Vanished Hero

THE MYSTERY OF LT. COL. ELWYN RIGHETTI

- Jay A. Stout

The chatter in the yard quieted as neighbors, townspeople, and other ranchers from the surrounding valley turned their attention to Elwyn Righetti, the oldest son of the host family. It was summer 1944, and Lt. Col. Righetti was a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF). Only five years earlier, he drove a dairy truck on the rural roads that threaded through the hills and valleys that made up this part of California’s central coastal region.

“It was a farewell barbecue,” said Dennis Perozzi, who lived nearby. “Elwyn was headed overseas. He gave a nice talk and then said that he was either going to make a name for himself, or he was going to be killed. Turned out, he did both.”

In the Beginning

Elwyn G. Righetti was born at home on April 17, 1915, in the Edna Valley, just southeast of San Luis Obispo, the area’s main ranching and agricultural center. The grandson of a Swiss immigrant and the oldest son of a large ranching family, Righetti’s growing up was typical of the time. With the rest of his family, he worked hard at making the land produce, and he loved to hunt the game—especially deer—that roamed the countryside.

He grew to be a well-proportioned, leanmuscled, and good-looking young man. A thick shock of brown hair framed a symmetrical face that featured a smile with even white teeth. Aside from work, hunting, and school, Righetti made time for girls as he matured into adulthood—and they made time for him. “He was so handsome!” remembered his sister Doris.