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Former Central High School teacher, historian publishes book on WWII veteran

Monday Spotlight: Waite shares war stories of veteran Roger Bowers in recent novel

By Jayla Nartatez 11 min read

Philip Waite has been a World War II history buff for most of his life. Everywhere he's gone, he's been influenced by WWII veterans who have further blossomed his interests.

In seventh grade, Waite recalled having WWII veteran Melvin Bennet as a substitute teacher who asked his class questions about the war. When Waite answered, he expressed his interest in history, and a week later, Bennet gave Waite an envelope full of items he brought back from WWII. The moment was special for Waite.

"Holding that packet of military items that he brought home really brought it alive for me. I thought, 'Man, this is real history,'" Waite said. "The fact that someone went out of their way to share that with me, that's really cool."

Waite grew up in Martinsburg and graduated from Central High School. He eventually earned his degree in history and a minor in secondary education and political science from Saint Francis University. He has a wife, Julie, three biological daughters and one adopted daughter.

At a young age, Waite was surrounded by history and veterans, as his father and most of his uncles served in the military. Growing up, Waite and his father watched WWII movies together and developed a strong bond. He appreciated the love and respect his dad had for history, which grew his eagerness and curiosity to learn more about the past -- so much so that he decided to join the Navy and serve his country like the heroes he looked up to.

Now, Waite is a pastor, Navy veteran and a retired teacher who devotes himself to teaching the younger generation about the heroes of America who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.

Over the last 20 years, Waite's passion for WWII has "tremendously" developed as he has put together events and taken veterans on trips to the WWII veteran memorial in Washington, D.C.

However, Waite took a particular interest in one WWII veteran who was born and raised in Roaring Spring: Roger Bowers. After meeting in 1996, Waite has been documenting Bowers' stories about war and recently self-published a nonfiction novel, "Through My Eyes," an eyewitness account of WWII told by a combat medic and prisoner of war (POW).

"It's a real testimony of what I'm calling one man's war experience. From the time Roger first told me he first heard about Pearl Harbor being bombed, to the time when he left high school and got drafted, from his basic training and in combat," Waite said.

Preserving a legacy

Bowers previously asked Waite to throw a few of his stories together, but Waite got the idea to take it a few steps further. Over a period of about 25 years, he gathered stories from Bowers about his life before, during and after the war with the desire to write a book, sharing Bowers' story with the world.

"I think it's important that people see history from the men who served it. It's important to hear it in their words and to see what they saw," Waite said

While it took a while for Bowers to fully open up, Waite took notes on just about anything he talked about because it was so interesting to him. No matter where they were, Waite would jot down information in a notebook, on a napkin, his phone or anywhere he could.

During their conversations, Waite listened intently and in awe as he said Bowers shared some of the most heartbreaking details of being a combat medic in WWII.

Even at a young age, Bowers wanted to serve his country by going overseas in the military. Waite thought Bowers' resilience and selflessness should be made public after everything he'd been through.

In 1944, Waite said Bowers was captured at an aid station where he was working and was brought to a German prison camp. When he went into prison, he weighed 225 pounds, but when he was liberated, he only weighed about 105 pounds.

Waite said his doctor said if he had been in that prison camp for two more weeks, he would have died of starvation and malnutrition.

Having great respect for Bowers and his dedication to serving the country, Waite considered him to be a hero. However, Waite said Bowers reserved the hero title for all the men who never returned home from battle.

"He is one of the many unsung heroes of WWII. There'll never be a monument made to guys like Roger, there'll probably never be a movie made," Waite said. "The best thing we could do is honor his legacy with this book."

While Bowers shared a lot of details about what he faced in combat, Waite said Bowers encouraged him to pursue writing the book, but had one request -- to wait and publish the book until after he passed away. Waite said Bowers didn't want all the glory or recognition from people because he believed the true heroes were already gone.

In 2020, Bowers passed away at the age of 96. Dwight Bowers, Roger Bowers' son, was very close with his father and said he's grateful that Waite is writing this book.

"He told me some stories, not a whole lot. That's something I didn't really question that much," he said. "But I think it's important to let stories like that be told. Where the generations came from and where the country was formed."

Dwight and Waite said Roger Bowers was a humble and modest man. Having his own life and living away from home, Dwight was happy to know that Waite was there for his father.

As Bowers' son, Dwight is proud that people like Waite still care and want to know what transpired during that time in history. He's thankful for Waite's knowledge and holds onto his father's legacy.

"He taught me life lessons that I still live by today and that your word is your word," Dwight said.

