"Rollie", as he is known to his friends, was born on 12 July 1915 in Belleville. He attended Belleville High School where he played baseball on the school's varsity. Following High School he was employed by the International Shoe Company. On 10 July 1935 he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Scott Field which was and still is located near his hometown. He was assigned to the 15th Observation Squadron whose missions were Aerial Photography and Intelligence Gathering, almost entirely for conventional intelligence purposes and not Photomapping. The 15th was the first unit at Scott to fly heavier-than-air aircraft. Up until then Scott was home to balloons and other lighter-than-air airships.

Shortly after his assignment, the 15th was charged with training people in camera installation and maintenance. Roland applied for this training but was told only officers were eligible. Not to be deterred, Rollie dove into a lot of self-study and requested and received a lot of help from the Base Photo Section. He was allowed to take the Camera Repair Exam and passed it. He also took and passed the Entrance Exam to the Air Corps Technical School. Based on his success he was allowed to participate in several photo missions. His successes weren't all work related. Although still in a training status, he tried out for and made the Post Baseball Team in which status he enjoyed flying to Posts as far away as Michigan to compete.

In September of 1937 he was one of 12 men to receive a slot to the Air Corps Technical School's Photographic Course which was scheduled to be of a year's duration. While in the course, the Photo School was moved from Chanute Field, IL to Lowry Field, CO and Rollie went with it. In spite of this interruption, he was able to graduate in just eight months. At that time he returned to Scott and was assigned several projects.

His most memorable undertaking was the preparation of a large photo mosaic to be used at the Army's Command & General Staff School (CGSS). His efforts resulted in a personal Letter of Commendation from the Commandant of the School. Such recognition was rare for a Private First Class, which Rollie was at the time.

With the promise of a promotion, in the fall of 1939 Rollie transferred to Patterson Field, OH. However, in February 1940 the 1st Photo Squadron was activated at Scott and he was asked to return as a part of it. On 4 February, based on his outstanding performance, his flexibility in accepting assignments and the Commendation he had received from the CGSS, he was promoted from Private directly to Staff Sergeant; bypassing completely a couple grades.

In 1941, "D" Flight of the 1st Photo Squadron was moved to Bolling Field, Wash.DC and Rollie went with it. This was the beginning of his PHOTOMAPPING career as we in the AFPMA define it. In September of that year, as a Tech-Sergeant, he was assigned as Aerial Photographer on a B-17 charged with the operational testing of a new camera configuration called the Tri-Metrogon. This camera system took a vertical and two oblique exposures simultaneously and the imagery was to be used in the rapid preparation of more accurate aeronautical charts to support aircraft deploying in support of WWII. The testing was performed over Newfoundland and Labrador. The camera system was installed in one half the bomb bay of the aircraft after the bomb racks were removed. In the other half, auxiliary fuel tanks were installed to allow extended mission duration. In spite of early technical problems, these were overcome and the camera system was accepted for operational missions. The test imagery was subsequently used to prepare better charts for American crews deploying to Great Britain. The unpressurized and frigid bomb bay was an extremely hostile environment for the Aerial Photographer so one of the recommendations adopted was to modify the camera mount and move the photo station to the glassed nose section of other photo planes used such as the B-25 and B-26, a much more suitable location for both the photographer and the camera equipment.

In February 1942 Rollie took the Warrant Officer Exam and in May of that year he was appointed Warrant Officer JG and assigned as a Photo Officer to the 3rd Photo Squadron at McDill Field, FL. He had later assignments with the 11th Photo Group and the 311th Photo Wing as Assistant Photo Inspector. In December 1943 he was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer. At that time Warrant Officers could not receive retired military pay until they reached the age of 65. That sounded like too long a commitment to Rollie so he requested to be released from active duty. He was discharged as a Chief Warrant Officer in February 1947.

Upon discharge he was offered a civilian position with the Aeronautical Chart Plant in St. Louis, MO. Although this was tempting, it was rumored that the Plant was to be moved to Washington DC, so he declined. Instead he did photographic and Audio-Visual Sales work in the St. Louis area for RCA, Eastman Kodak and Bell & Howell. He then took a position with Gardner Advertising Co. in St. Louis as the Manager of their Audio-Visual Department. He remained in that position for 23 years.

In addition to work, Rollie has been active in responsible positions in his community. He served as Trustee with the St. Clair County Fire District in Belleville for 26 years. He retired as President of the District in 2006 at the age of 91. During that time he was instrumental in securing four new fire trucks and in building a new station.

He is an active member of the Signal Hill Lutheran Church and served as its President for eight years.

Presently he is just enjoying life with Marion, his wife of 68 years. They have two sons, two granddaughters and four great-granddaughters.

It should be pointed out that Rollie has been an active and accomplished photographer for most of his private and professional life. He gave a large number of photographs to our former historian, George Horn, and they now reside with the George Horn Collection of Photomapping memorabilia in the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH.

In addition, in September of 1996 the St. Clair Journal, Belleville's local paper, ran a 20 page supplement on Scott AFB and its history. Rollie contributed seven pictures taken in the 1930's and 1940's that were used in that publication. It also contained a story quoting him and printed two pictures of him performing his Aerial Photographer duties.

I think you will agree that Roland has lived a full and interesting life, as did our first two Oldest Photomappers. It is interesting to note that Bill Sapp, our first Oldest, held that title for five years. Our second Oldest, George Braceland, held it for six years. So, to keep up that progression, our challenge to Rollie is to hold it for at least seven years! Congratulations, Rollie, on being our New Oldest. We hope to see you at our future reunions!!