Having served in the Army at the tail end of World War II and in the Air Force at the beginning of the Korean War, Gerald M. Romine is the October 2023 Veteran of the Month.
In presenting Gerald as the award recipient at the Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting Tuesday, Veteran Service Officer Darryl McDowell said Gerald was serving at a pivotal point in history because in the late 1940s was when the Air Corp was transitioning to the Air Force. “So he was at the very start of that as well,” McDowell said.
Gerald was born on July 30, 1928, in Mentone, to J. Monroe and Maude Romine. He had a brother, Kenneth, and a sister, Janet, and remained in Mentone until his graduation in May 1946 from Mentone High School.
In July 1946, he went right into the U.S. Army. He attended basic training and advanced individual training at Fort Belvoir, Va. In mid-November 1946, he was sent off to Camp Kilmer, N.J., to await orders to Italy.
He served from September 1946 until he was honorably discharged in November 1947 with the rank of technician fourth grade (E4). During his service he received the World War II Victory Medal, Army Occupation Medal and the M1 Sharpshooter Rifleman Badge.
After Gerald’s discharge from the U.S. Army, he enlisted into the U.S. Air Force Reserves in 1950. He was stationed at Atterbury Army Airfield near Columbus, Ind., which was separate from the U.S. Army’s training facility at Camp Atterbury.
“The purpose of that was to actually, the first stage of trying to train ground troops to work with air troops. It seemed to work, starting the new transition. But that was their whole intent of why they separated the two and then bring them together,” McDowell said.
Gerald was assigned to the 434th Air Refueling Wing, which has a history dating back to World War I, McDowell stated. “A very renowned, distinguished unit.”
That same year, Gerald married Donna Linn. They were blessed with the birth of two children, Gary and Susan. Susan was at the commissioners meeting to see her dad get honored.
In 1951, Gerald was recalled to active duty and told to report to Scott Air Force Base in East St. Louis, Ill. He later deferred since his wife was having their first child. From there, Gerald did his training, he reported back to the Air Force Reserve unit where he remained until his discharge in 1955 with the rank of technical sergeant (E6).
In his civilian life, Gerald was an electrical contractor and owner of Romine Electric for over 50 years. During that time, he serviced homes, factories and many businesses in the Mentone area.
McDowell said Gerald continued to look for ways to serve his community. He was the founder of the Bell Aircraft Museum in Mentone from 1973 to 1978. He became the first president of the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Merit Board and served as president for Mentone’s town board, chamber of commerce and alumni association. He served on the advisory board for Murphy Medical Hospital and the Rozella Golf Course in Warsaw.
For 10 years he was a marshal during the Phoenix Open in Arizona. McDowell said that’s a big golf tournament and a person has to be selected as a marshal.
In May 2011, Gerald received the 434th Air Refueling Wing Honorary Aircrew Member Award. At which time he was fortunate enough to participate in a refueling mission in an old KC-135R Stratotanker with the combat-ready aircrew. He participated in the Indiana Honor Flight Program in 2014.
Gerald has two children, three granddaughters, two great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
He is a life member of the American Legion and Veteran of Foreign Wars and continues to proud member of the Mentone community, McDowell said as he concluded reading Gerald’s biography.
Gerald’s only statement after receiving the framed certificate was, “I just want to thank you for this award and one thing that I want to see happen in the near future is this guy (McDowell) here to get recognized” for what he does.
On Gerald before he left the commissioners meeting, Kosciusko County Highway Department Superintendent Steve Moriarty said, “Gerald has been a big part of Mentone. And I remember him ever since I was little. The town of Mentone without Gerald is just weird, right?”
He said he always gets a couple calls from Gerald before the Tippecanoe Valley High School football game and “it’s always nice to hear from Gerald. So, proud Mentone!”