Roger Hoffman: A Survival Specialist

By Mark Splitstone, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

Roger Hoffman was born in Chicago in 1950, the son of a World War II Navy veteran. His father served on the destroyer USS Sterett and survived a kamikaze attack on his ship during the Battle of Okinawa. Twenty-seven years later, Roger would also serve his country on Okinawa.

Roger grew up in a number of different neighborhoods in the Chicago area and eventually graduated from De La Salle high school in 1968. He recalls an Air Force recruiter visiting his high school and administering aptitude tests to the boys, which he passed. After graduation, Roger attended junior college for a year and then, in 1969, decided to enlist in the Air Force. He enlisted because he wasn’t getting along with his stepfather and wanted to leave, and in addition, he had a low draft number and knew he would eventually be drafted anyway. He chose the Air Force because he had already passed the test, had a cousin in the Air Force, and realized he’d rather be flying through the air than walking through rice paddies. He didn’t tell his mom about his enlistment until it was almost time for him to leave, and she was quite angry about it.

Roger did his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base outside of San Antonio. The Texas summer was brutally hot, and he recalls there were times when they had to do their training in the barracks rather than outside in the 100-degree heat. At the end of regular basic training, his weight was still too high to meet Air Force standards, so his training was extended. He eventually met the standards and was sent to Chanute Air Force base outside of Rantoul, Illinois. His Air Force recruiter had told him that he’d be able to pick his specialty and his location after basic training, but Roger realizes now that this was a bait and switch. 

He spent three months at Chanute training as a life support specialist. Life support specialists are responsible for the inspection and maintenance of survival equipment designed to protect aircrews in the event of problems, either in the air or after an unplanned bailout or landing. This life-saving equipment included helmets, oxygen masks, life rafts, life preservers, G suits, handguns, survival kits, ka-bar combat knives, and even red pepper to sprinkle on the ground to prevent men from being tracked by dogs. In addition to performing maintenance on this equipment, life support specialists also trained aircrews on its proper use and responded to specific problems and requests. The specialists usually concentrated on just a handful of pieces of equipment and also usually specialized in specific types of planes. Roger’s first plane was the F4 Phantom, but later he trained on many different types, including C130s, B52s, KC135s, and T38s. 

After training at Chanute, Roger knew he wanted to go far away, so he requested Japan and got it. He was sent to the Misawa Air Base in northern Japan, where he usually worked a regular shift, inspecting and issuing equipment, especially helmets and oxygen masks. On a number of occasions, he traveled to South Korea to work on bases there. After 15 months in Japan, he returned to the US and spent several months in North Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma. His next posting was in Okinawa, which was still a US possession and had many scars from the World War II battle there. He joked with his dad that his dad had helped destroy it and Roger was trying to put it back together. 

After 18 months in Okinawa, Roger volunteered to be reassigned because he always liked to see new things. He thought he’d be sent to Vietnam, but instead ended up going to Thailand, where the US used a number of air bases that were technically the property of the Thai Air Force. Roger was stationed at Korat for five months, between late 1972 and early 1973. In December 1972 the US launched Operation Linebacker II, which was the largest bombing campaign of the war and the last large military operation conducted by the US. It was a very busy time for Roger, working 12-hour days, six days a week, and he always looked forward to his Sundays off when he could relax and read a newspaper. Roger’s entire squadron survived while he was there, but other squadrons weren’t so fortunate. He recalls a plane that crashed on the base but because the plane still had bombs aboard, firefighters had to wait to put out the blaze. Another time, a plane crashed on takeoff and some men in his shop were sent to retrieve the pieces of bodies. One man picked up a helmet and realized there was still a head in it. The body parts were sealed in plastic bags and put in a storage room, but eventually, the smell leaked out of the bags. For Roger, it was hard to see things like this because even if the men weren’t in his squadron, he still knew them from when they’d come into his shop. 

Roger understood the importance of his job. Many factors could determine whether or not a piece of equipment worked or didn’t. Microphones or headphones could get sweaty and fail. The belt on an oxygen mask could get stuck and prevent it from working. A visor might get jammed. Any of these failures could mean life or death for a pilot or other member of an aircrew, and Roger took his job very seriously. 

After five months in Thailand, Roger left in February 1973, just as US involvement in Vietnam was ending. He went back to Okinawa and recalls watching the television as some of the first American POWs were reunited with their families. Since he didn’t really know what he wanted to do with his life, he decided to re-enlist for an additional four years to give himself time to figure it out. His next assignment was at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base outside of Kansas City where his specialty was the C130 transport plane. He spent four years there and once again re-enlisted, and he also got married in 1974. When it was time to transfer he wanted to go to Germany, but his wife didn’t want to leave the US. He ended up transferring to Williams Air Force Base outside Phoenix, where he would spend the next four years. 

In 1981 he tried to re-enlist for an additional four years, but his application was denied. They told him it was because he was overweight, but Roger thinks something else might have been a factor. Roger is gay and had disclosed this fact to an Air Force psychiatrist. Roger suspects that the doctor told the commander, who could have dishonorably discharged him since homosexuals weren’t allowed in the military at that time. Instead, he just denied his application for re-enlistment. When he later tried to join the Air National Guard, he wasn’t allowed to do that either. So after 12 years in the military, Roger entered civilian life. 

Roger stayed in Phoenix for an additional four years. He had a full-time job managing a gas station, but he was also active politically. He campaigned for and became friends with Representative (and later Senator) John McCain. He got divorced from his wife in 1985 and while he liked Phoenix, he had a difficult time managing by himself so he returned to Chicago. He managed some gas stations, but eventually went to school to receive a security guard license. He ended up working security at the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Theater, and LaGrange Hospital before eventually retiring in 2010 due to health reasons.

Roger currently lives in Lyons, Illinois, with his husband of five years. His father went on an Honor Flight in 2014, and Roger is very much looking forward to once again following in his footsteps.