The Historic Vienna Oral History Project: Roger Neighborgall

Monday, June 23, 2014

Roger Neighborgall - June 11, 2014

Roger Neighborgall was born in Garrett, Indiana, in 1923. A freshman at Duke University when Pearl Harbor was bombed, and he enrolled in the 69th Division of 5th Ranger Battalion that same year, at 18 years old. He recounts his rather harrowing enrollment process, followed by the first and only time he met commanding General Patton during the Battle of the Bulge. He also displays some of the ephemera he brought back from WWII.

After returning from the war and receiving his college degree, Roger Neighborgall was employed at American Car and Foundry, where he eventually ended up in Technical Marketing as Vice President of the company. After 10 years, he began working at a new company that moved him around the US, eventually stationing him in the Washington, DC area in the 1960s.

Neighborgall recounts his time on Country Club Road, emphasizing Vienna's change in size over the years. He also describes the landscape, the commute to Washington, DC, where he had an office in the Pentagon working as a defense contractor, and institutions (the theater, the country club) and celebrations (former Mayor Charlie Robinson's 4th of July Celebrations) of Vienna's past and present.

Roger Neighborgall has involved himself in many groups, including a past presidency of The Ranger's Association and a current presidency of the Virginia Tennis League. He recounts his involvement with the committee at Our Lady of Good Council and his position as president of the W&OD trail, with attention to the history of and changes in each institution over the years.

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Joining the 69th Division of the 5th Ranger Battalion