Richard Irvin Mowrey

Richard Irvin Mowrey was born and raised on a farm Warren, Oregon. His parents Luis T. Mowrey and Mertile May Mowrey (Ferguson) were from Arkansas and came out west for work. His father was a longshoreman where he loaded lumber for freighters and his mother was a homemaker. Richard had an older brother named Leonard and younger sister named May Ellen. His parents instilled the value of hard work in him. He had to wake up early in the morning to milk the cows and feed the hogs. He remembered his family as loving and caring.

Richard joined the U.S. Navy in 1948 and served for approximately 22 years to include combat in both the Korea and Vietnam Wars. He went to basic training in San Diego and went to Great Lakes, Illinois for school to become a diesel mechanic. It was kind of hard for him to get used to live on a ship but claims never got sea sick. He retired as an E-6 First Class serviceman. Though he experienced a lot of adventure and saw a lot of the world, he was ready to retire from the military.

After Richard’s military retirement he stayed in San Diego and worked in the fire equipment business. Richard worked for American Fire Equipment for approximately 30-35 years. He enjoyed his job and helped him to keep active. He also liked to be part of organizations like the American Legion, American Red Cross, San Diego Honor Flight, and Eagle’s Wings to name a few.

He married his wife Margaret in 1978 at the age of 46 and had two daughters; Amanda and Rebecca. He was a loving husband and father. He expected to spend the rest of his life with his wife until she passed away in 2005. It was a very difficult time for him because he missed the companionship. He saw his girls grow up and he loved them very much and would talk to them regularly ad they would visit him as much as they could. In 2021, Richard welcomed his granddaughter Vivian to the family and he was elated.

Richard was wheelchair bound and moved into the Chula Vista Veteran’s Home in March 2009, but that did not let him stop him from enjoying life. Richard had a love for sports especially football and basketball. He was content watching western movies, reading the newspaper, completing a cross-word puzzle, woodworking, doing arts and crafts, and/or drinking a simple black cup of coffee.

Richard will be dearly missed.

Richard Mowrey

US Navy - ENC - Korean War - Vietnam War

Richard Mowrey was born on April 6th, 1930, and grew up on a family farm in St. Helens,

Oregon. Richard enlisted in the Navy in June 1947, attending Bootcamp in San Diego before transferring to Great Lakes Naval Training Center for Engine Man "A" School to learn the operation and maintenance of Diesel Engines. He remembered many days working on General Motors diesel engines, the equipment he would be in charge of in his future commands.

Richard's first at-sea command was the USS Bronx (APA-236), a Haskell-class attack transport from WW2. She carried many small crafts to deliver troops to the beach during an amphibious landing. Richard's next ship was an LST Landing ship Tank that landed the whole ship with the bow opening to load tanks and trucks directly to the beach. His ship participated in the Korean War, landing troops during various amphibious operations.

Richard also served a few years aboard an Amphibious cargo ship and then the USS

Butternut (AN-9). This ship was a net tender in charge of antisubmarine nets and minesweeping.

He also served on the USS Thomaston (LSD-28), the lead ship of the new Dock Landing Ship class.

LSDs had a well-deck aft of the ship that could be flooded, allowing for landing craft to enter and transfer cargo. Richard was promoted to Chief in 1961 while assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB1). He deployed with ACB1 to support operations in Vietnam. They operated along the rivers and coastline. Richard retired while working for the Naval Amphibious Base Engine Shop on 30 Aug 1968 after serving for 21 Years.