John William Richards was born on February 10, 1915, in Northamptonshire, England. He was the son of Henry Oscar Richards and Mary H. Eversole. After graduating from high school, he worked for the Phillipsburg Ice Company. He was inducted into the U.S. Army at Newark, New Jersey, on July 28, 1943. He underwent basic training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, before being assigned as Private First Class to Company A, 179th Engineer Combat Battalion.

On August 23, 1944, during the assault crossing of the Seine River near Tilly, France, Richards was severely wounded by enemy artillery fire. He was evacuated to Chartres, where he died of his wounds on August 25, 1944, after undergoing an amputation of his left leg. He is now buried in the Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial, Saint-James, Département de la Manche, Basse-Normandie, France.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, weremember.abmc.gov