Ret.Sgt.John Wesley Trotter, Sr. June 16, 1929 - April 12, 2012. John was born in Geary, OK, but had seen the world.
His love made the man not his travels. Anyone, no matter how rich, how poor, or how bedraggled was welcome at his door and at his table. A German exchange student said it best "He is full of love, you can feel it, even if you do not have the language for it". John loved people and he forgave anyone no matter how great their trespass. John fed everyone and it was the best thing that you had ever eaten, even if you did not like venison. As a starving Prisoner of War (POW) in Korea John learned food was love and food was life. The POW fatted up to 84 pounds before his release and understood the real and symbolic importance of food. Father Kenny asked John to help two aged malnourished sisters unable to cook for themselves. John cooked their favorite foods until he put some "meat on their bones" and continued to cook for them until they were too ill to remain in their home. As a boy, John bought a push rotary mower locked up with rust, from Joe's Junk Yard. He soaked the gears in used motor oil and pounded out the rust to unlock the gears. John spent days filing out the divots and then sharpening the blades with a wet stone. He push mowed lawns and fields. John used this money to buy bike parts from the junk yard and build a bike his parents could not afford. John left school after the ninth grade to work full time at Joe's Junk Yard to help support his family.
He joined the Army in 1948 for opportunities that a segregated Oklahoma could not offer him. John was present when the Army was desegregated and retired a Staff Sergeant. John was held as POW in the Korean War for thirty-one months. He met his military obligations by twice attempting to escape. The first time, his captors tried to club and bayonet him to death on the parade ground before the assembled POWs. The second time they tried to freeze him to death using a fifty-five gallon drum of water to turn him into an icicle suspended from a spit in the middle of the POW camp's parade ground. They left this human icicle hanging on the parade grounds for three days. When his fellow POWs were able to retrieve him they cut off his frozen clothes and boots. They wrapped him, naked, in a blanket aand stuffed him in the underground heating ducts to revive him and raise his body temperature. He survived two death marches when his POW camp was moved further into China. He was starved, tortured, and worked as slave labor throughout his captivity. His body and soul bore these scars all of his life. After his release John held a variety of positions in the Army. The Discovery Channel program's film footage of secret military missions to the North Pole in the 1950s caused John to reveal a secret. He had been to the North Pole. John told his son-in-law "If the Discovery Channel is showing it to the world then I can talk about it." The mission's original radio man was sick and unable to travel. John was one of few people who knew how to operate the mission's radio so he traveled to Iceland, Greenland and finally to the North Pole to transmit data. While in Germany John served as one of President John F. Kennedy's Honor Guards during his Berlin visit. John looked after his troops. While serving on the Border Guard in Germany he made arrangements with a Gasthaus for his troops to purchase, beer, schnapps and wurst before they went out into the field for maneuvers. The soldiers taped German marks inside the tank's barrel and wrote their orders on the money. The line of tanks raised their turrets and placed the tank's barrel in the Gasthaus' window. The owner took the money and slid the merchandise down the barrel into the tank. The crews had good food while sleeping out in the cold of a German winter. John provided military and life training to his troops. He taught soldiers to save money and to save each other. He offered his training platoons a choice - they could go into the bank to buy bond and send it home to their family or they could run around the bank while everyone else purchased a bond. For years, John had soldiers thanking him for teaching them how to save. John offered his training platoons a choice - they could go into the hospital and donate blood or they could run around the hospital while everyone else donated blood. As a POW he had seen too many men die for want of a unit of blood. John was a blood donor from the time he recovered from his POW related trauma until he was rejected for medical reasons.
John completed his high school degree in the Army and after he retired he earned an Associate's Degree in Accounting from Kentucky Business College. John said that this was the hardest thing that he had ever done in his life. John later served as a school crossing guard. John wished every child a good day and would talk to them as long as they needed to talk. The fact that they were speaking Ukrainian was not an obstacle to his well wishes and their dreams. John was known for blowing his whistle and walking towards speeding cars whose drivers were not focusing on the children.
John was a Kentucky Colonel. John served his church for years and readily volunteered for any project no matter how humble. John was a member of the Knights of St. Peter Claver and a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus. John was proud of his service to his country and a member of the V.F.W., American Legion, and D.A.V.
John will be missed by his family and friends. John lives now in his wife Coleen V. Trotter, four surviving children, one deceased daughter, ten grandchildren and seven great- grandchildren. In honor of his memory and love please forgive someone.
Please make a donation to the St. Peter Claver Building Fund at 410 West Jefferson St. 40508, send flowers to St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, or volunteer to help someone less fortunate than yourself.
