Military Figure. A career U.S. Army Ranger, Green Beret, and co-founder of America's Delta Force, Major Richard J. 'Dick' Meadows achieved legendary fame with his worldwide covert operations and military service. His record spans the globe from Asia to the Middle East and even South America. Born in Covington Virginia, Meadows enlisted in the U.S. Army at 15 years old. Advancing quickly in rank, he made Master Sergeant by age 20 and was assigned to the 187th Regimental Combat Team in Korea. By the time the Vietnam War heated up, he was an experienced and well seasoned combat veteran. General William Westmoreland awarded him the first battlefield commission of the Vietnam War. Meadows led more than two dozen missions behind enemy lines, four into North Vietnam and the rest in Laos. He captured many North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers and gathered valuable information for U.S. Intelligence. In 1970, he was a central figure, planner and key participant in an attempt to free American POW's with the famous "Son Tay Raid". After retiring from the military in 1977, he was again called on to assist with the 1980 rescue attempt of U.S. hostages in Iran. Meadows infiltrated into Tehran posing as an Irish businessman. His mission was to reconnoiter the captured American Embassy (where the hostages were being held) and forward tactical information to the U.S. rescue force. When the rescue operation unexpectedly collapsed in the desert, he narrowly evaded capture and escaped out of Iran. Dick Meadows was, and still is, considered the "soldier's soldier" in most military circles. His career garnered a host of decorations, including the Presidential Citizens Medal awarded posthumously by President Clinton. An 8 foot bronze statue of his image now stands on the Meadows Memorial Parade Field located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Cause of death: leukemia