Richard S. Chamberlin, 73, of Jacksonville, Ala., and formerly of the Miranda and Faulkton area died June 5, 1994 at home in Jacksonville.

Funeral services were held June 8, 1994 at St. Charles Catholic Church in Jacksonville, Ala., with Rev. William Lucas officiating.

Richard S. Chamberlin was born on the Mason and Lida Chamberlin family farm two miles north of Miranda on July 4, 1920. He graduated from Faulkton High School in 1940 where he was a star athlete before being selected as an All North Central Conference fullback on the football team and all-regional center on the basketball team. Twice he was selected to play against the Harlem Globe Trotters when they played in the local area.

For most of his 24 years in the U.S. Air Force, he was a master sergeant and a crew chief on bombers. During World War II, he was stationed in England with the 8th Air force as a crew chief on a B-24 four-engine bomber. His group was required to make 35 bombing missions over Germany before they could opt for R & R or re-assignment back to the U.S.A. On his 33rd mission, his B-24 was hit with heavy flak over Hamburg, Germany. His plane had parts of the wing and tail sections shot away, the hydraulic system would not work on the boom-bay doors would not close. He made several trips down on the cat-walk and cranked the door closed by hand. They were attacked by about 40 German fighters. He is credited with shooting down one fighter from the tail gun and another from the top turret. When they finally got back to England, he was hospitalized for about a month due to exposure to his lungs. Then he made two more bombing missions and came back stateside. Following World War II, he got out of the service for about four years. He went to UCLA for one year and then took the L.A. police exam and passed to become an under-cover officer for the LAPD. He then went back into the Air Corps at March Air Force Base near Riverside, Calif. He was crew chief on B-29 bombers. When President Eisenhower's plane was refueled in mid-air over the Atlantic, Richard Chamberlin was chosen as the boom operator to refuel the President's plane.

The machine guns on planes were fired electronically but sometimes would not stop firing until the belt ran out, a hundred rounds or more, a defect known as "run-away" machine gun. He invented a device that put a stop to that. He was stationed at March for about six years where he had charge of all the firing ranges. He was well known as one of the world's best shots with a .45 or .38 pistol. He was appointed by General Hap Arnold, base commander and J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, to the revision team to revise training methods for both of these weapons.

He did two tours of duty in Germany and also did a tour of duty in Korea during the Korean Conflict. While serving in Korea, he met his brother, Robert, Robert was in the infantry for 27 years and died about 15 years ago from complications from malaria caught in the jungles of the South Pacific and was buried with military honors in Sawtelle Vets Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Richard's last duty was at Stead Air Force Base in Reno. While there, one of his students, a Second Lieutenant, failed to qualify in the .45 pistol, so he asked Richard, "Does that mean that I won't be going to Korea?" Richard shot back, "No sir, that probably means that you won't be coming back." That joke was published in Reader's Digest in the Humor in Uniform section.

The police chief of Reno asked him to give pistol shooting instruction to his men which he did. After his retirement, he managed the Branding Iron Casino and later was head cashier at Cal-Neva Casino. He played high stakes pinochle at the Elks Club in Reno. He also had the reputation as an expert high-stakes poker player and even last year the annual high-stakes poker game in Reno sent him an invitation to play and a round-trip plane ticket but because of his emphysema from being a heavy smoker for years he had to carry an oxygen tank and was not able to attend. He spent his final time in Alabama with his siblings in Jacksonville where he passed.

Survivors include: a step-daughter, Tina Brush; three sisters, Margaret Wurster, Kathleen Chamberlin and Elizabeth Imm all of Jacksonville, Ala.; one brother, Frank Chamberlin of Paso Robles, Calif.; and several nieces and nephews.