Remembering Them Forever (RTF)!

Military Information:

• Purple Heart (PH)
• Air Medal
• Deceased
• WWII Veteran
• QR Code
• TVHOF Patriot Award
• WWII Victory Medal
• US Army Air Corps or Forces
• 1-Alpha List
• Cemetery-Pilot Point Community, Pilot Point, Denton County, Texas
• Flight Officer-WWII (Flt O)

Bio:

He was born in Palmer, Texas, April 30, 1914, and was married to Inez Sitzes in Crandall, Texas, Jan 18, 1936. He was a veteran of World War II, a flight officer in the war and participated in the D-Day invasion.

He graduated from Wilmer-Hutchins High School, was a member of the Baptist Church in Denton and was a lifetime member of the Veteran of Foreign Wars. He was also a member of Elks Lodge, the Retired Officers Association, and American Legion Post 71.

He worked for Eastman Kodak in Dallas for 32 years and retired in 1965. Survivors include his wife, Inez Rives of Denton; one daughter, Mrs. Jan Campbell of Fort Benning, Georgia; two brothers, J.G. Rives of Segoville and W.W. Rives of Amarillo; one sister, Mrs. L.E. Neesley of New Orleans; and three grandchildren.

Flt Officer Rives Story of Bravery.

Flight Officer Rives began flight training as a civilian in September of 1940 and enlisted in the Army Air Corps in December 1942. He was selected for training to become a Glider Pilot. After over 315 hours of training in various aircraft, he was transferred to England to the 435th Troop Carrier Group of the 50th Troop Carrier Wing, 8th Air Force and took part in the Normandy Invasion lifting off from an airfield in Sussex, England at 2:00 AM on June 6, 1944. The HORSA aircraft, constructed of pine wood 2x4 lumber and canvas carried, on the mission, 6 men, a jeep and a 75mm cannon as cargo. One of the passengers was a General Officer accompanied by two staff personnel.

Released from the tow aircraft in the early morning darkness, he and Flight Officer Earl Davis landed the glider and crashed into a hedgerow. Upon impact, Flight Officer Rives was thrown through the plexiglass canopy, rendered unconscious, and lodged in the upper branches of the hedgerow. The collision dislodged the jeep and howitzer and all the passengers were killed. In the darkness, Flight Officer Davis could not be locate Flight Officer Rives, and determining that all of the remaining passengers were dead, set off in the darkness to locate other U.S. soldiers.

Sometime after daylight, Flight Officer Davis found three paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne, one of whom was a medic, and guided them back to the glider with the intent to find Flight Officer Rives and recover the jeep and howitzer. When they arrived at the glider, they found that German soldiers were already on the scene, had the jeep out of the glider and was working to free the howitzer. The soldiers of the 82nd took the Germans under fire at which time the Germans ran away. Upon approaching the glider wreckage, Flight Officer Davis found unconscious Flight Officer Rives hanging in the branches of a tree in the hedegrow and he and the soldiers shook the tree to dislodge Flight Officer Rives whereupon he fell to the ground. The medic determined that he was still alive although suffering from sever head wounds internal injuries, and many broken bones, compounded by his fall from the tree.

By this time the ship borne invasion was underway in earnest and sounds of the nearby battle were evident. Flight Officer Davis estimated their position at about one mile inland from Utah Beach. The medic advised that without prompt medical attention, Flight Officer Rives would die, so Flight Officer Davis decided to load Flight Officer Rives in the jeep and drive toward the battle, hoping he would not encounter German troops on the way. Miraculously, they encountered an aid station set up by paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne. Somehow, they avoided other German soldiers and their encounter was with the soldiers from the 29th Infantry Division near what is now the U.S Battle Monuments Commission Cemetery on Utah Beach. Flight Officer Rives was transported to a hospital ship, then to a hospital in Cardiff, Wales. He recovered consciousness on June 16th and after multiple operations was transferred to the United States in November 1944, where he remained hospitalized until August 22, 1946, at which time was medically discharged. Flight Officer Rives and Davis survived the war and returned to civilian life.

Flight Officer Rives died October 26, 1973 and is buried in the Pilot Point Community Cemetery in Pilot Point, TX.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28183405/albert-rives