Roy Lee Richardson - Missionary and War Hero (1944-1970)
In August of 1965 my mother did something which changed the course of history. Why she did it, what her thoughts were that moment of the day, what caused her to respond as she did, I may never fully understand. But so it was, two nineteen year old Mormon missionaries knocked at her door, introduced themselves and asked if they could come back when the family was home and deliver their message. Her response was not to make an appointment for the whole family, but just for my sister Fay and me.
That evening when I arrived home she gave me the news that some fellers from a church wanted to come and discuss something about religion. At the time, I had more faith in truths discovered by scientific enquiry than any other way, for me there was no God; if there was, why was he not doing the same things he was doing thousands of years ago? I was ready for any discussion; Fay was not, so it was just me and them. Over the next few weeks they began teaching me but then both were transferred to new areas and that was the last I saw of them. Their names were Elders Richardson and Tullis.
So now, in December 2019, while staying with my daughter in Idaho USA, I have tried to discover these two men. So far I have found from British Mission records that in July 1965 Elder Richardson had been appointed district leader in my home town and that his full name was Roy Lee Richardson. However I have now discovered that on 9 May 1970 he died heroically in the Vietnam War. The details of his military service I include on the following page:
Just my family as of 2017. Then there is my sisters who joined 2 years after me, then there are those who I taught during my mission, and their families, then there are generations yet unborn.... the effect of one smaill act during an ordinary day in the life of two young missionaries!
