Roger, when I saw your father's name I thought - at first - that he must have been named for the famous cowboy. Then I saw that he was 93. That made me go investigate when Leonard Slye actually became Roy Rogers - and of course it wasn't until 1935 when Leonard was 24 years old and starring in his first movie.
Roy Roger Gates was an "Original" back there in 1924. And obviously he was a hero and survivor after enduring 27 hours in the ocean as a 17 year old seaman.
That "Greatest Generation" seems very well named. They were made of very strong stuff - and it was men like your Dad who made us a very strong nation back there in those dark days of WW2.
I salute your father in his passing.
Larry Liner
