Roy Veverka: Boom Operator and Cartographer

By Marilyn Lucas, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

Roy had an inside track to the draft board. Fortunately for him, his best friend worked for the local draft board and gave him a call when his draft number was four. Not wanting to be in the Army infantry, Roy immediately headed for the Air Force recruitment center to enlist. Flying his way through his military service was much more appealing than a “long walk.”

Roy was born in Chicago. His family lived in Riverside, Illinois for most of his childhood. His father owned and operated La-Z-Boy stores; Roy worked at his dad’s stores throughout his youth. He attended Knox College in Galesburg, IL for two years before enlisting in 1955. 

Boot Camp at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas was Roy’s initial introduction to the military. He laughingly shared the memory of learning how to make a bed with sharp, tight corners, and more importantly,  the ability to bounce a quarter off the bed in order to pass the daily inspection. At one point, Roy was assigned to guard the perimeter of the base at Lackland. A smile crossed his face as he recounted his nightly trek around the base completely armed for any event. Well that event came one night, when he had to shoot a snake. 

Roy took ten different aptitude tests during Boot Camp, all of which he passed with flying colors.  With high scores, he decided to apply for meteorology school at Chanute AFB in Rantoul, Illinois. Unfortunately, the Air Force had other plans; he was to remain at Lackland temporarily as a drill instructor. He was very excited when he landed the opportunity to attend refueling school at Lackland. Operating a specialized boom from the back of a KC-135 in-flight with thousands of gallons of jet fuel being pumped into an aircraft certainly took some skill and vision. Sadly, after only three missions, Roy was unable to pass a vision test. Obviously, vision impairment would impact the success of any in-flight refueling. Not only did the need for glasses impact the boom operator position, but also dashed the hopes for a flying career in the Air Force.

Cartography became his next position during his service in the military. His assignments entailed mapping flight plans into Europe, notably England and Russia, with the intent of maintaining a preparedness for any event in Europe. Because of the sensitivity of his work, Roy had to pass top secret clearance. He mused about the reaction of his family members being questioned by the FBI. 

The technique in mapping entailed the use of an ultra thin removable colored tape that was used to draw flight patterns on parchment maps. The reason behind removable tape was to accommodate any last minute changes to flight patterns. Roy did not go into detail regarding the exact flight patterns. The flight patterns were top secret at the time, and he continues to respect this privileged information. He noted how visually tedious the mapping of patterns was during his eight hour day. Roy did not have any formal training, but rather learned his expertise on the job. 

During this period of his service, he had the opportunity to fly to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, NE, SAC headquarters. This underground facility handled covert operations during the Cold War. On this particular one day visit he had the opportunity to meet General Curtis LeMay who later became the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. 

R&R for Roy was spent in Puerto Rico, Greenland, and England. He shared a story when his transport plane had to suddenly scoot off the runway in Greenland in order to accommodate a U-2 spy plane in the process of taking off from a hangar. Quite a sight! 

Roy left the Air Force after six years and settled in Ohio. At one point in his career, he owned and operated three La-Z-Boy furniture stores. After selling his businesses,  he returned to Illinois where he met and married his wife Mary Jo. Ironically,  Roy and Mary Jo met at a La-Z-Boy.  He and his wife currently reside on the north side of Chicago. Roy has one daughter Cori and two grandchildren. It is interesting to note that Roy was able to take advantage of the G.I. Bill for a mortgage on his first home. Maintaining a love for flight, Roy in the last several years has worked for the TSA at O’Hare. He has maintained a friendship with his barracks mate. Reunions are not so frequent these days.

To this day, he proudly wears his cap with a 301st Air Refueling Wing patch touting the red bird insignia, along with the SAC patch depicting a steel fist. Roy religiously flies the American flag on all holidays. He feels that his service taught him to “grow up,” and instill respect for discipline and authority. He commented on today’s atmosphere as disrespectful to those who served and continue to serve our country. He also wanted to publicly thank Honor Flight Chicago for this amazing opportunity.

Thank you Roy for your service to our country. Enjoy your day of honor as you experience Washington, DC. for the first time.   Hopefully you will not need to refuel!