Winsor Locks, Connecticut – August 31, 1945
Updated August 22, 2017
On the morning of August 31, 1945, Ensign Richard Henry Di Sesa, age 22, was part of a flight of twelve airplanes out of Quonset Point Naval Air Station practicing formation flight training over the Connecticut River Valley area. Ensign Di Sesa was piloting an F6F-3 Hellcat, (Bu. No. 42802), and was flying in the number 2 position in the second division of the flight.
At one point, while the formation was only at 2,000 feet, it began a slight downward glide over the Connecticut River in a “follow the leader” pattern. While pulling out of the glide over the river, Ensign Di Sesa’s aircraft struck two high tension wires strung 120 feet above the water. His aircraft went out of control and crashed into the ground killing him instantly.
Ensign Di Sesa’s body was brought to the Quonset Point Naval Air Station in North Kingstown, Rhode Island before being sent to Brooklyn, New York, for burial.
Di Sesa died just three days after his 22nd birthday.
For a photo of Ensign Di Sesa, go to:
www.warmemorial.columbia.edu/richard-henry-di-sesa
Sources:
North Kingstown, Rhode Island, death records #45-84
National Archives, AAR VBF-97B-1 revised, TD450831, via Larry Webster, Aviation Historian, Charlestown, R.I.