Richard Thomas Hayes was the Son, and only child of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse T. Hayes, of Linden Avenue, Solon, Ohio.

He was a Graduate of Solon High School, and the Greenbrier Military Academy in West Virginia, and was attending Ohio University, a member of the Class of 1941, when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

He was stationed on the west coast, and received pilot's training.

On 13 December 1944, In Los Angeles, California, Lieut. (j.g.) Richard Thomas Hayes married Miss Margaret Flynn, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Edward A. Flynn, of Belleville, NJ.

He was assigned to Sea Duty in January 1945.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Richard Thomas Hayes was a NAVY Fighter Pilot, with the VF-82 Fighter Squadron, onboard the Aircraft Carrier, USS Bennington. On 27 April 1945, Lt. (j.g.) Hayes was Piloting a Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat fighter plane, on a mission over Okinawa, Japan, and he failed to return from the mission. No trace of him or his plane was ever found. He is Memorialized at the Honolulu Memorial (Tablets of the Missing) at Honolulu, Hawaii.

In November 1946, Lt. (j.g.) Richard Thomas Hayes was posthumously Awarded the Navy Air Medal and one Gold Star, in lieu of a second Air Medal, and was cited for fighter attacks on Japanese installations in the Kyushu and Okinawa areas in March and April 1945.