Fort Riley, Trieste, Camp Rucker and the Reserve years. Sources remain with the story.
Bob Roling from Fort Riley to Trieste
Active Army service 1953–1955 and Army Reserve service through 1961
Robert Eugene “Bob” Roling’s Army papers trace two years of active service, followed by an Army Reserve obligation that ended in 1961. Orders, a family photograph and his later questionnaires connect those years with Fort Riley, Trieste and Italy. [1, 3–7, 9]
Training at Fort Riley
A Selective Service letter dated February 10, 1953, instructed Bob to report on March 11 for forwarding to the induction station. His Army separation record gives March 12, 1953, as his actual induction date at Kansas City, Missouri. [1–2]
By July, Bob was a trainee in Company K, 86th Infantry Regiment, 10th Infantry Division, at Fort Riley, Kansas. A photograph preserved by the family carries the handwritten caption “Bob at Fort Riley” and the year 1953. [3–4]
Orders for Trieste
On July 14, 1953, orders directed Bob through Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, for shipment to Trieste United States Troops, known as TRUST. They called for travel to begin July 20 and for him to report at Camp Kilmer by August 4. These were planned movements; the papers do not establish his arrival date in Trieste. [3]
A later family recollection headed “Bridget Morrison Roling” recalls Bob being stationed in Trieste. His signed Army Reserve questionnaires also record residence in Italy, reporting sixteen months in 1956 and fifteen months in 1957. The differing estimates are preserved in the record. [5–6]
Two brothers meet in Italy
Army service took Bob to Trieste, while Navy service brought his brother Dick to the Mediterranean aboard the destroyer USS Rooks. For two days, their paths crossed in La Spezia, Italy. A newspaper clipping saved by the family reported that Bob had moved from Trieste to Leghorn and was awaiting his next assignment when the brothers met.
It was a little piece of home a long way from Salisbury: two brothers serving in different branches, with a chance to spend time together overseas.
Source
Family-preserved “News Of Service Men” clipping. The report names Robert and Richard Roling as sons of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Roling and says they spent two days together in La Spezia. Its publication date is not visible.
Two cards from Bob’s Army years
Bob kept two small cards that show another side of Army life. His Fort Riley liberty pass, issued April 11, 1953, covered “Normal Off Duty Hours.” A separate TRUST card, issued July 3, 1954, authorized him to wear civilian clothes during off-duty hours. One concerned time off; the other concerned what he could wear. Neither card identifies the La Spezia reunion as its purpose.
A ride to church and Sunday dinner
Tim remembers Hugh Paul Farnen telling him about the time he was stationed in Alabama while Bob and Bridget were there. Hugh Paul did not have a car, so on Sundays they would take him to church, then bring him back to their apartment for dinner. It was a small kindness that Hugh Paul still remembered years later.
The Farnen family appears beside the Rolings in a 1968 newspaper birth column. Hugh Paul and Gladys’s son, Steven Paul Farnen, later served as an Army Reserve specialist with the 477th Transportation Company. He was 22 when an Iraqi Scud missile struck U.S. Army barracks at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on February 25, 1991, killing him during Operation Desert Storm.
Sources: Tim Roling’s recollection of conversations with Hugh Paul Farnen, shared in October 2026; Salisbury Press-Spectator, 1968 birth announcement preserved in the family archive; Congressional Record, February 27, 2001, page H427; U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum memorial roster.
Release from active service and the Reserve years
Bob was a corporal when he was honorably released from active service at Camp Rucker, Alabama, on March 11, 1955. His separation record names Company M, 351st Regimental Combat Team, at Camp Rucker as his most significant duty assignment. The full dates and locations of his Company M service remain to be established. [1]
The same record lists the National Defense Service Medal and two years of active service, including one year, three months and thirteen days of foreign and/or sea service. That total does not establish an exact length of residence in Italy. [1, 6]
His transfer to the Army Reserve took effect on March 12, 1955. A March 1956 letter designated him for emergency reinforcement if mobilization became necessary. On April 8, 1961, he was honorably discharged from the Army Reserve. [7–9]
The Blue Devil and the setting of his service
The family preserved the September 1954 Blue Devil Souvenir Edition, a contemporary view of TRUST. Page 15 describes the command’s headquarters at Miramare; page 20 presents the 351st Infantry and its battalion installations. These pages provide historical context for Bob’s story. No reviewed readable caption identifies him, and the souvenir does not establish his barracks or his participation in the activities described below. [10]
Training could take soldiers well beyond Trieste. A photograph on page 23 shows a convoy assembling at Soldiers’ Field for the three-day journey to Grafenwohr, Germany. Its caption describes annual training that combined several days of firing practice with exercises at platoon, company and battalion level. The same page also shows Second Battalion soldiers cleaning weapons after firing at Basovizza, giving a glimpse of the work that followed a day on the range. [10, p. 23]
In downtown Trieste, Stazione Marittima gathered many everyday services under one roof. It housed APO 209, the command’s Army post office, along with the main post exchange, bowling alleys and the Sugar Bowl, which served everything from drinks to full meals. Upstairs, the Service Club offered a library, a reading room with current magazines and a game room. These facilities show how TRUST supported ordinary routines alongside military duties. [10, p. 24]
The souvenir also records places to spend time after duty. Page 26 describes year-round competition at Soldiers’ Field in Opicina and shows a soldier band at the First Battalion’s Tiger Terrace and open-air tables at the Second Battalion’s Patio Club. At Soldiers’ Beach on the Adriatic at Sistiana, the following page describes swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball and other recreation. Dressing rooms and almost all equipment were provided free of charge. [10, pp. 26–27]
Sources
The following papers and photograph are held in the family collection.
[1] Robert Eugene Roling, DD Form 214, March 11, 1955.
[2] Selective Service Board No. 21, Chariton County, letter, February 10, 1953.
[3] Headquarters 10th Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Special Orders No. 162, July 14, 1953, paragraph 65 and continuation.
[4] Family photograph annotated “1953” and “Bob at Fort Riley.” Identification follows the family caption.
[5] Family recollection headed “Bridget Morrison Roling.” The writing date and authorship of added annotations are unestablished.
[6] Signed Army Reserve Qualification and Availability Questionnaires, April 29, 1956, and January 25, 1957. Italy residence is recorded as sixteen and fifteen months, respectively.
[7] Camp Rucker Reserve transfer letter and signed continuation, effective March 12, 1955.
[8] Missouri Military District, Emergency Reinforcement Designation, March 30, 1956. This concerns a possible mobilization assignment, not active-duty National Guard service.
[9] Headquarters XI United States Army Corps, Army Reserve discharge letter, April 8, 1961.
[10] The Blue Devil, September 1954 Souvenir Edition, pp. 15, 20, 23–24 and 26–27. The reviewed family copy now contains all 28 issue pages, including pages 10 and 11. Collection review, October 2026.
Back at work, with a growing family
Bob's January 1957 Reserve questionnaire places his return to civilian life beside his continuing military obligation. He listed plumbing and heating as his occupation, with new installation and repair as his principal duties. The same form recorded a wife and two young sons. Asked about preparations before a possible mobilization, his concern was practical: time to provide for his family.
Source: Bob Roling’s Reserve questionnaire, January 25, 1957.