Coffman receives first flag honors at commissioners’ office
A local hero who served his country for more than two decades, enlisting in the National Guard at age 16 and then joining the U.S. Marines when he was 18 in 1953, was offered a fitting honor Tuesday, March 28, by the Logan County Commissioners, who officially began a new monthly veteran tribute in the form of a U.S. flag presentation.
“I feel pretty good,” said the energetic and upbeat 87-year-old honoree Robert Coffman Jr., who also happens to be a 13-year cancer survivor. Both he and his wife, Suzanne, are receiving treatment for their respective forms of cancer at the OSU Wexner Medical Center, and they will head to the Columbus hospital together today for those appointments.
Overviewing his upcoming medical treatments, the Vietnam War service member said, “Hopefully this is the last of it.”
The Huntsville area couple have been married for nearly 35 years, and reside at Suzanne’s childhood home.
Coffman is the first veteran to be honored in the new monthly program by the commissioners with a flag that was flown over the Logan County Courthouse.
The past commander of the Charles R. Collins American Legion Post 381, Huntsville, was presented with a U.S. flag that was flown over the courthouse during February. The flag was properly taken down and folded for presentation at Tuesday’s ceremony at the commissioners’ office, attended by fellow elected officials.
Commissioner Michael Yoder said the new initiative is a way to repurpose the flags flown over the courthouse, to keep them in good condition, and most importantly, to bring recognition to the accomplishments of veterans living in our community.
“It will be a way that we can bring special attention to these individuals, to learn more about their personal stories that we might not otherwise get to hear, and to thank them for their service,” he said.
The commissioners will partner with the Logan County Veteran’s Service Office to locate recipients each month to receive the U.S. flag honor.
Staff Sgt. Coffman, a native of Lima, is the recipient of a number of military honors, including the National Defense Medal and the Combat Action Medal.
He said his military service included a number of years spent deployed overseas, “taking me as far east as Turkey, and also to Puerto Rico and the Philippines, spending a lot of time in the Pacific Islands.”
“I think if he could go back over there he would,” said his wife, who is a lifelong Logan County resident.
After joining the Marines and completing boot camp, Coffman would later have the honor of being a part of President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration parade in 1961 while he was stationed in Washington, D.C. Then in November of 1963, he remembers being treated in the sick barracks in the nation’s capital when the news was received that President Kennedy had been shot.
While stationed in the Pacific, Coffman said his unit was initially sent to the Gulf of Tonkin, and then were just floating there and then ordered back to Okinawa, Japan. That incident at the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964 was the start of the United States’ direct involvement in the Vietnam War.
The Huntsville resident also trained new recruits at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, S.C., and in San Diego, preparing them for deployment to Vietnam, prior to his retirement in 1974. Coffman then went on to work at the Lima Army Tank Plant.
Today, he is an avid woodcarver, creating walking sticks and many other creative and patriotic items for family and friends, and specialty, intricately carved items for his home for he and his wife to enjoy. Between he and Suzanne, they have nine children, 23 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.