A Tribute: My Dad
1974-1975

Patti Druffel

© 2010 by Author

This was sent to me by Colonel Hickman from Texas. They are publishing this in the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services Newsletter. I am very proud! My dad!

Patti Druffel

CMSgt. Roger G. Maynard, USAF-Ret.*

My dad, as written by the Armed Forces Radio and Broadcasting Services Newsletter:

It is rightly said that "NCO's are the backbone of the Air Force". The capable, dedicated, hard-working NCO turns young men and women into professionals, often setting an example that helps mold the rest of their lives. Without the great NCO, the Air Force would not be what it is and has been. The best of the NCOs work quietly, more often than not in near-anonymity. They lead their younger charges with quiet competence, enhancing commands that assure mission success.

The indispensable NCO is found in every career field and every period of time. When CMSgt. Roger G. Maynard, USAF-Ret., died in his sleep Feb. 8, 2010 in Pullman, Washington. A giant among the NCOs of his time in the Air Force radio and television service, he left knowing he had well performed his duty.

Born in Manhattan in 1932, Maynard spent his early years in New York City, and later in the state of Pennsylvania. Joining the Air Force in 1951, he was assigned to an AFRTS station in the Philippines. There he married Lucy Quianio, who would celebrate almost 58 years at his side. Also known to countless AFRTS retiree families, Lucy is now cared for in a special home near Pullman.

After a long career that saw him serve in AFRTS stations literally around the world, Chief Maynard left a pleasant Mediterranean post on the Greek isle of Crete to become NCOIC of the 7122d AFRTS Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany. There Chief Maynard supervised a massive change of personnel throughout the squadron and its several detachments, directing shipments and dispositions of new, state-of-the-art equipment, and constantly developing an array of bright young broadcasters. Also then a new arrival at Ramstein, civilian employee Charlie Campione served as the 7122d's senior engineer. "You talk about dedicated to AFRTS. Roger lived and breathed AFRTS", he recalls. By then no longer on the air, Chief Maynard applied experience gained in Japan, Turkey, Greece, the Azores, Spain and Germany. He was instrumental in bringing to U.S. forces and families in Europe previously unavailable broadcast and telecast news and entertainment. Chief Maynard retired in 1980.

After serving as a civilian with Navy Broadcasting, Roger and Lucy resumed their globe-trotting ways. "My dad and mom traveled a lot after he retired... a year or more in Greece, mostly on someone's yacht, having the time of their lives. They also traveled to many other countries before returning to the states. It was hard to keep up with them. We never knew where they were until we got our classic "Wish you were here" t-shirts and post cards from them," their daughter Patti Maynard Druffel recalls.

In failing health for some time, Chief Maynard moved in 2007 to be near daughter Patti, whose family raises wheat and barley on a farm near Pullman. He was preceded in death by a son and a daughter. He is survived by his wife Lucy and daughter Patti, 10 grandchildren and 6 great grandsons.

Interment for Chief Maynard will be delayed until after Memorial Day, when a new National Cemetery opens in Spokane, Washington. "A fitting date, if you ask me," says MSgt. Joseph C. Chiglinsky, USAF-Ret., one of the bright young AFRTS professionals who developed under Chief Maynard's leadership. Part of that quiet, nearly anonymous group of NCOs who form and always have formed the "backbone of the Air Force", Chief Maynard will be remembered by scores of Air Force broadcasters and public affairs people.

*©Armed Forces Radio &Television Service,
Courtesy of Patti Maynard Druffel.