Visitation will be from 4pm until 7pm Tue at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church with a funeral mass at 7pm. Graveside services will be 6:30am Wed at the Calvary Cemetery with full military rites. www.milwardfuneral.com
Published in Lexington Herald-Leader on April 15, 2012
His love made the man not his travels. Anyone, no matter how rich, how poor, or how bedraggled was welcome at his door and at his table. A German exchange student said it best "He is full of love, you can feel it, even if you do not have the language for it". John loved people and he forgave anyone no matter how great their trespass. John fed everyone and it was the best thing that you had ever eaten, even if you did not like venison. As a starving Prisoner of War (POW) in Korea John learned food was love and food was life. The POW fatted up to 84 pounds before his release and understood the real and symbolic importance of food. Father Kenny asked John to help two aged malnourished sisters unable to cook for themselves. John cooked their favorite foods until he put some "meat on their bones" and continued to cook for them until they were too ill to remain in their home. As a boy, John bought a push rotary mower locked up with rust, from Joe's Junk Yard. He soaked the gears in used motor oil and pounded out the rust to unlock the gears. John spent days filing out the divots and then sharpening the blades with a wet stone. He push mowed lawns and fields. John used this money to buy bike parts from the junk yard and build a bike his parents could not afford. John left school after the ninth grade to work full time at Joe's Junk Yard to help support his family.
He joined the Army in 1948 for opportunities that a segregated Oklahoma could not offer him. John was present when the Army was desegregated and retired a Staff Sergeant. John was held as POW in the Korean War for thirty-one months. He met his military obligations by twice attempting to escape. The first time, his captors tried to club and bayonet him to death on the parade ground before the assembled POWs. The second time they tried to freeze him to death using a fifty-five gallon drum of water to turn him into an icicle suspended from a spit in the middle of the POW camp's parade ground. They left this human icicle hanging on the parade grounds for three days. When his fellow POWs were able to retrieve him they cut off his frozen clothes and boots. They wrapped him, naked, in a blanket aand stuffed him in the underground heating ducts to revive him and raise his body temperature. He survived two death marches when his POW camp was moved further into China. He was starved, tortured, and worked as slave labor throughout his captivity. His body and soul bore these scars all of his life. After his release John held a variety of positions in the Army. The Discovery Channel program's film footage of secret military missions to the North Pole in the 1950s caused John to reveal a secret. He had been to the North Pole. John told his son-in-law "If the Discovery Channel is showing it to the world then I can talk about it." The mission's original radio man was sick and unable to travel. John was one of few people who knew how to operate the mission's radio so he traveled to Iceland, Greenland and finally to the North Pole to transmit data. While in Germany John served as one of President John F. Kennedy's Honor Guards during his Berlin visit. John looked after his troops. While serving on the Border Guard in Germany he made arrangements with a Gasthaus for his troops to purchase, beer, schnapps and wurst before they went out into the field for maneuvers. The soldiers taped German marks inside the tank's barrel and wrote their orders on the money. The line of tanks raised their turrets and placed the tank's barrel in the Gasthaus' window. The owner took the money and slid the merchandise down the barrel into the tank. The crews had good food while sleeping out in the cold of a German winter. John provided military and life training to his troops. He taught soldiers to save money and to save each other. He offered his training platoons a choice - they could go into the bank to buy bond and send it home to their family or they could run around the bank while everyone else purchased a bond. For years, John had soldiers thanking him for teaching them how to save. John offered his training platoons a choice - they could go into the hospital and donate blood or they could run around the hospital while everyone else donated blood. As a POW he had seen too many men die for want of a unit of blood. John was a blood donor from the time he recovered from his POW related trauma until he was rejected for medical reasons.
John completed his high school degree in the Army and after he retired he earned an Associate's Degree in Accounting from Kentucky Business College. John said that this was the hardest thing that he had ever done in his life. John later served as a school crossing guard. John wished every child a good day and would talk to them as long as they needed to talk. The fact that they were speaking Ukrainian was not an obstacle to his well wishes and their dreams. John was known for blowing his whistle and walking towards speeding cars whose drivers were not focusing on the children.
John was a Kentucky Colonel. John served his church for years and readily volunteered for any project no matter how humble. John was a member of the Knights of St. Peter Claver and a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus. John was proud of his service to his country and a member of the V.F.W., American Legion, and D.A.V.
John will be missed by his family and friends. John lives now in his wife Coleen V. Trotter, four surviving children, one deceased daughter, ten grandchildren and seven great- grandchildren. In honor of his memory and love please forgive someone.
Please make a donation to the St. Peter Claver Building Fund at 410 West Jefferson St. 40508, send flowers to St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, or volunteer to help someone less fortunate than yourself.
Visitation will be from 4pm until 7pm Tue at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church with a funeral mass at 7pm. Graveside services will be 6:30am Wed at the Calvary Cemetery with full military rites. www.milwardfuneral.com
Published in Lexington Herald-Leader on April 15, 2012
Ret.Sgt.John Wesley Trotter, Sr. June 16, 1929 - April 12, 2012. John was born in Geary, OK, but had seen the world.
