Subscribe Love

America lost another hero

by | Jun 26, 2019 | Opinion

Contrary to the Waylon Jennings song “My Heroes have always been Cowboys,” I would say my heroes have always been veterans – especially World War II veterans.

One of my heroes, Robert “Bob” Riley, took the final journey of his life Sunday, June 16. He was 91-years-old.

Although I only knew Bob for five short years, he gave me a newfound purpose in my second career as a journalist. He reached out to me via email after reading my story about Honor Flight DFW in the July 2014 issue of In & Around Magazine. He humbly wrote, “I served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946, and saw action in Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato.”

To be honest, it’s not every day I get an email from a reader, much less one like that. Over the next five years those emails we swapped were the thread that connected us. Initially, I helped Bob make the Honor Flight connection and he kept me updated on his application, then subsequent travel plans. I am thankful I had a small part in seeing his trip come to fruition and later meeting Bob and his wife Lorrie for the first time after he returned.

The best part about our friendship was, although we rarely saw each other, I got to know Bob through our emails. I would pepper him with questions via email, a method he preferred due to his hearing loss. I wrote about his Honor Flight in 2014, then a few years later I asked if I could include him in a story about Navy Men of WWII. It’s really hard to sum up, much less piece together, the life of someone like Bob who has achieved so much. I’ll admit his answers would frustrate me at times because he would gloss over important facts. I quickly learned to send him very specific questions and I would eventually get all the answers I needed.

We bonded over simple things. My dad was a Navy veteran of the Korean War. Bob was a Navy veteran of WWII. When I wasn’t pestering him with questions, he would occasionally email me to ask about my trips to New England or to update me about his health or family.

Like many men and women born prior to WWII, Bob embodied characteristics attributed to those of the Greatest Generation – true grit and determination layered with personal responsibility, humility, faithful commitment and strong work ethic.

It’s tough to make this brief, but I’ll give you the Cliff Note version of this WWII veteran’s life.

At the age of 15, Bob gave up his teenage years to serve his country. He joined the Navy in Detroit, Mich. in September 1943. As a Navy seaman he said he had many episodes dodging Kamikaze’s in the Pacific but told me one of the greatest things he witnessed was the signing of the Peace Treaty in Tokyo Bay Sept. 2, 1945.

After the war Bob returned to Michigan, earned his high school diploma then worked on ore boats on the Great Lakes before he took a job on Guam Micronesia to help rebuild the island from the war damage.

The GI bill paved the way for veterans like Bob, giving them the opportunity to combine their life skills and get a secondary education.

After he earned a degree in mechanical engineering, Bob worked for Ford Motor Company briefly before moving to General Motors where he worked for 33 years as a senior staff engineer.

Although he had interruptions in his education, Bob was smart. Lorrie said he could fix anything and was often called a “walking manual” for the 26 powerhouses he oversaw at the plant. After retirement, Bob was called back to GM to solve a problem no one else could.

After their granddaughter Taela was born, Lorrie and Bob sold their retirement dream home and made their final move to Texas in 2008 to be near Lorrie’s daughter Becky, her husband Miguel, and Taela.

Bob eased effortlessly into his new role of doting grandfather and assimilated into Wylie life, faithfully volunteering at the Smith Library and as a proud member of American Legion Post 315.

Bob’s health waned in the months before his death, but Lorrie said he rallied back to old form long enough to watch the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup and Taela graduate from the fourth grade.

His story on earth may be over, but our memories of Bob will never fade.

Until we meet again, I wish you “Fair winds and following seas, Bob.”

 

For more stories like this, see the June 27 issue or subscribe online.

 

By Sonia Duggan • [email protected]

Subscribe Love

0 Comments

Related News

A hare much

A hare much

Columnist John Moore recalls the friends of his youth, including Harvey The Rabbit. Courtesy John Moore I never had more than one at a time, but I had stuffed animals.  Don’t all kids have a security blanket when they’re young? At first, I had a monkey who had a...

read more
President and accounted for

President and accounted for

Most of us can cite a handful of times when we knew that we were witnessing history.  Something unique. Something profound. A shift in the tectonic plates of society. So it was on January 20, 2025. There was a drawing for tickets to attend the presidential...

read more
Someone’s watching

Someone’s watching

While some in society have stopped wearing watches, columnist John Moore isn’t one of them. Courtesy John Moore  I noticed his Watch immediately. I usually notice watches immediately. But his was especially noticeable. It was a Rolex. I don’t own a Rolex, but one...

read more
Wild times picking blackberries

Wild times picking blackberries

Wild blackberries. Photo by Siala from Pixabay My father would load my sister and me into his ‘52 Chevy truck, and he’d steer down the gravel road leading to the homestead where my mom was raised. The radio played Loretta Lynn and Faron Young as the wind...

read more
The perplexity of dreams

The perplexity of dreams

I’m fairly certain my dreams have a drug dealer. What is it with dreams? Sleep is supposed to be an 8-hour window (mine’s never that long) when we rest, regenerate, and arise feeling as refreshed as the person in the Folger’s commercial who throws back the covers and...

read more
Dream On

Dream On

I’m fairly certain my dreams have a drug dealer. What is it with dreams? Sleep is supposed to be an 8-hour window (mine’s never that long) when we rest, regenerate, and arise feeling as refreshed as the person in the Folger’s commercial who throws back the covers and...

read more
Hope for the holidays

Hope for the holidays

I especially love this time of the year! The Christmas season brings back so many fond memories from my childhood. Growing up in the humble neighborhoods of Brooklyn didn’t allow us to have much other than the music of Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis. I was too young...

read more
What was in store

What was in store

John Moore continues to shop at mom and pop stores for may reasons stating where else do you get a free calendar every year? Courtesy John Moore When Wal Mart grew, warnings that it would put the mom-and-pop businesses under seemed to come true. Now, online businesses...

read more
A lot of class

A lot of class

In the movie “The Big Chill,” a group of old friends gather for the funeral of one of their own, and it turns into a reunion. Recently, a group of my old friends gathered for a reunion, and it turned into a gathering for a funeral. I got the call on the way to the...

read more
Picturing Grace

Picturing Grace

Print from John Moore’s personal collection. When I was a child, there was a painting that hung on my grandmother’s kitchen wall. It portrayed a man who was praying over a meal of bread and what appeared to be a bowl of soup. Near the man was a book, which I always...

read more
Subscribe Love