Richard Bocock Willis Jr. Dick was born at P. They divorced on December 31, , when Dick was two years old. Margie wrote January 24, :. Lynwood told Gladys that he loved Dick like a son.
About June , when Dick was nine years old, Gladys went through a divorce with Lynwood. The following are excerpts from a letter Dick's father Richard wrote to Lynwood on June 8, Its primary subject was financial arrangements for Dick:. While Dick was living with his father and Ray in Philadelphia, they took many pictures of young Richard. He was enjoying his stay. He was smiling or laughing in almost every picture. Dick had the following childhood illnesses: [3].
David remembers Gladys saying that Dick once took the engine of her car apart and put it back together again. Another time, she said that during his teenage years his father sent him an Army training course on map making. He played on the tennis team. Dick's father helped financially. The following are excerpts from a letter written by Gladys to her ex-husband, Dick's father.
The following are excerpts from a letter written from Gladys to Richard Sr. Dick was enrolled in a private prep school on the Hudson River in New York. With the help of his father, he received an appointment to West Point. Dick first day at West Point was July 1, Dick said he lost nearly 20 pounds due to hazing. Dick's son, David, recollects being told that Dick had a friend who was not a particularly good student, and Dick helped him through his studies during their first year or two.
In his final year, Dick was a member of Company A Dick received many demerits while he was at West Point. Training there was done with a with a PT, a two-seater training aircraft. Cadets typically received about 70 flight hours in BT-9 or BT basic trainers. Dick graduated June 1, Winifred said that when Dick first received a copy of the class ranking list, he looked first at the very bottom and worked his way upward from there. He graduated 68th in his class of , which was better than he had expected.
