1942, in Watson, Illinois. I served in the Vietnam War in the Air Force taking care of wounded GIs in the Air Force and I was based in Vietnam. I want to be remembered as someone who is a freedom fighter and loved freedom.

Before serving, I went to Southern Illinois University studying nursing. My aunt was a licensed nurse and worked at a hospital where I studied, and she really talked up nursing to me. She told me I should go to nursing school, so that's why I went. I became a nurse anesthetist and studied the anesthesia part of my nursing school in the Air Force at Lackland Air Force Base at San Antonio, Texas.

It’s kind of a long story how I joined the Air Force, but we were being drafted by the Army. My friend and I said, "Let's join the Air Force. We won't go to Vietnam." Vietnam was the first assignment I had.

When I left home, it was very scary, because I didn't know where Vietnam was, much less who the people were or what I was going to be doing. I was pretty scared. I traveled by airplane. I flew to some place in northern California and we flew out of there to Vietnam, which was a 17-hour flight.

We didn't actually go to boot camp. In those days, you didn't go to boot camp, instead we had orientation. They taught you how to salute, who to salute, and where you were going to live.

In Vietnam, there were plenty of surprises. The atmosphere there meant we had to be alert and ready to run to the nearest bomb shelter.

While I was away, my family was very much affected. I wrote to them and they sent me letters and cookies all the time. The letters from my family were mostly had news about what was going on back home and the football team.

When my service ended, I was overwhelmed. I was so thrilled to be out of Vietnam. I didn't do anything special when I got home. I wanted to eat some beans and corn bread.

My wartime experiences affected my life. I learned to be very thankful for what I have, fight for what you believe in, and always be true to yourself.


LifeBio is an engagement program that captures cherished memories and lasting legacies through storytelling. Since launching in 2000, LifeBio has helped 20,000 people tell their life stories through autobiographical tools and services for all levels of care. LifeBio uses technologies as mediums to help individual document their stories in an easy and unique way such as tablets, web cams, and audio and video equipment. LifeBio has been a partner with Front Porch since 2009. For more details, check out LifeBio’s Impact Story on the Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing (FPCIW) website.

Resident Voices: The Greatest Generation

By Ed McQuiston, resident at Casa de Mañana

This month we recognize another Casa resident, Albert Fitzpatrick, born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Upon graduating high school in 1943, he knew what he wanted to do – “Fly, rather than walk”. In July he enlisted in the Army Air Corps flight training program and received his wings as a Flight Officer. In New Guinea he flew troop support missions with combat cargo, infantry, and the wounded. Moving on into the Philippines then Okinawa and, eventually, Japan, he flew B-25, B-26, B-17, and cargo aircraft until 1946, when he returned home.

He remained in the Air Force active reserve in Long Beach, CA, attending USC, where he received a Bachelors degree in Business, then a Masters degree in Business Administration. Recalled in the Korean war, he flew C-47 aircraft in a weather squadron for a year.

Subsequent tours of duty included teaching Air Force ROTC classes at Baylor University in Business and Economics while he earned a Master of Science in Economics; then for one year study at the Air Force Institute of Technology; AF Contract Representative to the North American and Douglas Aircraft Manufacturers; After receiving a PhD. In Economics from USC, he taught economics classes for six years at the Air Force Academy. After 24 years, he retired from the Air Force in 1966 as a Major, with 6 Combat Air Medals, numerous battle stars and area campaign medals.

In his second career as a Professor of Economics, he taught classes at the University of Colorado and University of Maine, where he settled with his wife, June, to raise his family of 4 at Cape Elizabeth, Maine. He became a Registered Investment Adivisor and Expert Witness Authority on Personnel Economic Value in law cases up to and including being referenced by the Supreme Court. He finally retired at the age of 80.