By SARAH ROBERTSON
Staff Writer
ATHOL — Roger Nowlin has traveled all over the world, first as a navigational trainer in the Air Force during World War II, and then inspecting international steel manufacturing plants for General Electric for 40 years. On Wednesday, Nov. 7, he received an award from the Salvation Army in recognition of his military service and continued support of the organization.
The Worcester Citadel Corps hosted a “Salute to Veterans” ceremony for Veterans’ Day on Nov. 7, where Nowlin received a plaque, somewhat by surprise.
“It was unexpected,” Nowlin said of the ceremony. “When I arrived I was given a front row seat, very nice, then I was introduced and was given this plaque that said ‘thank you for your service’.”
The spirit of service and volunteerism are close to Nowlin’s heart, which is why he continues to support the Salvation Army through donations. His first encounter with the organization was in a California hospital in the 1940s, sick with an ear infection and unable to fly.
“That’s the last place you wanna go, sick hall,” Nowlin said. He stayed in the hospital four weeks, unable to continue training on the B17 war planes, and relying on members of the Salvation Army to keep him company.
“If you needed a bit of cheering up, the Salvation Army was good for that,” Nowlin said. “You can’t play cribbage with yourself.”
A friend of Nowlin’s who works as the disaster relief coordinator for the Salvation Army, Wilfred Leslie, helped organize the ceremony and had the idea to honor Nowlin for his sizable donations to the Athol Salvation Army.
“The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Services were a familiar and welcomes sight during WWII,” said Heather MacFarlane, communications director for the Salvation Army Massachusetts Division. “The distinctive symbol appeared on the mobile canteens that provided not only tea, but also chewing gum, soap, toothpaste, and sewing kits to military personnel.”
Growing up in Missouri through the Great Depression, Nowlin left home when he was 17 years old and joined the Army soon after. Through a series of tests they discovered Nowlin had above average eyesight, and pushed urged him to join the Air Force where he became a navigation trainer. While Nowlin never saw combat, he did get to travel all over the country learning the very technical art of steering massive war planes, and preparing for emergency situations.
“I trained for everything,” he said.
Nowlin left the Air Force at the end of the war and started working as an inspector on the oil fields of west Texas. He was discharged with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and remained in the Reserves for 12 years during which time he obtained the rank of Captain. During that time he went back to college to study metallurgical engineering, and landed a job inspecting steel for General Electric.
“My job was to ensure the metal that went into turbines was adequate for the job,” Nowlin said.
Frustrated by the lack of high quality steel in the U.S., Nowlin urged his company to invest in new research and technology because the plane engine turbines kept breaking. He traveled overseas to tour new steel factories all across Europe for the company, visiting factories in Scotland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and elsewhere in search of the best quality steel.
“Since we bombed everything out of existence, everything, all the factories, were new and modern,” Nowlin said.
After sending back samples and reporting on what he saw, General Electric began buying steel from several countries overseas. This shift, he thinks, was a major reason the second largest steel manufacturer in America at the time, the Bethlehem Steel Company, folded soon after.
“It made them a worldwide company, so they were buying from every place,” Nowlin said of General Electric, where he spent 40 years of his career.
Traveling across Europe, Nowlin had countless once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Following one tour he was invited to a wealthy Japanese foundry owner’s private club for dinner, and another time he stayed in the guest house of an Austrian steel plant owner, in a medieval fortress-like structure in the Alps.
“I was treated, not quite like a king, more like a Duke,” Nowlin said. “It was quite an education for me.”
Today Nowlin is a 94-year-old widower with four children, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He moved from Leominster to Athol in 1994, and has lived on the shore of Lake Rohunta with his girlfriend, Marion Leslie. They don’t have cable, or internet, and get their news from local daily newspapers and entertainment from books and DVDs rented from the library.
Today his advice to others, gleaned from years of experience, is, “Never pass up a chance to travel.”
Nowlin says he admires the Salvation Army’s mission, especially their support of young people with after school programs and charities.
“They can be a substitute parent or grandparent,” he said.
Nowlin himself volunteered with local schools and churches for several years. He taught an after school program at the Swift River Elementary School in New Salem to students interested in science and physics. Using his lifetime of military and engineering knowledge, he taught them about rockets, the physics of flying and how to predict trajectory.
“They were so fascinated by that,” Nowlin said. “They’d say, ‘I didn’t know that!”
When he lived in Leominster, he also volunteered at a local church, taking young boys fishing who had never been before.
“It’s a soul-serving activity,” Nowlin said. “There are an awful lot of senior citizens with an awful lot of skills they could be teaching other people.”
Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@atholdailynews.com.