Personality Profiles

General turns sailor

The Sun News, March 16, 2013

Most people prefer sailing from California to Hawaii in a luxury cruise ship, but not General Harry McKenzie Roper, Jr. He takes his own boat, a 31-foot Finn Flyer, and sails the 2,120 miles from San Francisco, Calif. to Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii all by himself as a contestant in the Singlehanded TransPacific Yacht race. He has entered the biennial event 12 times and usually receives a trophy, granted to the top three winners in their classes.

“Ken,” Roper’s lifelong nickname, became a sailor after spending 25 years in the Army as an aviator and engineer following his graduation from West Point…. 

From planes to trains

The Sun News, May 26, 2013

Retired Lt. Col. Bruce Bowden’s favorite plane to fly in the Air Force was the RB26. “The one I flew in Korea,” the Calabash, N.C. resident explained. “It was a thrill to fly. It was like a thoroughbred breaking through the gates.” Conversely, he didn’t like the RB66C. “It was like flying a desk. Heavy. Nothing.”

…Awards, commendations and memorabilia from his 20 years of service cover one wall of his study, but another wall has shelves from ceiling to floor filled with books, videos and tapes about trains. A third wall has a desk overflowing with more books and information about railroads.

  From the time he was growing up in Waltham, Mass., Bowden, 84, liked trains. He never wanted to work for the railroad, though. The entire concept fascinated him, and today he researches old trains, towers and other railroad equipment, diagrams them to scale then builds the models….