Isaiah 6:8 - The Karl W. Richter Memorial - Montgomery, Alabama - Etched in Stone on Waymarking.com

Located on Academic Circle at Air University, the statue honors the valor of a pilot who served this country in the Vietnam War. Lt. Richter was an Air Force Academy graduate who flew F-105 Thunderchief fighters in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. He flew 100 missions over North Vietnam at a time when 43% of the F-105 pilots failed to complete that milestone. He volunteered to do another 100 missions, using his experience to train newer pilots. He was near the end of the second 100 missions and was teaching a new pilot when his aircraft was damaged by enemy fire and he had to eject over rocky terrain. The rescue helicopter was able to find him, but he sustained so many injuries among the sharp limestone rocks that he died on the helicopter. Lt. Richter died on July 28, 1967.

The monument was dedicated on June 13, 1992. The complete verse, from the English Standard Version (ESV) reads: 'And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”'

In a 1992 article in Air Force Magazine, John L Frisbee, Contributing Editor, wrote the following:

"A nation that does not honor its heroes, it has been said, loses its soul. The soul of a military organization is its esprit de corps, arising from the memory of heroic deeds in the past. When Montgomery, Ala., offered to donate a static display aircraft to Air University as a memorial, AU Commander Lt. Gen. Charles G. Boyd had a better idea. A statue of a distinctive hero would have greater inspirational impact on rising generations of blue-suiters. Montgomery city officials joined enthusiastically in raising funds for the statue.

General Boyd, a former F-105 pilot, recipient of the Air Force Cross, and for nearly seven years a POW in North Vietnam, could have elected to memorialize one of the many distinguished generals whose careers are associated with Maxwell AFB. Instead he chose twenty-four-year old 1st Lt. Karl W. Richter, whose extraordinary courage, commitment, and determination to excel would be an inspiration to the thousands of young Air Force people who pass through the Air University each year."

He ended the article with these words:

"The statue of Karl Richter was unveiled at Maxwell AFB on June 13, 1992. An inscription from the prophet Isaiah at its base reads: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Here am I. Send me." These words epitomize Karl Richter's spirit of commitment--a spirit that underlies the Air Force tradition of valor in the service of this nation. It will inspire those who follow him, as it did his comrades who flew Downtown." source: (visit link)

Address: Chennault Circle by Poplar Street Maxwell AFB, AL Website: [Web Link]

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