TOWN OF MANLIUS – In recognition of the life and accomplishments of 100-year-old World War II veteran Wallace Roher, Honor Flight Syracuse held a drive-by birthday celebration at his Manlius residence Jan. 10.
During the ceremony, local firefighters sounded their horns, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 7872 presented a three-rifle salute, and Cazenovia American Legion Post 88 provided Roher with a composite of photos from his Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C.
The centenarian was also granted a military citation encased in a plaque by 10th District Onondaga County Legislator Mark Olson as well as a letter from the Pompey Historical Society handed over by 12th District legislator David Knapp.
On behalf of Congressman John Katko, the 174th Attack Wing Honor Guard gave Roher a flag flown over the United States Capitol and a certificate honoring his birthday milestone.
The afternoon festivities concluded with Sentimental Serenade’s singing of “This Is the Army, Mr. Jones” and Piper Jack’s rendition of “Happy Birthday” on the bagpipes.
Born in 1922 the second oldest of seven children, Roher was delivered in a Pratts Hollow dairy farmhouse by a doctor who rode in on a horse and sleigh.
He ended up becoming the valedictorian of his high school class prior to his 1943 enlistment in the Army Air Forces, after which he served in the China-Burma-India Theater as a direction finding evaluator responsible for assisting distressed U.S. aircraft.
Honorably discharged in 1946, Roher would go on attend Syracuse University on the G.I. Bill. There he met his future wife, Norma, with whom he celebrated 70 years of marriage this past September.
Using his civil engineering degree, Roher entered the field of construction, a path that culminated in his co-ownership of Wall Gene with engineer Eugene Harvey.
Over the years, he was in charge of placing granite curbing on road sides and concrete medians on highways all over the state.
Together, he and Norma raised five children, and at present the couple has 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
“It’s been a wonderful life, and we’ve enjoyed living here in this area,” said Norma, who has resided with Wallace in their home on Oran Delphi Road for 62 years now.
Though saddened by the fact that he has outlived many of his friends and co-workers, Roher said he is “grateful” for the people he met on his way to reaching the 100-year mark.
“I was not terribly religious, but I didn’t try to cross people either,” he said.
In his life so far, Roher has proudly traveled to every one of the 48 contiguous states in the country and several other distant lands.
Since 2012, Honor Flight Syracuse has transported over 900 Central New York veterans to their war memorials in the nation’s capital.
The Honor Flight Network presently focuses on WWII and Korean War veterans but also those from any conflict who have been stricken with terminal illnesses.
