Richard enlisted in the US Army in 1943 at the age of 19. He was in his first year of college. As he previously informed, he was originally trained for the African battlefield, but ended up in Europe with the 97th Infantry Division, 303rd Regiment, Company K liberating the Flossenburg concentration camp and  Cheb, reaching  the Teplá monastery then.

He also remembered how he went from Teplá by jeep to Pilsen to take care of something and brought back five barrels of beer for his company from Pilsen Brewery.