Kay Ritter Grasso, LtCol Ritter’s daughter, and her husband “interviewed” her dad several times on camera to record his memories of his long career as he approached his 100th birthday on January 20, 2022. On 5 Jan 2023 she wrote, … Continue reading →
LtCol Ritter’s daughter, Kay Ritter Grasso, ran across a couple of interesting tidbits while going through his things following his RTB. She wrote, “He was 55 days from 101 yrs old!! He was ready to go see Mom. Oh, I … Continue reading →
LtCol Leland C. Ritter, USMC (Retired) Returned To Base on 26 November 2022 just 55 days short of his 101st birthday. He was the first Commanding Officer of HMM-265 when the squadron was formed at MCAS New River in 1962. … Continue reading →
Lt. Col. Leland Clark Ritter went to be with our Lord peacefully on Saturday, November 26, 2022 at his residence in Fredericka Manor Care Center in Chula Vista, CA. Col. Ritter was approaching his 101st birthday and had enjoyed good … Continue reading →
7/5/2022 – From Soupy Campbell: Just got this photo from Scotty MacGregor. We attended a wedding of squadron mate Lt Bo Johnston in Bluefield, West Virgina Nov 1963. In the photo (left to right) are Scotty MacGregor, Mike Tivnan, Unknown, … Continue reading →
Here are a few pictures from LtCol Ritters time as HMM-265’s first CO, courtesy of Scotty McGregor. Soupy Campbell says that it is LtCol Ritter’s picture on the Thundermug seat.
Continue reading →This photo of HMM-265 squadron officers was taken in early 1965 (best guess) on the flight line at New River. Let’s try to figure out who these guys are. There are four rows: one row of three heavies in front … Continue reading →
If you have ever wondered what happened to your old aircraft, then here is a link https://www.helis.com/ that should tell you. It has information about every CH-46A ever made, as well as a drop-down list of all of the other … Continue reading →
Commanding Officers of HMM-265 from initial stand-up (1962) to the present. Commanding Officer From To Comments 1 LtCol Leland C. Ritter 1962 1964 Approximate dates. UH-34Ds 2 LtCol Edward Stanton 1964 1965 Approximate dates. Squadron received first CH-46As 29 Jun … Continue reading →