Richard Nelson Large – Sergeant, United States Army

From a contemporary press report:

Richard Nelson Large, born February 6, 1923 in Abingdon, Virginia, died on July 7, 2001 in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

Richard served in the US Army from 1943-1945 as a Sergeant 1st Class in the 202nd Engineer Combat Battalion, C Company – Medical Detachment. He arrived in Normandy in July 1944, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and four other battles and received a Purple Heart.

He later served in the US Army Reserve as a Master Sergeant from 1948-1953.

Richard graduated from McLains Business School of Bluefield, West Virginia, and worked at Washington Air Compressor Rental Company in Washington, D.C. for over 30 years. He was also a member of the American Legion Post 259 in Clinton, Maryland.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Ivy and five children, Ron Large, Spokane, Washington, Don Large, Sarasota, Florida, Mike Large, Sarasota, Florida, Linda Collins, Seaside, California, Colleen Hall, Sarasota, Florida and nine grandchildren. Siblings Edna Rusk, Luther Large, Belle Noe and Dewey Large also survive him.

A resident of Sarasota, Florida, Richard enjoyed gardening, camping and hiking.

Interment services will be held at Arlington National Cemetery on October 5, 2001 at 11 a.m. Memorial donations may be made to the WWII Veterans Memorial Fund, 2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 501, Arlington, Virginia 22201.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard