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RICHARD MARTIN “DICK” EINAR, JR. BIOGRAPHY
 Richard Martin Einar, Jr. was born on November 12, 1921 in Butte, Montana. Around age two he moved with his parents to Washington State. He graduated from North Kitsap High School in Poulsbo, Washington. Later he graduated from the University of Washington.
He joined the Navy on June 13, 1942 was commissioned as an Ensign on July 1, 1943 and designated a Naval Aviator on July 17, 1943. The next day on July 18, 1943 while training at N.A.S. Corpus Christi “Dick” married Emily Jane Kellogg who traveled from Washington State to Corpus Christi, Texas for the wedding.
After returning home with Fighting 17, “Dick” Einar served with VF-84 from April 1944 to December 1944. He was then assigned to VBF-1 and served on the U.S.S Bennington and took part in strikes against the Japanese home islands. For his service with VBF-1 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with one Gold Star and Air Medal with four Gold Stars. He also served as Primary Flight Instructor at N.A.A.S. Rodd Field, Corpus Christi, Texas from June 1946 to August 1946 and stayed in the reserves until 1961.
“Dick” had a younger brother; Ensign Robert K. Einar who was killed in the South Pacific theater during WWII. No one knew the details of how he died on June 21, 1945.
After leaving the service “Dick” went into banking and achieved his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Accounting in 1953. In 1957 he was transferred to Leavenworth, WA to be a Branch Manager of Seattle 1st National Bank. He liked the small town of Leavenworth, and preferred staying there over a promotion elsewhere. Years later, when faced with another transfer, he left the bank, taking an administrative job in the forest products industry.
“Dick” was an avid golfer and one of the highlights of his life was winning the Edelweiss Golf Tournament and he also liked to bowl. He volunteered much of his time to community service and he served as a hospital commissioner for many years. He “was a true gentleman” and tried to live a quiet, peaceful life. “Dick” and Emily had a son Rick and an adopted daughter Christine who preceded “Dick” in death.
“Dick” had a long ordeal with Supra - Nuclear Palsy and before he died and had to move to assisted living and then to a nursing home. He died on April 20, 2007.
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Lee Cook followed up his interest in Fighting 17 in 1993, by corresponding with Squadron Commander Tom Blackburn and attending the VF-17 reunion at Oshkosh in 1994. This led to Lee writing the definitive history of the squadron, "The Skull and Crossbones Squadron-VF-17 in World War II" which was published in 1998.