Topus, Richard I. (12156045)

Richard I. Topus
Personal details
Born	1924
Died	2008
Nativity	United States
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	12156045
Rank	Technician Fifth Grade
Rank at Ritchie	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 24 (26 October – 29 December 1944)
Section	6B
Enlisted	New York City, New York

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Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

Richard I. Topus (1924–2008) was a Ritchie Boy (from United States; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 24.

Biography

Richard Topus (1924–2008) was a Jewish Ritchie Boy born in the United States. Richard attended In later years, after retiring to Scottsdale, he taught at Arizona State University and was also a securities arbitrator, hearing disputes between stockbrokers and their clients. He attended Post campus of Long Island University; and the State University of New York, Farmingdale, where he started a management-training program for supermarket professionals. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from Hofstra University. He to the thousands of American men and boys who raced homing pigeons, a popular sport in the early 20th century and afterward, the government’s message was clear: Uncle Sam Wants Your Birds.

Research notes

• Pigeon training

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	84
Nara ASN	12156045
Nara Name	TOPUS RICHARD I
Nara State	23
Nara County	81
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	201042
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	SC
Nara Branch Code	90
Branch	Signal Corps
Nara Term or Enlistment	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	23
Nativity.1	NEW YORK
Nara Year of Birth	24
Nara Race	1
Nara Race Description	White citizen
Nara Education	5
Nara Civilian Occupation	475
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	69
Nara Weight (lbs)	153
Class_ASN	12156045
Class_Name	TOPUS, Richard I.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 20 October 1942 — Enlisted in Army as Pvt (ASN: 12156045).
• 10 January 1944 — Entered Camp Ritchie; assigned to DEML as Pigeoneer.
• 23 December 1944 — Graduated Class 24 as Asst Photo Draftsman.
• 25 October 1944 — Entered Class 24 (PI).
• 30 June 1945 — Promoted to Pfc.
• Died 2008.

Sources

• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-12-08 (1 post)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Richard I. Topus for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Topus, Richard I. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: RICHARD TOPUS.doc)