Memorial

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Richard Horrigan graduated from Chester High School in 1938.

He joined the Air Corps in June 1942 and was commissioned in May 1944. He was sent overseas in December 1944.

1st Lt Horrigan joined several other pilots in strafing the airfield. His aircraft crashed during this action, likely due to anti-aircraft fire.

Horrigan’s wingman witnessed the crash, but because the airfield was behind enemy lines, Horrigan could not be recovered. Once sufficient evidence became available that he had not survived, a Report of Death for Horrigan was issued in November 1945.

The American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was charged with recovering the remains of fallen service members in the European Theater following the war. Because Alt Lönnewitz Airfield was under strict control of Soviet forces, they could not investigate Horrigan’s crash. A German national was able to investigate on behalf of the AGRC in 1953, confirming through an eyewitness that human remains had been seen at the crash. However, they were never recovered and buried. Because the AGRC was not allowed to investigate the site, Horrigan was declared non-recoverable in October 1953.

In 2004, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a DPAA predecessor, in conjunction with third-party researchers, investigated the site. It was approved for excavation in 2006. However, important site and logistical information was missing, and a recovery team was not sent out.

In March 2017, a DPAA investigation team returned to the site and located what they believed was Horrigan’s aircraft. In June 2019, DPAA contracted History Flight, Inc., a nonprofit organization, to excavate the site. They recovered material evidence and possible remains that were initially transferred to the police in Herzberg, Germany, before being sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis in August 2019.

To identify Horrigan’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Horrigan’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Horrigan is buried at the Locust Hill Cemetery in Chester, West Virginia.