Richard Thomas Christy was born on December 5, 1946 in San Francisco, California. No additional information has been located regarding his family, early years or life within Santa Cruz County. Military records indicate that he was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses religion and may have attended a Kingdom Hall of that faith in Santa Cruz.

He was drafted into the US Army in 1967 and listed Boulder Creek, California as his residence. After completing basic and advanced individual training, he was assigned to the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division serving in Binh Duong Province in Vietnam.

Christy arrived in Vietnam on November 19, 1967, and by early 1968 had risen to the rank of specialist fourth class. During his service with the 1st Infantry Division, it was attempting to stop the Tet New Year Offensive of the North Vietnamese Army.

“On 31 January 1968 during the Vietnamese celebration of the Lunar New Year (Tet), the Viet Cong launched a series of simultaneous ground and mortar attacks against most of South Vietnam's major cities and allied military installations. In response to the attacks, the Division was summoned to help secure the sprawling Tan Son Nhut Air Base. By 13 February, units of the Big Red One had engaged and defeated numerous Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers… On 7 April 1968, the Division embarked on the largest operation of the Vietnam War: Operation Toan Thang (Certain Victory), which involved all allied troops throughout the III Corps Tactical Zone. One of the primary missions of this two-part operation was to stop the infiltration of the enemy into the Saigon area.”

On June 14, 1968, while participating in Operation Toan Thang II, Specialist Fourth Class Richard Thomas Christy was killed in action by small arms fire. His body was recovered and returned to Golden Gate National Cemetery for burial.

(CBR; VVMW; USDVA; 1st Infantry Division, Vietnam History. http://www.1stid.org/history/index.cfm, 16 September 2008])