His love made the man not his travels. Anyone, no matter how rich, how poor, or how bedraggled was welcome at his door and at his table. A German exchange student said it best "He is full of love, you can feel it, even if you do not have the language for it". John loved people and he forgave anyone no matter how great their trespass. John fed everyone and it was the best thing that you had ever eaten, even if you did not like venison. As a starving Prisoner of War (POW) in Korea John learned food was love and food was life. The POW fatted up to 84 pounds before his release and understood the real and symbolic importance of food. Father Kenny asked John to help two aged malnourished sisters unable to cook for themselves. John cooked their favorite foods until he put some "meat on their bones" and continued to cook for them until they were too ill to remain in their home. As a boy, John bought a push rotary mower locked up with rust, from Joe's Junk Yard. He soaked the gears in used motor oil and pounded out the rust to unlock the gears. John spent days filing out the divots and then sharpening the blades with a wet stone. He push mowed lawns and fields. John used this money to buy bike parts from the junk yard and build a bike his parents could not afford. John left school after the ninth grade to work full time at Joe's Junk Yard to help support his family.
He joined the Army in 1948 for opportunities that a segregated Oklahoma could not offer him. John was present when the Army was desegregated and retired a Staff Sergeant. John was held as POW in the Korean War for thirty-one months. He met his military obligations by twice attempting to escape. The first time, his captors tried to club and bayonet him to death on the parade ground before the assembled POWs. The second time they tried to freeze him to death using a fifty-five gallon drum of water to turn him into an icicle suspended from a spit in the middle of the POW camp's parade ground. They left this human icicle hanging on the parade grounds for three days. When his fellow POWs were able to retrieve him they cut off his frozen clothes and boots. They wrapped him, naked, in a blanket aand stuffed him in the underground heating ducts to revive him and raise his body temperature. He survived two death marches when his POW camp was moved further into China. He was starved, tortured, and worked as slave labor throughout his captivity. His body and soul bore these scars all of his life. After his release John held a variety of positions in the Army. The Discovery Channel program's film footage of secret military missions to the North Pole in the 1950s caused John to reveal a secret. He had been to the North Pole. John told his son-in-law "If the Discovery Channel is showing it to the world then I can talk about it." The mission's original radio man was sick and unable to travel. John was one of few people who knew how to operate the mission's radio so he traveled to Iceland, Greenland and finally to the North Pole to transmit data. While in Germany John served as one of President John F. Kennedy's Honor Guards during his Berlin visit. John looked after his troops. While serving on the Border Guard in Germany he made arrangements with a Gasthaus for his troops to purchase, beer, schnapps and wurst before they went out into the field for maneuvers. The soldiers taped German marks inside the tank's barrel and wrote their orders on the money. The line of tanks raised their turrets and placed the tank's barrel in the Gasthaus' window. The owner took the money and slid the merchandise down the barrel into the tank. The crews had good food while sleeping out in the cold of a German winter. John provided military and life training to his troops. He taught soldiers to save money and to save each other. He offered his training platoons a choice - they could go into the bank to buy bond and send it home to their family or they could run around the bank while everyone else purchased a bond. For years, John had soldiers thanking him for teaching them how to save. John offered his training platoons a choice - they could go into the hospital and donate blood or they could run around the hospital while everyone else donated blood. As a POW he had seen too many men die for want of a unit of blood. John was a blood donor from the time he recovered from his POW related trauma until he was rejected for medical reasons.
John completed his high school degree in the Army and after he retired he earned an Associate's Degree in Accounting from Kentucky Business College. John said that this was the hardest thing that he had ever done in his life. John later served as a school crossing guard. John wished every child a good day and would talk to them as long as they needed to talk. The fact that they were speaking Ukrainian was not an obstacle to his well wishes and their dreams. John was known for blowing his whistle and walking towards speeding cars whose drivers were not focusing on the children.
John was a Kentucky Colonel. John served his church for years and readily volunteered for any project no matter how humble. John was a member of the Knights of St. Peter Claver and a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus. John was proud of his service to his country and a member of the V.F.W., American Legion, and D.A.V.
John will be missed by his family and friends. John lives now in his wife Coleen V. Trotter, four surviving children, one deceased daughter, ten grandchildren and seven great- grandchildren. In honor of his memory and love please forgive someone.
Please make a donation to the St. Peter Claver Building Fund at 410 West Jefferson St. 40508, send flowers to St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, or volunteer to help someone less fortunate than yourself.
