Roger Flagg, a Buffalo, New York native, didn’t venture far away from home for college or dental school (the University of Buffalo).  He was destined to have a career in dentistry as not only his father but also both grandfathers were dentists.  He probably would have continued the family dentistry practice but fate intervened and his father died before he entered college so there wasn’t a practice to join when he finished dental school.  

The Navy tagline of “Join the Navy & see the world” was certainly true for Roger.  His 31-year career with the United States Navy began when he was one of 16 men selected for a one-year residency in general dentistry.   Roger thought the one-year program would be good.  Although he had plenty of book learning, there wasn’t much practical experience.  After graduating from dental school, he waited several months for the national security check to be completed.   It came one day…. And he  left the next day to report to his duty station at Camp Pendleton.  With not much time to spare, he telephoned Nancy, his fiancé, with the news of his departure.  She joined him in California several weeks later where they were married.

After completing his residency, Roger was assigned to the U.S.S. Jason, based in San Diego.  Shortly thereafter, he had a nine-month deployment in the Pacific Ocean.  He and Nancy stayed in touch through letters and one long distance phone call midway through the deployment.   While the U.S.S. Jason was overhauled in Oakland, CA, Roger was put in charge of 80 men attending firefighting school.  The best part of this assignment was that he got to learn about firefighting and enjoyed it so much that his team had him manning the firehose at the front.

Roger was again deployed to the western Pacific and Nancy was pregnant with their first child.  Roger’s tour of duty on the U.S.S. Jason was over after four months at sea and he was reassigned to the Philadelphia Naval Hospital arriving about three weeks before their first child was born.  After a year in Philadelphia, Roger was selected for post graduate studies at the Naval Dental School in Bethesda, MD.  After the additional training, Roger and his family were assigned to the Philippines where he was appointed Lieutenant Commander.   While in the Philippines, Roger taught at the University of the Philippines Dental School as well as the University of the Far East.

Roger’s next sea duty was aboard the U.S.S. Grand Canyon where he was appointed Commander following which he  attended a fellowship in prosthetic dentistry.  After completing his studies, he was the staff prosthodontist at Bethesda.  On his third and final sea duty on the U.S.S. Intrepid, Roger was the senior dental officer and was subsequently promoted to Captain.   His  next duty station was in Washington, D.C. where he treated three and four star generals and admirals as well as U.S. Congressmen and Senators.  His final duty station was at the Naval Dental Center in Norfolk.

Not one to let the grass grow under his feet, after retiring from the Navy Roger became  a member of the executive committee of the Tidewater Dental Association.  He also used his dental skills in treating patients, primarily children, at the Virginia Beach Health Department and was an adjunct assistant clinical professor at ODU. 

Roger is celebrating his thirty-year membership in our Rotary Club.  He is a Paul Harris Fellow, and has served on the board of directors and chaired several committees.  For several years, he delighted children as he was Santa during the Club’s Holiday social. 

Nancy and Roger have three sons and a daughter.   All of the sons are Eagle Boy Scouts and their daughter achieved the highest rank of Girl Scouts.  Roger was involved in scouting as a child and in retirement, he again became involved.  Two of his sons followed in Roger’s footsteps and chose military careers—one as a naval aviator and the other in the Army.

Roger’s hobbies include photography, history, and travel.  In addition to extensive foreign travel, he has visited each of the fifty United States.