Inspire, Fall 2002

18 Fall 2002 mind-set was that God had rejected me.” Despite that, he was still intent on becoming a part of the Cedarville family again. “In my anxiety, I decided to try to force the issue by applying for every position that came open,” he shared. “I wasn’t qualified by either experience or training for any of them, but I applied anyway. I got lots of rejections and ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ responses. I became even more depressed. But, God brought dear friends and mentors into my life to help keep me afloat during what was the worst period of uncertainty and anxiety I’ve ever gone through.” In the summer of 1996, Roger was deployed to Bosnia- Herzegovina as a member of the Dayton Peace Accords implementation force. He recalled, “I was serving in the Coalition Press Information Center in Sarajevo when I received word that my wife, Linda (Franson) ’77, had been offered a job in the student health clinic as a staff nurse. I was happy for her, but even more depressed about my own situation. Even after I returned home, I found it difficult to come to campus, because I knew I couldn’t stay.” During that time, Roger met regularly with a Bible faculty member. “We became very close friends,” said Roger, “primarily because he refused to give up on me, and he helped me keep from giving up on myself.” Everything culminated in the summer of 1997, when the PR position again came open. “This time,” he said, “I didn’t even apply for the job. Dr. Martin Clark [vice president for development] called and asked if I was interested. ‘Was I interested?!’ I thought!” Just before Dr. Clark called, the Air Force closed the window for early retirement applications. But, when it reopened just a couple of months The highlight of Roger's Air Force career came as he served as public affairs officer and principal spokesperson for Joint Task Force Full Accounting, the Defense Department's Vietnam-era POW/MIA investigative team. Headquartered in Hawaii, Roger made nearly two dozen trips to Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1992-1995. He hosted and briefed hundreds of diplomats, members of Congress, journalists, family members, and other interested parties, including this VFW official (above left) from Arizona. His most poignant memories are about serving as a member of the Honor Guard as the remains of American service members lost in that conflict were recovered and returned to the United States for forensic identification, return to families, and internment on American soil. As a captain in the mid-1980s, Roger served as commandant of cadets at the Air Force ROTC detachment at the University of Notre Dame. It was here that his dream of returning to the Cedarville campus first took root in his mind and heart.