Class of: 1966
Brick: yes
Deceased: 2017-06-27

Major Richard W. Baksa U. S. Army 5th Special Forces Group Apollo Beach, FL and Collegeville, PA. Richard was born on December 15, 1944 to Gabriel and Dorothy (nee Schroder) Baksa of Scotch Plains, NJ. After graduating from Stetson University in 1966 he joined the Army and served 32 months in Vietnam where he rose to the rank of Captain. He was awarded the Army Air Medal in 1968 and a Bronze Star in 1969. Richard was a member of the 5th U.S. Special Forces Group, and played a key role in the mission to recruit the Montagnard people of South Vietnam as allies. Whip smart, brave and cunning; he was loved by the men who served under him.

After his service in Vietnam, Richard was Chief of Transportation for Bell Helicopter, then Vice President for Middle East Operations for TTT Shipping, then General Manager for Seatrain Lines, then Director of Equipment and Leasing for COTCO Leasing. During his career he lived and worked in Athens, Greece, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Bandar Busheur, Iran. In 1985 Richard returned to the Army and rose to the rank of Major. He graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1988. His last deployment before retiring from the Army was in Honduras in 1994. Richard loved high performance cars, auto racing, travel and blue water sailing.