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3 Trumbull County WWII vets to take Honor Flight to D.C.
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Neal McBride, 91, of Howland, a World War II veteran, talks about his upcoming all-expense-paid trip to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. He is one of three Trumbull County veterans who will make the flight Wednesday from Cleveland to the nation’s capital.
By william k. ALCORN | alcorn@vindy.com
CLEVELAND
Three Trumbull County World War II veterans are set to take off early Wednesday from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport as part of an Honor Flight Cleveland all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials honoring their service.
The one-day visit also may prove to be an opportunity to relive memories with people they served with during that war, and possibly even run into someone they knew or who was in their outfit.
One of the men, Gideon A. Fetterolf, 93, of Newton Falls, had a cap made showing his units — 1st Engineer Special Brigade, 261st Medical Battalion — and where he served — Sicily, Italy and Utah Beach in the Normandy invasion — to wear when he attended the dedication of the World War II Memorial in May 2004.
Fetterolf, an Army medical technician during the war, thought there might be men at the dedication with whom he served who all those years later he might not recognize.
“Sure enough, I met half a dozen who were in the same units as I was in,” said Fetterolf, who served in the Army from 1940 to 1945.
Other local men on the Cleveland Honor Flight are Neal McBride, 91, of Howland, a Navy veteran who lived most of his adult life in Niles; and James A. Rogers, 89, of Niles, who served in the Army.
McBride, whose guardian for the Honor Flight is his deaf daughter, Nancy Schick of Newark, Ohio, said he is “very, very much looking forward to the Honor Flight.”
While in the Navy, he served aboard the USS Petrof Bay (CVE–80), a ship he said was converted to an aircraft carrier by replacing the deck with a flight deck.
McBride, who taught history for about 25 years at West Junior High School in Warren, said he particularly wants to see the WWII, Iwo Jima, and the Korean War Veterans memorials.
He grew up on Elm Street in Youngstown and graduated in 1941 from The Rayen School. He was a radio announcer at several area stations including WFMJ in Youngstown, WKST in New Castle, Pa., and WRRN in Warren, before going into education.
A thyroid condition affected his voice, and he said, “There was no pension in the radio business.”
McBride and his wife, Norma, who died eight years ago, have five children: Kevin McBride in California, Melinda Graat in Florida, Nancy Schick of Newark, Ohio, David McBride in Michigan and Gary of Cleveland; and six grandchildren. His companion is Billie Withers.
Rogers, 89, in the Army from 1941 to 1945, did not see combat and served out his time overseas in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the Quartermaster Corps and in transportation, working with civilians loading and unloading ships.
Rogers, a 1941 graduate of Niles McKinley High School, worked 43 years at RTI, formerly RMI, in Niles in the press shop and shear department. He was chairman of the grievance committee and a committeeman for Steelworkers Local 2165 at the plant.
He said he has been to Washington, D.C., several times on union business, but never sightseeing.
“I mean, to get a chance to see the WWII Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial [The Wall] — you’ll never forget that trip,” Rogers said.
Rogers, who said he has been in local politics all his life, supported former Niles mayors Arthur Doutt and Joseph Cicero, and ran for city council a couple of times himself.
Rogers and his first wife, Esther Lena Williams, have six children: James Jr. of Youngstown, Cheryl Hewitt of Austintown and Debra Bennett of Warren Township. Deceased are Bruce, Robert and Kevin Rogers.
His second wife is Sandra Riker.
After the war, Fetterolf, who worked at Republic Steel in Warren and then 28 years at Rockwell Standard in Newton Falls, said he is looking forward most to touring the inside of the WWII Memorial, which he did not see when he attended the dedication, and to revisiting Arlington Cemetery.
Fetterolf is active in veterans affairs.
He is chaplain of VFW Post 3332 and was twice its commander, and is a member of AMVETS Post 112 and American Legion Post 236, among other veterans groups; and has participated in the Newton Falls Honor Guard at hundreds of military funerals.