Amazing Coincidence

An extremely weird coincidence was brought to my attention today. Many people have read the historical book Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose or at the very least seen the mini-series by Tom Hanks and Steven Speilberg. Well in the book there is a SGT that is talked about on several occasions named SGT Robert Rader. In the last section of the book where Stephen Ambrose talks about the various soldiers’ life after the end of World War II, he mentions Robert Rader went to the small town of Paso Robles, California and teaching at the local High School. It just so happens that Paso Robles High School is where I went to High school and I realized the coincidence about 3 years ago when I read the book. I never heard about him and certainly never heard about his experiences during the war while I was going to school. I did however talk with a teacher that I had after I had graduated, and he had him for a teacher.

Well this past Veterans Day, my hometown of Paso Robles dedicated a bridge in our city to the memory of SGT Robert Rader. The typical small town hoopla was given including some of the veterans of the famed Easy Company came for the dedication. My dad, being the history nut as I am, sent me some of the local paper’s articles covering the ceremony. Bridge Dedicated to Quiet Hero As I read the article, I noticed an even more revealing coincidence. Not only did SGT Robert Rader teach at my high school years before I attended, he is an alumnus of my university: Cedarville University (College). After the war, Robert Rader attended the university when it was just Cedarville College to get a teaching degree. This was quite a shock for me since even today the University is small and not well known.

I guess that this goes to show the greatness of the United States Military. To reference another of Stephen Ambrose’s books, the military is made of citizens doing a soldiers business