Richard C. Daves was born on March 3, 1924. Son of William and Effie, he had 1 sister and 3 brothers.He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II as a Second Lieutenant. He entered the service in Oklahoma. On 26 August, 1944 while piloting a Search and Rescue mission over the English Channel at the controls of the P-51B (43-7036) YF Z " Rugged Rebel " (a plane borrowed from the 358th Fighter Squadron), his plane dove towards the sea for no apparent reason and he did not make it out of the plane. At the time of his disappearance, he had not destroyed any enemy aircraft, both in aerial combat and by strafing on the ground. His name is commemorated at the Tablets of the Missing, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.