Published: November 07, 2009 11:33 pm      

CHIP MINEMYER | Johnstown woman helped shape vet’s stories of war

Note: This is the second in a three-week series of columns based on World War II veterans who wrote books about their experiences.

Nov. 1: Bedford resident and Johnstown native Eugene Cowles’ letters home inspired “The War Years of a Teen-ager.”

Today: Johnstown woman helped guide Ligonier native Roland Glenn’s World War II book, “The Hawk and the Dove.”

Nov. 15: Author Glenn’s lifetime of dealing with combat memories sparks urge to reach post-traumatic stress disorder sufferers.



“The Hawk and The Dove” was authored by Ligonier native Roland Glenn, but Nevada Fyock’s influence is there within its pages.

Glenn’s book, released earlier this year, is a collection of his writings about his experiences in the South Pacific during World War II.

In an interview from his home in Maine, Glenn said the 50th anniversary of the end of the war – in 1995 – prompted him to think about compiling his many essays into a book.

“I didn’t start out to write a book,” Glenn said. “I really started out to write stories about a young man who grew up in the small town of

Ligonier, then went off to war and had the experience of combat on Okinawa.”

And even before there was a book concept, there was “Nappy” – Nevada Fyock – the Johnstown woman Glenn said was “like a big sister” and who helped him shape his writings.

“As the stories developed, I would send them to Nappy and she would read them and send me her thoughts,” Glenn recalled. “Over the years, she read all of the earlier versions of my stories. And as the manuscript came together, she was one of the good people who helped me tremendously.

“It all started with Nappy.

“She would read my stories and make notes in the margins.”

Glenn served in Japan through the latter stages of World War II. He was an officer in the region of Okinawa during some of the bloodiest fighting in the South Pacific.

The book features the text of many of Glenn’s letters home to his family and friends.

Included is one he wrote on June 5, 1945, describing to his parents what it was like spending his 20th birthday in a fox hole.

Glenn recounts the fears of the American soldiers as they prepared for a planned invasion of mainland Japan. That ground assault never happened, however, because the United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiro-shima and Nagasaki, which led to Japan’s surrender and the end of the war there.

“We were all writing letters back home, speculating that we would never survive that battle,” Glenn said. “The estimates were that as many as a million people would die that day – both military and Japanese civilians. Then suddenly, the atomic bombs were dropped. There was an enormous celebration on Okinawa that night. We felt as if our lives had been saved by that tactical decision.”

Glenn also spent time in Korea before eventually returning to the United States.

“I always considered those bombings to be a terrible loss of life, but less of a loss of life than what I participated in at Okinawa,” Glenn said.

“And if it had not happened, I would almost certainly not be sitting here today.

“I would have died 60 years ago.”

After the war, Glenn studied anthropology at Columbia University and enjoyed a career in education.

He was sidetracked by a heart attack in 1985, he said, and part of his recovery from that setback – and from the lingering psychological effects of combat – was to write about his life. Glenn’s stories cover every stage from growing up in rural Westmoreland County to being drafted into the Army and the fighting on Okinawa.

“I would write whatever came into my head,” he said.

“I would put it in a cabinet and the next day get up and write some more. A rudimentary manuscript started to emerge.”

And almost from the beginning, there was Nappy – a loyal supporter and “a stickler for detail.”

“She was not a blood relative, but a dear friend of my first cousin,” Glenn said. “But she was very close to me.

“Nappy was on my case from the time I was a teenager, trying to knock into my head some of the things I needed to do to be a good citizen of the United States.”

Their times together often involved discussions of politics, Glenn said.

“Nappy was a staunch Republican and I was emerging as a liberal and a Democrat,” he said. “We had many, many intense debates over the years.

“My wife and I would visit Johnstown and get together with Nappy and a group of people who had worked (together),” Glenn said. “I guess we all kind of grew old together.”

In August, Glenn visited Johnstown and brought Fyock a copy of the book she helped him write.

About a week later, he said, he received a phone call from Fyock’s niece, Lynda Merritts, telling him that Nappy had died Aug. 28 at the age of 96.

Then came the news that Merritts had died suddenly on Sept. 1 at age 67 – the day after directing Fyock’s memorial service.

“It was hard to believe,” he said.

Still, Glenn treasures his opportunity to visit with Fyock and give her a copy of “The Hawk and The Dove.”

On a page near the front of that book, Glenn wrote this inscription:

“To Nappy – With gratitude for your many years of love and support. Rollie.”



Chip Minemyer is the editor of The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 532-5091.