Roy enlisted in the Army Air Corp in February, 1942, prior to graduating from Abilene High School in May. After graduating he reported fro Basic Flight Training at Uvalde, Texas. There he earned his Silver Wings while qualifying to fly the PT-17, PT-19, BT-13, and the AT-6. After flight school he began a series of duty stations first at Waco, Texas, where his assignment was as flight instructor for seven months. The next tour landed Roy at Sedalia Air Force Base in Missouri where he qualified in multi-engine ratings and eventually settled into flying C-47s, a troop/cargo transport. He greatly enjoyed troop/cargo because 'the places you flew to had good chow!' Along the way he received training in gliders at Vincennes, Indiana. This, it turned out was in preparation for night flying and towing gliders in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and then Pope Field, North Carolina. Roy shipped out from Fort Wayne, Indiana to California, then Seattle, then Honolulu. While stationed at Wheeler Field his primary assignment was to move troops and cargo throughout the Asiatic and South Pacific. He was training for the invasion of Japan when the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place. He was transferred back to Hawaii and then discharged on April 16, 1946. But before leaving Hawaii he participated in evacuating a group of stranded school children that was caught in a typhoon, this time piloting a B-25. Roy still recalls fond memories of his tours such as making some extra money by baking and selling pies on the air bases. There's also the story of winning a parrot named Sam from a Marine in a card game! Roy returned to Abilene and became a Postal Carrier and together with Mary Ellen raised Steve, Scott, and Lorrie. Today he still enjoys the outdoors by hunting, fishing, and gardening.