Charles H. Richmond

Charles H. Richmond entered World War II in 1942 as the youngest individual ever to enter the US Army Chaplain Service. He immediately was sent overseas to the South Pacific Theatre, China, Burma and India. For more than two years he served troops fighting the Japanese and building the supply lines across the Himalaya Mountains. He then served for a year in the Infantry Replacement Center at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Upon release from active duty, he joined the Oklahoma National Guard and was activated with the 45th Division in 1950 to ultimately serve in Japan and Korea. While in Japan, he was instrumental in building and paying for a sanctuary and establishing a Christian Church which ultimately expanded into 22 additional churches and missions. He served 20 years as 45th Division Chaplain and retired with the rank of Colonel.

Richmond has been a leader, both locally and nationally, in the work of the American Legion and the Military Order of the World Wars, to include National Chaplain of the American Legion. For the past 15 years he has served on the staff of the American Legion Boys State, and since its beginning he has been an annual speaker and strong supporter of the Youth Leadership Conferences of the Military Order of World Wars.

In his civilian career, Richmond has been a minister of churches and a professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he later served as Dean of Students. While serving at the University of Central Oklahoma, he was instrumental in bringing the Reserve Officers Training Corps program into the institution. He has served as a Director of the Oklahoma County Chapter of the American Red Cross, President and Secretary of the Oklahoma College Personnel Association, President of Phi Delta Kappa, and President and Secretary of the Personnel and Guidance Association, among others.