Military Service

This weekend, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett took his third, fourth and fifth stabs at explaining his record of military service, or lack of same, after a contributor to the paper's letters-to-the-editor section lumped him in with other hawkish Republicans who are big on war - so long as someone else is doing the fighting. This was a highly contentious issue back when Bartlett first ran for office in 1992, and it is one sleeping dog he should have left undisturbed. The letter in question, authored by Rick Rottman of Hagerstown, makes this point: Those who have weaseled their way out of military service have no business banging the drums for war, thereby putting young men and women in the face of dangers that these warmongers were too chicken to face themselves.

Charles D. Miles, son of Charles and Linda Miles of Jacques Lane in Smithsburg, and grandson of Pauline Miles of Hagerstown, has been promoted to the rank of chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. Miles, a superintendent with 21 years of military service, is assigned to the 375th Comptroller Squadron, Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Ill. His wife, Master Sgt. Katherine Miles, is the daughter of Pat and Robert Wiggins of Hidden Creek, Winter Haven, Fla. Miles graduated in 1984 from Smithsburg High School, and received an associate degree in 1997 from the Community College of the Air Force.

Karl W. Rohrer Jr., of Martinsburg, W.Va., passed away Oct. 23, 2011, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Martinsburg, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was the son of the late Karl W. Rohrer Sr. and Jeanette Berger Rohrer of Hagerstown. Karl was a graduate of Hagerstown High School, class of 1943. He was of Protestant faith. Karl entered military service in February 1943. He flew a combat tour with the 8th U.S. Army Air Forces in Europe. He was a member of the Century Bomber, 100th Bomb Group.

JAN. 3, 1950-JULY 15, 2010 WESTMINSTER, Md. - Roger Lee Swope Sr., 60, of Westminster, Md., died on Thursday, July 15, 2010, at Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster. Born on Jan. 3, 1950, in Mount Lena, Md., he was the son of the late Donald Lee and Alice Olive (Palmer) Swope. Roger was retired from the United States Air Force, having achieved the rank of major. Prior to his military service, Roger was an officer with the Hagerstown Police Department, and had also worked as a guard with the Department of Corrections.

Reda Kathleen Unger, 86, died Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, at Berkeley Springs Rehabilitation and Nursing, Berkeley Springs, W.Va. Born May 22, 1925, in Hancock, Md., she was the daughter of the late Harry Erastus and Bertha E. Barnhart Faith, and the widow of Raymond Lee Unger, who died Oct. 23, 1989, and whom she married May 22, 1950, in Berkeley Springs. She served in the U.S. Women's Army Corps from 1944 to 1946. She was a homemaker. She is survived by one son, Ramon S. Unger and wife, Bonnie, of Hancock; and two grandchildren, Chelsea S. Unger and Garett F. Unger.

Army Spec. Nicholas D. Smith, son of Lindy S. Campbell of Frederick, Md., and father and stepmother, Donald and Amy Smith, of Savage, Md., has returned to the 164th Military Police Company at Fort Richardson, Alaska, after being deployed to an overseas forward operating base in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Smith has been decorated with the Army Commendation Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal and the Combat Action Badge. Smith is a recent promoted driver and military police member.

Leroy Grant Barnhart, 88, of Warfordsburg, Pa., died Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, at his home. Born Feb. 22, 1924, in Warfordsburg, he was the son of the late Grant and Bertha Virginia Layton Barnhart. He retired in 1985 as purchasing agent for H.B. Mellott Estate Inc. in Warfordsburg. He was a member and elder of Warfordsburg Presbyterian Church. He is survived by his wife, Helen M. Ward Barnhart, whom he married Dec. 27, 1945; one daughter, Ginger Majecki of Pittsburgh, Pa.; and one son, Larry L. Barnhart of Tampa, Fla. He was preceded in death by one brother, Albert Barnhart; one half brother, Fred Barnhart; and two half sisters, Geneva and Stella.

o View a slideshow of this and other Veterans Day events in Washington County. o Click here to view and purchase photos from Veterans Day events in Washington County. SMITHSBURG -- The speaker at Smithsburg's Veterans Day ceremony earned a Purple Heart in the Vietnam War, but as he reflected on his military career, he focused instead on learning Turkish, seeing Mount Kilimanjaro and going on an African safari. "I don't talk about the war," retired Sgt. Maj. Dennis "Jack" Wenthe said.

HALFWAY - As secretary of Maryland's Department of Veterans Affairs, James A. Adkins knows how the war in Iraq is affecting his state. He said more than 90 Marylanders have died in Iraq since the war began in 2003. "I see their names across my desk," Adkins said Friday during a Memorial Day speech at Martin L. "Marty" Snook Memorial Park. "Most are 18 or 19 (years old), and I wonder who in the future will remember them. "Some are older. Last year, I visited with the family of a 33-year-old Marine, a Naval Academy graduate who was killed in Iraq.