Darrel Ritchie was born June 22, 1948, in Hazard, Kentucky. He was the son of Edyth Cox Ritchie and Luther Ritchie  During his early years, Darrel was bounced around about as he attended first grade in Lothair (Perry County) where his dad was principal. He went to second grade in Hindman, then third grade in California, where his dad had gone to work with the VA. By the time he was in fourth grade he was back in Hindman and would spend the next two years at the "old" Hindman Grade School. During his seventh and eighth grade years he attended the newly  consolidated Hindman Elementary.  Darrel 's high school years were no more stable than his elementary, ones because his dad was now in the military and the family traveled with him. He would spend three years in school Altus, Oklahoma and his final year at a school in Glasgow, Montana.

  Of his college years he attended one year at Alice Lloyd before he, as he says it, "was invited to leave". It would be sometime later before he realized, one must attend class now and then if you want to stay in college. After his stay at Alice Lloyd, Darrel knew that he would soon get "the letter" from his local draft board. The Vietnam War was in full swing and young  men from allover the country were being called into service. Darrel, as he says, "decided he would rather fly for three years rather than pound the ground for two", so he volunteered and was accepted for flight school. Out of a class of 313,Troublesome Creek. By some standards Darrel's life could be described as "troublesome" as the creek he now daily looks down on. But his determination for life can be described as anything but troublesome. Modesty is a strong suit of Darrel's as he sums up his life by saying, "I've just tried to do the best that I could with the abilities and tools I have to work with. Never have been one to worry much about what I couldn't do".112 were graduated and 99 were off to Vietnam.  Once in Vietnam, Darrel was assigned to small artillery unit's aviation section in Pleiku, in the central highlands of the country.  Darrel says he decided before he got there that he had a job to do and that he was going to do that job to the best of his ability.  Four months-Oct.1969,  into his stay his helicopter crashed while attempting to land at a place known as Ben Het. Ben Het was a small fire base, built mostly underground and located 7 kilometers east of the tri-border junction (Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam). Darrel says this was a rather wild place and you were free to shoot at anything that moved. But there wasn't much left there as B-52's had bombed the area repeatedly. As a result of the crash Darrel's spine was fractured in a few places and he was medically retired from the service. His summary of the incident was, "no hero here, just a soldier, like millions of others, who did the best he could."
                      
After Vietnam, the next major event in Darrel's live was his marriage to Karin K. Bokelmann at Kaiserslauten, Germany, on June 6, 1969. To this union was born one daughter, Tanya Karin Ritchie. Tanya is presently employed as Speech Language Pathologist at McDowell ARH.

Since settling down in Hindman Darrel has served two terms on the Hindman City Council, Internal Vice-President of Knott County Jaycees, President of Knott County 4-H Council, President of Hindman Lions Club, and member of the Kentucky Committee for Employment of the Handicapped.

Darrel has quietly lived his life at home overlooking Troublesome Creek. By some standards Darrel's life could be described as "troublesome" as the creek he now daily looks down on. But his determination for life can be described as anything but troublesome. Modesty's a strong suit of Darrel's as he sums up his life by saying, "I've just tried to do the best that I could with the abilities and tools I have to work with. Never have been one to  worry much about what I couldn't do."

Submitted by Corbett Mullins
April 2003