Richard Lockhart was born in Lima, Ohio in January 1924 and grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was an only child. He and his family suffered a great deal during the Depression years and it was not until the United States manufacturing base switched to wartime production that his father was able to find steady work. His mother also worked to help support the family. Lockhart was working as a soda jerk when he learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was surprised by the news but had no idea how big of an impact it would have on his life. After graduating high school, Lockhart began taking classes at Purdue University. There, he joined the school’s ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps] program. Not wanting to let the war pass him by, Lockhart dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army on 8 December 1942.

After enlisting, Richard Lockhart was sent to Fort Eustis, Virginia where he joined an antiaircraft unit with which he took his basic training. From there he was sent to a base in North Carolina. Lockhart wanted to fight so when he learned that volunteers were needed for an infantry unit he raised his hand. He was sent to Camp Atterbury, Indiana where he became a member of the Anti-Tank Company, 423rd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division. Since he had been trained as an antiaircraft gunner, he was made a gunner on a 57mm anti-tank gun. After joining the 106th Infantry Division, Lockhart underwent some large scale training in Virginia. He and the division then shipped out for Camp Myles Standish near Boston, Massachusetts. There, they boarded the Queen Elizabeth and steamed for Great Britain. Food was bad. Lockhart and the rest of the division went ashore in Greenock, Scotland then went by train to a base in the midlands area of England. After a month of training and mingling with the locals, the 106th headed down to Southampton where they boarded ship for transport across the English Channel.

Richard Lockhart and the rest of the division [Annotator's Note: Lockhart was a gunner on a 57mm anti-tank gun in the Anti-Tank Company, 423rd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division] landed at Le Havre then moved across France to their assigned location on the front lines near the town of Bleialf, Germany, where they arrived on 10 December 1944. For the next six days, Lockhart stood guard near his battery's gun. The war was anticipated to end prior to Christmas. Then, on the morning of 16 December, Lockhart was awoken by a massive German artillery barrage. When the artillery fire started they called back to division or corps headquarters to inform the "higher ups" that they were under attack. Instead of being told what to do, they were told that they were over-reacting and that the Germans were simply firing harassing fire. Not long after the start of the incoming artillery fire, Lockhart's 57mm anti-tank gun was knocked out. Still, he was able to fire a number of rounds at German infantry before his gun was knocked out. After the gun was destroyed, Lockhart and the others with him were taken by truck to another area of the line where Lockhart picked up a rifle from a wounded GI and spent the next three days fighting as infantry. It was obvious there were no American contingency plans anticipating the German armored attack. Troops were without proper winter clothing, food and even ammunition. They were being surrounded without communication. There was chaos. The American troops were green and unprepared. Then, on 19 December 1944, Colonel Charles C. Cavendar, commanding officer of the 423rd Infantry Regiment, surrendered to the Germans. Lockhart thought it was a mistake to surrender. He was low on ammunition and separated from other American troops but willing to fight on.

Richard Lockhart disposed of his weapons and marched off into captivity [Annotator's Note: following his capture on 19 December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge]. After moving deeper into Germany, he and the other POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] were loaded into boxcars and taken to Stalag IX-B in Bad Orb, Germany where he remained until April 1945 when the camp was liberated. The trip to Bad Orb was as dangerous as fighting on the front lines. During the trip, the train was attacked by Allied fighter aircraft which bombed at least one of the box cars. Luckily, the car Lockhart was in was not hit. Life in Stalag IX-B was difficult, especially when it came to food. When the group first arrived in the camp, the Serbian prisoners in Stalag IX-B provided the newly arrived Americans with half of their food rations, an act Lockhart has never forgotten. Another thing Lockhart noticed as they entered the camp was that the Germans immediately tried to identify the Jewish GIs. That really bothered him. Lockhart was interrogated by a German officer about his personal religion and that of his parents. Lockhart has visited the United States National Archives in an unsuccessful attempt to see what information the Germans maintained on him.

In an effort to obtain extra food, Richard Lockhart volunteered to work on a wood cutting detail. While out on the detail, one of the German guards felt that the POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] weren't working hard enough and set about beating all of them with a tree branch. Fortunately, that was the only time Lockhart had an encounter of that kind with the Germans. Lockhart managed to obtain food by purchasing cigarettes with money he had hidden in his jacket. He then traded the cigarettes for food. Red Cross packages were few and had to be shared by several men instead of going to just one individual as planned. Mail was important. Day after day, POW life was repetitious. Delousing was something that was out of the ordinary. There were few choices open to the POWs.

Richard Lockhart saw burial parties take the dead out of his POW [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war] camp day after day. As fighting neared Stalag IX-B [Annotator's Note: in Bad Orb, Germany], Lockhart and his fellow prisoners feared that they would be marched away to another camp. Luckily, that didn't happen. One morning, the prisoners got up and the German guards were gone. Later that morning American forces arrived and liberated the camp. After the American troops arrived, Lockhart and the other newly liberated POWs were flown to Camp Lucky Strike where they spent a few weeks getting back into shape. They then went by ship back to the United States at approximately the time that President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: President Franklin Roosevelt] died. The voyage was very comfortable. The ship landed at Fort Dix, New Jersey. It was a welcome sight.

Richard Lockhart was discharged at Camp Atterbury in December 1945 after a 60 day leave at home. He had been prepared for transfer to the Pacific, but the surrender of Japan occurred prior to that. Prior to discharge, he spent time at Miami Beach and Fort Benning. When the bombs were dropped on Japan, Lockhart knew he would make it to civilian life. Until then, he was pessimistic that the Japanese would ever surrender. He thought they would fight to the last person. He greeted the atomic bombs with fervor. After the bombs dropped, Lockhart was pleasantly surprised that the Japanese surrendered. Lockhart was requested to stay in the Army, but he knew it was time to exit. Lockhart used the G.I. Bill to help cover his school expenses. Lockhart had trouble with his feet after discharge, but he had no other problems physically or with the transition back to civilian life.

Richard Lockhart remembers the destruction and suffering of Europe as his most memorable experience during his service. The loss of life in both World War 1 and World War 2 was tragic. The German rocket bombs, the V1 [Annotator's Note: V1 pulse jet cruise missile] and V2 [Annotator's Note: V2 balistic missile] weapons, did a lot of damage. Lockhart enjoys returning to Europe to see the changes since 1943 and 1944. He stays in touch with good friends who live in Belgium. He enjoys visiting Vienna also. He feels grateful that he survived the war. World War 2 has made Lockhart more sensitive about the history of both that war and World War 1. He did not waste his time while serving his country during the war. In the postwar years, he worked as a political lobbyist. He has wonderful children. His home shows his interests and his life. His home has been built to incorporate them. World War 2 was important because it got rid of Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]. Donald Trump and Joseph Biden seem at odds about the worthiness of today's neo-Nazis. It sounds similar to what happened in Germany with the Nazis and the Jews. Institutions like The National WWII Museum are important to continue to teach what happened during the war. Lockhart does his part in speaking to schools and the community about his experiences and beliefs.