Leslie Milton Rittgers

Les Rittgers was born on 17 June, 1945 in Denver, Colorado, and passed away in Colorado Springs on 21 October. 2017 at age 72.  He served in the 178th in 1966-67, first in Maintenance, then Flight Platoon as a Crew Chief, and then as Flight Engineer on Boxcar 65-8010, known as "Granny Twitchett".  We flew several missions together when I was a Crew Chief, including one day-long high stress cable-extraction med-evac of 101st troops.  That mission was a life-changing experience for both of us.  Les never attended a Reunion, but I did visit him on his farm in Cheyenne County, Colorado near the town of Eads, and we stayed in contact for fifty years.

From his wife and Dean Nelson