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By Bill O’Boyle

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Bill O’Boyle
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Columnshot.jpg.optimal.jpgBill O’Boyle

Edgar Roberts Edgar Roberts, 94, sits on his front porch in Kingston and looks at his photo from World War II when he was a medic in the U.S. Army.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_EdgarRoberts.jpg.optimal.jpgEdgar Roberts Edgar Roberts, 94, sits on his front porch in Kingston and looks at his photo from World War II when he was a medic in the U.S. Army.

Edgar Roberts in his U.S. Army uniform.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_EdgarRoberts2.jpg.optimal.jpgEdgar Roberts in his U.S. Army uniform.

Bill O’Boyle Aimee Dilger Photos/The Times Leader4/3/2008
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Columnshot-2-.jpg.optimal.jpgBill O’Boyle Aimee Dilger Photos/The Times Leader4/3/2008

KINGSTON — As the United States celebrates Independence Day this weekend, Edgar Roberts reflects on his time as a U.S. Army medic in World War II and his good fortune to land in a country that provided him with hope, opportunity and love.

And what a life it has been.

Born in Wales, Roberts arrived in America at the age of 3 in 1924 and 91 years later he can vividly recall phases of his life that made him patriotic and proud.

After Kingston High School, Roberts said all of his buddies were going off to war, so he wanted to serve his country too. When he arrived at the draft board, Roberts was told he couldn’t join the U.S. military because he was still a British subject.

That didn’t deter Roberts. He kept coming back to the draft board daily. He became such a thorn in the side of the recruiters, they found a way to draft him. All he had to do was fill out a form, sign it and away he would go.

“I wanted to serve my country,” Roberts said. “I felt like a slacker.”

Roberts, still a bulldog of a man who will turn 94 this month, said the Army recruiters would see him coming and mutter to themselves.

“They were probably saying, ‘Here comes that little son of a gun again,’ but I was determined,” he said.

Roberts became a combat medic, rising to the rank of Sergeant First Class. While in the service, Roberts became a U.S. citizen. It was a proud moment for him. It still is.

Sgt. Roberts knew he could be off to Europe to battle. He knew his blood could be spilled like the blood of so many others. Roberts would have been up to the challenge.

“Sometimes people who are born here take it for granted,” he said. “I’ve always known the value of living in this country.”

Roberts has a simple philosophy: If you love your country and benefit from it, then you should be willing to spill your blood defending it.

Roberts truly does bleed red, white and blue.

“This is my country,” he will proudly tell anyone.

When he was training to be a medic, Roberts attended school at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana. He was told to purchase a notebook and a pencil. Roberts felt if he was in the Army, the government should provide those items. He was only making $60 a month, after all.

When the young doctor/instructor asked him where his notebook and pencil were, Roberts told him he couldn’t afford to pay for them. That’s when Roberts learned a valuable military — and life — lesson.

The young doctor told him he could be sent somewhere, maybe into battle where he would have to tend to wounded soldiers.

What if he didn’t know how to stop the bleeding? What if he couldn’t help a wounded soldier in need? All because he didn’t take notes in class where he was supposed to learn all of this?

“If a soldier dies because you don’t know what to do, that face will follow you the rest of your life,” the doctor told him. Message received loud and clear. Roberts got his notebook and pencil and he went on to graduate from medic school with honors.

Roberts did see war up close. He was at the Battle of the Bulge. He remembers that cold winter sleeping on the ground. He remembers U.S. troops pushing the Germans back.

Roberts remembers seeing a lot of spilled blood, despite not having a weapon and never having to shoot anybody.

It was an experience Roberts will never forget. After the war, he came home and went to work, landing at Baird’s Kingston Dairy where he met the love of his life — Ruth Louise Baird.

Roberts remembers the first time he saw Ruth sitting behind her green desk at the dairy. He knew instantly that she was the one for him.

“I was smitten,” he said with a smile.

Roberts said he made his move, telling Ruth he didn’t want to wait. He had given the Army four years of his life and he didn’t want to wait four more years until she finished nursing school.

They were married Feb. 19, 1949, and still share their love. Just listen to Edgar talk about Ruth.

“That’s the sweetest girl God ever put on this Earth,” he said. “She is the kindest, most caring, loving person.”

They have four sons — David, Douglas, Marc and Donald — 11 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

Roberts has come a long way from Tonypandy, Wales, and the Rhonda Valley.

“I’ve been blessed all my life,” he said.

After his wife and his family, Roberts loves his country. He is proud to say he is a veteran, proud that he served alongside so many other brave men and women.

And Roberts knows freedom is never free. He remembers Jackie Brace, a high school pal that he used to run around with. Jackie Brace went to war and never came back. Roberts remembers him every day.

“I think about Jackie a lot,” he said. “Jackie never had a car. He never had a house. He didn’t have a girlfriend. He never married and he never had any children. I have all of that. What’s to complain about?”

To honor Jackie and all veterans, Roberts for many years would go to Jackie’s grave. He would clean up the weeds around his tombstone and make Jackie’s final resting place look presentable.

“He got killed in Iwo Jima,” Roberts said. “It’s the least I could do.”

True patriotism at its best.

Bill O’Boyle may be reached at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.