Scroll of Honor – Richard Samuel Proctor, Jr.
Phantom
Written by: Kelly Durham
Richard Samuel Proctor, Jr. was an economics major from Sumter and a member of Clemson’s Class of 1969. He married the former Lorri Loyd and taught at McLaurin Junior High School before serving in the Air Force in Vietnam.
Proctor was assigned as a flight crew member on an F4D Phantom. The Phantom was a two-seat, twin engine, supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber used by the Air Force, Navy, and Marines beginning in 1961. The aircraft was a mainstay of American airpower with a total of 5,195 built through 1981, making it the most produced American supersonic military aircraft in history. The Phantom was a highly capable aircraft, setting numerous speed and altitude records.
Proctor served in the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing which flew missions during Operation Linebacker, the 1972 bombing campaign over North Vietnam. The Wing flew more than 21,000 combat hours from July through September and did not lose any aircraft or personnel. The wing returned to its home field, Holloman Air Force Base neat Alamogordo, New Mexico, in October 1972.
On June 22, 1974, First Lieutenant Proctor was assigned to a training mission in an F4D fighter. The airplane crashed in bushy, desolate country near the northern edge of White Sands Missile Range.
First Lieutenant Proctor was survived by his wife, their daughter, his parents, and a sister. He was buried at Evergreen Memorial Park in Sumter.
For more information on Richard Samuel Proctor, Jr. see:
https://soh.alumni.clemson.edu/scroll/richard-samuel-proctor-jr/
For additional information on Clemson University’s Scroll of Honor visit:
https://soh.alumni.clemson.edu/