Wayne County Wanderings: Honesdale grad Kyle Richter set for Memorial Day parade flyover

For the third time in the last six years, Wayne County’s own Kyle Richter will be providing local residents with a very special holiday treat.

Richter is a 2005 graduate of Honesdale High School and currently a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Coast Guard. As part of his duties, Kyle pilots a C130H out of his base located in Clearwater (FL).

He’s preparing for a new assignment that will take him to Brisbane, Australia in the coming weeks. However, before he goes Richter will do a flyover for everyone attending the Honesdale Memorial Day parade.

This year’s edition of the event is scheduled for Monday, May 29th. The parade will step off at 10 a.m. starting near Fifth Street and proceeding north up to Ninth Street, then over to Central Park.

“I loved growing up in Honesdale,” Kyle said. “Even though I don’t live there right now, I’m still very involved in the community. And, I love being able to do the flyover.”

Gold medal memories

Kyle is the son of Michael and Barbara Richter, Honesdale.

He attended Wayne Highlands schools, excelling both academically and athletically. In fact, by the time Richter reached the varsity ranks he’d become an elite distance runner.

As a senior, he made a pair of trips to the PIAA state championships. In the fall, Richter helped lead the boys cross country team to the District 2 Class AAA title.

“Kyle is an awesome young man,” said head coach Lindsey Pender. “In high school, Kyle was hard-working, driven, respectful and just an amazing role model.

“You knew even back in high school that Kyle would go on to accomplish great things. But, I think he’s achieved even more than anyone thought.”

Richter and his teammates advanced to the state meet at Hershey where they finished in 13th place among all AAA teams. Richter posted a time of 17:32, winding up 113th in a field of 281.

When Spring rolled around, Richter was back in the limelight once again, this time on the track. He combined with Sean Craig, Eric Florence and Ayden Fiorelli as one of the top relay teams in Honesdale history.

Richter and his teammates turned in one record breaking performance after another, culminating in a dazzling day at the District 2 Championships. There, before a big crowd at Scranton Memorial Stadium, the quartet rocketed to a pair of medals.

They captured gold in the 4x800M relay with a time of 8:16.94, then followed up with a silver in the 4x400M (3:28.24).

“I am very proud of Kyle and his commitment to his service to our country,” said former track coach Mike Jurkowski. “He was a hard-working, dedicated young man. He was always fun to be around and have on the team.“

Heeding the call

Following his high school graduation in the Spring of ‘05, Richter enrolled at the Coast Guard Academy in new London (CT). While there, he also spent a semester at the Air Force Academy as part of an exchange program.

Kyle graduated with High Honors in 2009, earning his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. He then received Naval Flight Training in Pensacola (FL) where he earned his Naval Aviator “Wings of Gold” in 2011.

“Honesdale’s great history of military service has always motivated me to serve,” Kyle said. “Two relatives on both sides of my family are on the World War I memorial plaque outside the entrance to Wayne Memorial Hospital.

“Also, it’s amazing that at least 15 percent of my great graduating class served in the military with at least four of us still serving.”

Richter’s first assignment was at the Coast Guard Air Station in Savannah (GA), where he flew MH65 helicopters for nearly five years.

In 2016, he was assigned to Air Station Atlantic City for the purpose of flying air defense missions over Washington D.C. He also participated in search and rescue missions, and was able to perform two Memorial Day Parade flyovers.

In 2019, Richter moved to the Air Station in Clearwater (FL) where he made the transition to piloting C130s.

After this year’s flyover, Richter will be undertaking an Aeronautical Engineering liaison assignment with the Royal Australian Air Force near Brisbane, Australia. There, he’ll be working on the C27, an aircraft flown by both the U.S Coast Guard and Australian Air Force.

Even though he’ll be far from home, Richter is looking forward to the experience. He’s also still excited about the endless opportunities serving his country in the military affords him.

“I still serve because the missions of the Coast Guard are extremely rewarding,” Kyle said. “Any given day you could save lives or interdict drug smugglers, enforce international maritime law, respond to pollution, and execute a variety of national defense missions.”

Parade and beyond

Monday’s flyover will mark the third time Richter has been able to come home and take part in the Memorial Day parade.

The first two times were at the controls of an MH65 helicopter, a twin-engine chopper utilized by the Coast Guard primarily for search and rescue missions.

This year, Richter will be piloting the C130H, one of the country’s oldest and most reliable aircraft.

“The C130H has been in service since the early 1980s,” Kyle said. “It’s maybe the most prolific military aircraft of all time, operated by the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, along with nearly every country in the NATO alliance.

“I’m currently a C130 instructor pilot and the only Coast Guard pilot to be both a fixed wing and helicopter instructor pilot. I imagine it’ll be quite the sight to see it fly over Main Street.”

And while it’s fairly certain he won’t be able to land the C130 as he did the helicopter, Richter is eagerly anticipating the chance to reconnect with his hometown.

Kyle and his wife Katie were married in 2015. They are the proud parents of three boys: Luke (5), William (3) and Wyatt (1). He’s been a member of Hose Company No. 1 since his sophomore year in high school.

Just a few years ago, Richter teamed up with two of his closest friends, Steve Daniels and Dylan Henry, on a local conservation project.

The trio partnered with the Borough and the Wayne County Public Library to remove four invasive Bradford pear trees from the Triangle Park on North Main. They replaced them with native maples, thereby honoring the town’s legacy as “The Maple City.”

Even though his newest assignment will take him halfway around the world, Richter’s heart will always be here in Honesdale. And with that in mind, he has a few words of wisdom for any local students who might be considering a career in the service.

“I know that many people can feel overwhelmed at the prospect of leaving home to go to a military boot camp and get yelled at by strangers, then sent to a ship or shore unit in an unpredictable location,” Kyle said.

“But just know that the Coast Guard truly does have a family culture. You will be taken care of. Many local kids have made that leap and are loving life. There are Honesdale graduates who served or are serving in places like Alaska, Hawaii, the Great Lakes, the Bahamas … and everywhere in between.”

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Wayne County Wanderings: Honesdale Memoria Day parade features flyover