John Henry Rowland
by Kim Rowland
The two flight
calculators I sent you belonged to my Dad. They even have the grime on them that
came from his fingers many years ago.
Dad enlisted in 1943, and was originally in the 82nd Airborne, training for the
future invasion. They called him out of training because he had a Tech School
degree. They told him he was an
excellent candidate for officers training. So he took them up on it and went to
Alabama and was
trained as a Navigator in Selma.
He arrived at Thorpe Abbots in 1944, and was assigned originally to the 418th
Squadron. Shortly after that he was sent to Bovington to learn the new radar
systems. He did 29 missions, but was never assigned to a specific crew. He was
just a floater.......flying with whoever was the lead or PFF plane because he
was an expert with the AN/APS-15 radar system.
After the war he decided to stay in, but was reduced to enlisted status. He
retired in 1964 as a Senior Master Sergeant and was teaching computers at the
Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He went to some of the first
schools in the Air Force in computers in the 1950's in upstate New York with
IBM. After that, he traveled all over the world teaching computers to other Air
Force personnel.
In 1964, he was awarded the highest peace time award from the Air Force for
writing the first
computer programs that would handle all the payroll for the Air Force.
He raised five children,....... four boys and a girl.
One of the prominent memories I had growing up was Dad taking me and my three
brothers to the base every two weeks for a haircut. He would drop us off at the
barber shop, then go to the club for a few beers. Often times, (in the 1960's)
on the way home, he would recite the same phrase:
"I hate this chicken-censored Air Force!, It's just a bunch of censored
college kids! I wish I was a real man back in the Airborne again!"
So three of us went Airborne, and between four sons we did 6 tours in Vietnam.
My older brother got a Distinguished Service Cross, and we got over six Purple
Hearts between us. My little sister even did four years in the Navy. We were a
military family.....all the way.
During those Vietnam years, we were all caught up in our own turmoil, and we
never realized that our Dad did more in war than we ever did.....we never knew
what he did till many years later.