Born in Alleghany County on June 16, 1931, in the Johnson Creek area, Richard James “Dick” Meadows became the U.S. Army’s youngest master sergeant in history at age 20.
Meadows, who like Audie Murphy, entered military service under age, gained fame as a Green Beret by becoming the first non-commissioned officer to be assigned to lead the special exchange element of Britain’s Special Air Services.
He had honed his survival skills by hunting in the hills around Covington as a youth, and shortly before he turned 16, he was in uniform for the U.S. Army.
After his tour of duty in Korea as a paratrooper, Meadows volunteered for Army Special Forces where he became a legendary leader.
By the time he retired on June of 1977, he had distinguished himself by completing military missions with U.S. Army Rangers and Green Berets in a number of countries such as Panama.
In 1960, he became one of the first two foreigners to be awarded the British SAS wings for his service in Omar, Arabia, where he successfully led a raid against a terrorist group that was smuggling guns.
He served in Vietnam, and General William Westmoreland saw fit to promote Meadows to the rank of Captain, the first battlefield commission of the war.
Operating behind enemy lines in North Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh trail and in Laos, Meadows led missions that accounted for 13 of the 50 captures of enemy soldiers who were brought back for interrogation, and he received credit for calling in strategic air strikes and sabotaging enemy artillery.
Near the end of his exemplary military career, he was assigned as an instructor at the Jungle Phase of Ranger School at Camp Rudder, Elgin Air Force Base, Fla.
He served three tours of duty in Vietnam, and after he retired, he worked as a civilian advisor to the military where he is credited as the co-founder of what became known as the “Delta Force.”
After retiring from the military, Meadows was one of the U.S. agents who infiltrated Teheran to formulate a plan for the rescue of American hostages during President Carter’s administration, but the hostages had been moved, preventing the plan to be implemented.
Working for the CIA, Meadows further distinguished himself as a skilled leader in the CIA’s Special Activities Division. Many of his missions remain secret.
Former presidential candidate Ross Perot paid $160,000 to commission the eight-foot-tall bronze statue of Meadows that has been erected on the Meadows Memorial Parade Field at Desert Storm Drive in Fayetteville, N.C.
Meadows was awarded more than two dozen medals during his career, including a Bronze Star with “V” device for combat heroism and two Silver Stars, one with an oak leaf cluster.
In 1982, Meadows’ photograph was featured on the cover of “Newsweek” magazine, under the title, “The Iran Rescue Mission: The Untold Story.” Beside his photograph was printed: “The Pentagon’s Man in Teheran.”
Meadows died of leukemia at Fort Walton Beach, Fla. on July 29, 1995, at age 64, just hours before President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal.