Visitation will be from 4pm until 7pm Tue at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church with a funeral mass at 7pm. Graveside services will be 6:30am Wed at the Calvary Cemetery with full military rites. www.milwardfuneral.com
Published in Lexington Herald-Leader on April 15, 2012
His love made the man not his travels. Anyone, no matter how rich, how poor, or how bedraggled was welcome at his door and at his table. A German exchange student said it best "He is full of love, you can feel it, even if you do not have the language for it". John loved people and he forgave anyone no matter how great their trespass. John fed everyone and it was the best thing that you had ever eaten, even if you did not like venison. As a starving Prisoner of War (POW) in Korea John learned food was love and food was life. The POW fatted up to 84 pounds before his release and understood the real and symbolic importance of food. Father Kenny asked John to help two aged malnourished sisters unable to cook for themselves. John cooked their favorite foods until he put some "meat on their bones" and continued to cook for them until they were too ill to remain in their home. As a boy, John bought a push rotary mower locked up with rust, from Joe's Junk Yard. He soaked the gears in used motor oil and pounded out the rust to unlock the gears. John spent days filing out the divots and then sharpening the blades with a wet stone. He push mowed lawns and fields. John used this money to buy bike parts from the junk yard and build a bike his parents could not afford. John left school after the ninth grade to work full time at Joe's Junk Yard to help support his family.
He joined the Army in 1948 for opportunities that a segregated Oklahoma could not offer him. John was present when the Army was desegregated and retired a Staff Sergeant. John was held as POW in the Korean War for thirty-one months. He met his military obligations by twice attempting to escape. The first time, his captors tried to club and bayonet him to death on the parade ground before the assembled POWs. The second time they tried to freeze him to death using a fifty-five gallon drum of water to turn him into an icicle suspended from a spit in the middle of the POW camp's parade ground. They left this human icicle hanging on the parade grounds for three days. When his fellow POWs were able to retrieve him they cut off his frozen clothes and boots. They wrapped him, naked, in a blanket aand stuffed him in the underground heating ducts to revive him and raise his body temperature. He survived two death marches when his POW camp was moved further into China. He was starved, tortured, and worked as slave labor throughout his captivity. His body and soul bore these scars all of his life. After his release John held a variety of positions in the Army. The Discovery Channel program's film footage of secret military missions to the North Pole in the 1950s caused John to reveal a secret. He had been to the North Pole. John told his son-in-law "If the Discovery Channel is showing it to the world then I can talk about it." The mission's original radio man was sick and unable to travel. John was one of few people who knew how to operate the mission's radio so he traveled to Iceland, Greenland and finally to the North Pole to transmit data. While in Germany John served as one of President John F. Kennedy's Honor Guards during his Berlin visit. John looked after his troops. While serving on the Border Guard in Germany he made arrangements with a Gasthaus for his troops to purchase, beer, schnapps and wurst before they went out into the field for maneuvers. The soldiers taped German marks inside the tank's barrel and wrote their orders on the money. The line of tanks raised their turrets and placed the tank's barrel in the Gasthaus' window. The owner took the money and slid the merchandise down the barrel into the tank. The crews had good food while sleeping out in the cold of a German winter. John provided military and life training to his troops. He taught soldiers to save money and to save each other. He offered his training platoons a choice - they could go into the bank to buy bond and send it home to their family or they could run around the bank while everyone else purchased a bond. For years, John had soldiers thanking him for teaching them how to save. John offered his training platoons a choice - they could go into the hospital and donate blood or they could run around the hospital while everyone else donated blood. As a POW he had seen too many men die for want of a unit of blood. John was a blood donor from the time he recovered from his POW related trauma until he was rejected for medical reasons.
John completed his high school degree in the Army and after he retired he earned an Associate's Degree in Accounting from Kentucky Business College. John said that this was the hardest thing that he had ever done in his life. John later served as a school crossing guard. John wished every child a good day and would talk to them as long as they needed to talk. The fact that they were speaking Ukrainian was not an obstacle to his well wishes and their dreams. John was known for blowing his whistle and walking towards speeding cars whose drivers were not focusing on the children.
John was a Kentucky Colonel. John served his church for years and readily volunteered for any project no matter how humble. John was a member of the Knights of St. Peter Claver and a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus. John was proud of his service to his country and a member of the V.F.W., American Legion, and D.A.V.
John will be missed by his family and friends. John lives now in his wife Coleen V. Trotter, four surviving children, one deceased daughter, ten grandchildren and seven great- grandchildren. In honor of his memory and love please forgive someone.
Please make a donation to the St. Peter Claver Building Fund at 410 West Jefferson St. 40508, send flowers to St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, or volunteer to help someone less fortunate than yourself.
Visitation will be from 4pm until 7pm Tue at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church with a funeral mass at 7pm. Graveside services will be 6:30am Wed at the Calvary Cemetery with full military rites. www.milwardfuneral.com
Published in Lexington Herald-Leader on April 15, 2012
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