Veteran honored for radio operator work on his 100th birthday

COEUR d’ALENE —  On his 100th birthday, surrounded by family and friends, Robert Douglas Gwin was still clutching the folded American flag he had been given earlier that afternoon by the Kootenai County honor guard.

As his family came person by person to greet him and wish him a happy birthday, he pointed out a patch on his uniform from his Army Signal Corps days.

“I sewed that myself,” he said. 

His daughter, Cathy Litterell, said whenever he shared stories of World War II with the family, he chose to share his positive experiences and the deep friendships he made with his two best friends among the radio operators.

“He’s been a great example for all of us. He just chooses to remember the good," Litterell said.

Gwin said he felt touched by both the honor guard presentation and the turnout of loved ones as he officially became a centenarian.

“Isn’t that something,” he said. 

Gwin served in Burma (now Myanmar) as a high-speed radio operator from Jan. 13, 1943, to Nov. 19, 1945. Myanmar (formerly Burma) borders India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand, and was used as a staging ground to oppose Japanese forces in the Southeast Asian theater of U.S. military operations.

Although code had always fascinated him, he never expected it to foray into a wartime occupation.

“It’s a funny thing. I played around with Morse code when I was in grammar school. I was always interested in that and they give you aptitude tests as soon as you go into the service and they kept giving me the same test for code,” Gwin said.

He kept passing and moving on to the next stage before being sent to radio school in Athens, Ga. Gwin excelled there, passing 26 words per minute as a high-speed operator.

He graduated from the school a week early to join a group in Florida that was getting ready to go overseas. 

“They needed three radio operators,” he recalled. “My best friends graduated, too, and we stuck together from basic training until the war was over and we were discharged.”

When his friend and fellow radio operator Mark Bickley was approached about being honored by the Honor Flight in Washington, D.C., he instead turned to Gwin with a request.

“He said he wouldn’t go unless I was there, he didn’t want to go by himself. I really enjoyed that. It was a brilliant time,” Gwin said.    

Gwin is proud of the fact he still drives at 100.

“My old driver's license expires today, but I already got my new one renewed,” Gwin said with a laugh.

His granddaughter, Natasha Jackson, works as a lobbyist in Oregon and approached the Idaho Senate and Sen. Doug Okuniewicz  and Rep. Jordan Redman in particular to draft a proclamation honoring her grandfather for his service to the country.

She said they made sure it was hand-delivered as a surprise to Gwin.

“They were very quick, before I knew it, it was drafted and finished,” Jackson said.                                 

The honor guard’s celebration of Gwin’s service was another degree of ceremony that surprised him.

Ken Johnson, captain of the Kootenai County honor guard, said the presentation of the challenge coins, such as the ones Gwin received, is a special gesture.

“It’s a show of respect and honor. In the military, a challenge coin means they have reached a special place in your heart,” Johnson said.

Read the Idaho State Senate Proclamation for Gwin here: https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2024/legislation/SP101.pdf.

    Natasha Jackson, Robert Gwin's granddaughter, secured a proclamation from the Idaho State Senate ahead of his 100th birthday. The two share a hug as she holds up the proclamation at his birthday party in Coeur d'Alene on Saturday.
  

    Robert Gwin was honored by a state proclamation on his 100th birthday for his WWII service as a radio operator in Burma.