We know many outside our communities have faithfully served in the military, perhaps still today, who have given us the freedom and liberty that we all enjoy as Americans. From the staff and others associated with our STROLL social magazine, we thank all of you for your dedicated service to our country.

 

One gentleman should get special recognition for his military service for our country. We feature him and pay special recognition in this November’s issue to Richard (Dick) Garver, who, along with his wife Ingrid, better known as Ninna, live in the Ptarmigan community. Dick Garver is 99 years “young.” During World War II, Garver served in the Army Air Corps as a Bombardier/Navigator Flight Officer. After consulting with retired military veterans who manage various veterans' programs and reviewing information from our three communities and the southeastern part of northern Colorado, it appears that Dick Garver may be the only living World War II veteran to hold this honor. Congratulations, Richard "Dick" Garver!

 

Dick Garver was born in 1925 in Monticello, Illinois, but early in life moved with his family during the Depression to the farmland of southern Illinois in Decatur, where he grew up. The depression was hard on everyone in the family, but all worked hard to overcome those difficult times. After graduation from high school, Dick had already joined the Aviation Cadet Corps in Springfield, Illinois. Upon seeing a sign that read, UNCLE SAM WANTS YOU, Garver decided to join the military at age 17. He passed several initial cadet training programs with assignments in Chicago, Illinois, and Nashville, Tennessee. Then, more advanced training began with an assignment in Santa Ana, California. After passing aptitude, psychological, physical, and endurance tests, he was transferred to Carlsbad, New Mexico, to start Aviation Cadet training. In 1943, at 18 years old, Garver graduated from Flight Officer Bombardier/Navigator training and was promoted to Flight Officer. He then received additional training in gunnery with stops in Kingman, Arizona, Casper, Wyoming, McCook, Nebraska, and Topeka, Kansas, all preparing him to fly with a B-24 crew to England.

 

Since 1,000 military personnel were going to England, they were all sent on an English ship that left Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, bound for Stone, England. Unfortunately, it was a long trip across the ocean, taking 13 days because the ship had to zig-zag throughout the journey to avoid German submarines who were on their own mission against Americans. Once arriving, they were sent to Warrington for an assignment and followed to Climento, South Ireland, for additional training. The crew ended up stationed at Rackheath, England. The crew of 10 included the pilot, copilot, Bombardier (Dick Garver), navigator, radio man, engineer, two waist gunners, one belly gunner and one tail gunner. Garver was the youngest crew member and today is the only living member of the B-24 10-person crew.

 

After only one year of flying, Dick was now flying in the war with the B-24 and crew. They flew 36 missions with 30,000 pounds of bombs on board per trip over Europe; an accompanying photo shows Garver’s recordkeeping of the date, time of day, and city where each bombing expedition occurred. A typical day started at 4:00 am in preparation for their day’s mission. Flying at 25,000 to 30,000 feet, the average flight time was nine hours. As Dick Garver said to me during our interview, “Off we went, flying over the target, and ‘bombs away.’ I would relieve the Gun Man in the nose turret after dropping the bombs. There were times when the bombs would get stuck, and it was up to me, wearing a portable oxygen mask, to go down to the bomb bay and unstick the bomb. This was very frightening and a scary experience because the bomb doors were open at 25,000 feet for the bombs to fall away”, said Garver. To put things in perspective by today’s standards, Garver told me that his salary was $300 a month, including 20% overseas pay and 50% for flying. “Because I was not married then, I sent $100 home to my mother monthly,” concluded Garver.

 

After one year and 36 missions, Dick Garver’s duty overseas was over, and he was flown back to the United States, landing in Washington, DC, where he returned to Decatur, Illinois, by train. Garver was granted three weeks of leave; during that time, he married Lee Gardner. After his leave and getting married, Garver went through rehabilitation from his traumatic war experience. In 1945, he was tested for pilot training in full rank. After passing, he was transferred to Lakeland Army Airbase, where he was halfway through pilot training when World War II ended. So, a decision had to be made. Garver decided after three years in the Army Air Force and considering all the war trauma he had endured, he would not sign up again. However, he was in an inactive status for three more years. Following his military service, Garver used the GI Bill to attend Millikin University and then pursued a career in sales within the vending machine industry. As Garver said to me proudly after concluding his military service, “I never aborted a mission that my commanding officer assigned me.”  

 

His first marriage ended after 15 years. Then in 1961, Dick Garver married Ingrid Hyleen from Sweden, who came to America in 1959. He retired at 55, and in later years, the couple moved to Fort Collins in 2019. The happy couple is content and settled in Colorado, enjoying the Ptarmigan community. Their family consists of four children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren between the two marriages. Garver concluded our interview by saying, “My father served in the infantry in World War I, my brother Jack was a staff sergeant in the Army Air Force, and my son, Michael, served in the Vietnam War as a sea diver. Now, my grandson is serving in the Air Force. Ninna and I are very proud of my family’s military service to our country. At 99 years old, I am a grateful and very happy man.”

 

One last recognition that is noteworthy is that Dick Garver was honored in 2015 by being selected for the Freedom Flight tour to Washington, DC. He said it was a great experience and an honor to be chosen.

 

Wow! Dick Garver's personal story and testimony are truly remarkable. We owe a great debt of gratitude to him and all our military personnel, both retired and currently serving, for ensuring that we, as Americans, continue to enjoy our freedom and liberty.

 

THANK YOU to all our veterans!