A relationship beyond history

Throughout the years of knowing each other, Waite and Bowers developed a strong relationship. Bowers opened up to Waite, telling him stories about what he saw and experienced in war that he'd never told anyone else.

"The more I invested in him, the more he really poured and invested back in us. I think he trusted me to the point where he knew I was asking him questions because I really wanted to know what his legacy was and be able to honor him," Waite said.

When Bowers was drafted to the military, he hadn't graduated high school yet and never did until 2001, when Waite approached Central High School with an idea. Waite helped organize a graduation ceremony in a park for Bowers, and several other veterans who never graduated, where they received their diplomas from Central High School.

"I didn't realize how many WWII veterans got drafted before graduating and never graduated," Waite said. "Once that happened, I think Roger realized I really had an interest in him and veterans."

For several decades, Waite was a social studies teacher at Central. During that time, Waite would bring in Bowers to speak to his class about WWII and everything he experienced. Waite said he was amazed at how engaged and focused his students were while listening to Bowers. Students would walk up to him, shake his hand and thank him for his service.

One of Waite's favorite moments as a teacher was when Bowers came to share with one of his classes. After speaking with the students, Waite said one of them asked Bowers about his thoughts on what was happening overseas when the United States got involved with Afghanistan and Iraq.

Waite said Bowers responded by saying, "I would enlist and go fight if they would take me. Ex­tending freedom to others and defending it for our own people is the greatest gift you can give anyone. At my age, I would go today, so none of you guys had to."

Bowers was 80 years old at the time.

"That's what I want to do. I want to pass on these stories and interest in history because most of our WWII veterans are gone. The students of today and the children of tomorrow just don't have that chance to meet these guys and interact with them," Waite said.

Bringing history into the workspace

From 1985 to 1988, Waite was recalled to active duty in the Navy and in 1990 to 1991, he served during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Waite bonded with Bowers over serving the country, but said he experienced nothing compared to what Bowers did.

After retiring from the Navy, Waite spent 35 years teaching and retired at the end of the 2026 school year. He started his teaching career at Juniata Valley for two years and ended a 33-year tenure at Central High School, where he introduced Bowers to hundreds of students for 15 years.

"My favorite thing about teaching was being able to allow the students to see that the men and women who served were just like they were. People who went off to war and served did so because they loved their country. They had a duty, but in the long run wanted to come home and spend time with their families," Waite said.

Dave Crumrine, Central principal from 1998 to 2018, said Waite was an outstanding teacher and person. Crumrine taught Waite in his problems of democracy class when Waite was in high school and said he was always very focused on recognizing veterans for their service.

After decades of teaching, Crumrine believes that Waite had a great impact on his students and that listening to Bowers gave those students a hero to look up to.

"He knew an awful lot and was able to not just stand up front and recite names and dates and places, but he was able to tell the stories that made it more interesting to the kids, and he used Roger and other veterans to do the same kind of things," Crumrine said.

For the last 14 years, Waite has been focusing his time as a full-time pastor at Target One Ministries. His love and passion for history has merged into his teachings in church, as some of the illustrations he uses have a military aspect or relation to them.

Now that he's no longer a teacher, Waite said the biggest challenge for him is finding avenues or groups of people who share his knowledge and similar interest in history as he does.

Moving history forward

Since publishing his book in July, Waite has sold well over 100 copies. Through the book, Waite hopes that people understand the "extraordinary" actions of veterans and respect the fight that they fought.

"He ran toward fire to save guys, he ran right into action to pull men out. I just hope they take away a realization that our freedom isn't free and it's men like Roger Bowers who paid the price for us to live in the free country we live in today," Waite said.

With more veterans out there, he hopes to be able to tell their stories as well. In the future, Waite wants to write another book using the interviews he conducted with Bowers' friends as they shared some of their stories from the war.

Moving forward in life, Waite said he will follow Bowers' example by waking up each morning and making every day count, no matter what he goes through.

"He lived a great life and he never asked for anything, never complained and just overcame any adversity he had. So I'm going to take that into my life and pass it onto my children. I tried to pass it on to my students, go and use his example to help people live a victorious life," Waite said.

Anyone interested in reading Waite's book can purchase it on Amazon or visit his website https://www.throughmyeyesww2.com/.

The Waite file

Name: Philip J. Waite

Age: 62

Hometown: Martinsburg

Education: Central High School; bachelor's degree in history and minor in secondary education and political science from Saint Francis University

Family: Wife, Julie; four daughters

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