Happy Birthday, Roger Jr.

August 17th, 1950. Roger James McInerny, Jr. was brought into this world at St. Mary's Hospital, Minneapolis, MN. To get a glimpse of what our family, especially Roger, was all about, I would encourage you to read past articles written by a most gifted and articulate journalist, Vivian McInerny. She has written a few articles detailing our wonderful life growing up in Richfield, MN.

From my perspective, I remember Roger as the good and obedient son. The son who did well academically and religiously. He was an alter boy and a choir boy. He had a paper route back in the time when the paperboy delivered the newspaper directly to your home and placed it inside the screen door to keep it from the elements of Minnesota's rain or winter. When the paperboy took a few nights out of the month to go door-to-door to collect the subscription money from the customers.

As young teenagers, Roger and cousin Kim road their bicycles to Winona, Minnesota one summer; alone. Something like that would not even be considered today. Too dangerous, foolhardy. But they were an adventurous pair and ride they did!

Roger went onto college and attended classes faithfully. I never knew what his future plans were or what was his major, but one day he came home an announced he was joining the army. It seems there was an anti-war speaker at the campus who told his audience that a certain segment of the population was doing all the fighting in Vietnam while the rich, white kids from the suburbs stayed home. Roger did not think that was fair and wanted to do his part. While we did indeed live in a suburb of Minneapolis, I guess no one told Roger we weren't rich.

So he enlisted. A month later I too enlisted. I cannot speak for Rog, but I was very, very naive. "My country, right or wrong." "My country - love it or leave it." The slogans of the patriotic conservatives. We had to prevent the domino theory from becoming reality in South East Asia.

April 1, 1970, 2 weeks after he had arrived in Vietnam, Roger Jr., was killed in a orchestrated attack on Firebase Illingworth. He received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart in the worst way possible: posthumously.

Today, I remember the older brother that I played baseball with and built forts in the dirt field behind Kenny Harwood's house. I want to remember playing touch football at Centennial School and riding our bikes by Minnehaha Falls and the Mississippi River, over the Ford Bridge and into St. Paul.

I want to wonder, too, what Roger would have looked like at age 62. I wonder about his kids and grandkids. I wonder, as I quite often do - why Roger?

But most of all, I just want to wish Roger Jr. a most happy birthday and to let him know we all remember him!

Happy Birthday, Roger Jr.