3 Crawford County veterans gratified by Honor Flight trip

BUCYRUS ― Three veterans from Crawford County who happen to be related made the trip to Washington D.C. with the Honor Flight Columbus program on Thursday.

Richard Rowlinson of Galion, his brother Roger Rowlinson of Bucyrus, and the Rowlinsons' brother-in-law John Walker of Bucyrus said they will never forget the day-long experience.

Richard Rowlinson, 77, served in the U.S. Army from about 1966 to 1968, and was stationed in Korea during the Vietnam War. He was in communications and he set up communications for President Lyndon Johnson's staff when the president was coming to visit in Korea.

After serving in Korea, Richard served in Fort Hood, Texas. He also spent time in Kentucky and Georgia at Army bases.

He made sergeant after a year in the Army. He entered the service at age 19, having been drafted.

He enjoyed this past week's Honor Flight.

Military service never forgotten

Richard said he was stationed in Korea and his brother Roger couldn't go in the Army until Richard got out of the military. Roger served in the U.S. Army in Thailand.

"The day I got mustered out he went in the same day," Richard said. "They wouldn't take both of us at the same time."

Richard and his four brothers and one sister grew up on a farm in Bucyrus and he was a farmer himself after the service. He worked some jobs too at the steel mill in Mansfield. He and his late wife Kit were married for 48 years. They have four children.

Honor Flight trip was enjoyed

"It was great," he said of the Washington D.C. visit with 120 people including veterans and their Honor Flight escorts.

Richard said it was his first time to see the monuments.

"We all enjoyed it," Richard said. "We went to every monument."

Richard said so many people thanked him and he said it restored his faith in young people.

"Some said thank you and a lot of them tried to shake our hands. It was real nice," he said. "The most gratifying things were Arlington National Cemetery and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. We got to see Vietnam and Korea monuments and I enjoyed seeing them. We drove by a lot of monuments and saw the White House"

"The soldiers at the Unknown Tomb they looked so young," he said.

Roger Rowlinson farmed, was Colonel Crawford Schools bus driver

Roger Rowlinson, 75, of Sulphur Springs, was drafted and served in the Army from 1967 to 1969. He was stationed in Thailand and was a cargo handler, going back and forth to Vietnam. His job involved shipping bombs and other things to troops to an Air Force base. He graduated from Colonel Crawford High School.

Roger said his dad died in 1997 and he had farmed with him and later drove a school bus and retired from that job at Colonel Crawford Schools.

Roger said Thursday he had never been to see the Washington D.C. monuments before Thursday.

He said school kids offered congratulations whereever he and other veterans went.

"We had a lady who was in charge of helping us and she was very nice," he said.

Roger said he went to serve his country. He learned how to survive and get by in Thailand.

"I come home and some of them didn't," he said.

He and his late wife Wanda had two boys.

"The people in Columbus at the airport, all my boys were there and some of my grandkids. I have a granddaughter who is in the Army in Fort Campbell right now. I'm really proud of her," he said. "That was great. I didn't expect all that."

John Walker appreciated welcome he got in Washington D.C., Columbus, Ohio

John Walker, 73, volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1969. He had just turned 18 when he signed up. The Bucyrus native said he served in several places including basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C. He went to Texas, then Germany and he found out while in Germany his brother Bill, then 19, was getting ready to go to Vietnam. Bill Walker died about 10 years ago.

"I asked my company commander if I could transfer into his place and a few weeks later the commander came back and said I was going to Vietnam. I wanted to get closer to the action and ended up in An-Key," he said.

"It was fun, a lot of sightseeing," he said of the Honor Flight trip.

"We had two guys there who were 90 years old," he said.

Walker said his guardian helped him and others on the trip and did a good job.

"Whatever we wanted to do, he was good about it. I don't walk that good and he got me a wheelchair," he said.

"He was, for a young man, probably 40, he showed the most compassion," Walker said. "I had a good time. The one thing that struck me as being great, they said don't wear your uniform home (from the war). Go in as if nothing ever happened. I only had my uniform and people can be bad. They threw tomatoes. That stuck with me from Day 1 but that's not what happened to me Thursday night. When we left Washington there were 500 shaking our hands and in Columbus my family showed up and so did 1,500 people," he said.

"I've been getting phone calls all morning," he said.

Walker said he married the farmer's daughter (Connie), the only girl in the Rowlinson clan of 6 kids.

Walker said after his military service, he worked on cars and it didn't pay the bills so he worked for the City of Bucyrus where he became the street superintendent for 30 years before retiring.

It was the day before Veteran's Day when the threesome made the Honor Flight trip, and they all agreed it is one for the memory books.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: 3 Crawford County veterans gratified by Honor Flight trip