news-record.com

GIBSONVILLE — Elaine Hager woke early June 23 to a phone call.

“Whatcha doin?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Sleeping,” she said, laughing.

It was hard to match schedules between Gibsonville and Afghanistan, but she welcomed the call from her son — even if it was 2 in the morning.

They chatted, talked about nothing in particular. He didn’t say much about the job — he never did — just that he was busy with guard duty. He said he’d call her again in a little bit.

Through tears and red eyes, Elaine Hager now remembers that as the last time she talked to her son.

“I wasn’t expecting a little bit to be forever,” she said.

Two U.S. Marines in uniform knocked on her door and delivered the news Wednesday night. Roger G.M. Hager, a 2008 graduate of Western Alamance High School, died earlier that day in Afghanistan. His convoy hit a roadside bomb; he was killed on impact.

Roger Hager joined the Marines a year and a half ago. He graduated from high school a semester early, eager to enter the service. Three months ago, he deployed to Afghanistan.

He was 20 years old.

Sitting in the living room of her small mobile home, Elaine Hager points to a faded photo in an oval frame. It shows a young Roger where he was happiest — outdoors. He loved nature, and in the photo, with a wide smile on his face, he shows off a fish about half his size.

He was a goof, she said, and a mama’s boy, a free spirit who sent gag gifts and cards that still make her erupt in full-body laughter.

A lot of the time, though, he kept to himself. He didn’t have a lot of friends, but was deeply devoted to those he loved.

“He’d bend over backwards to help someone else,” Elaine Hager said. “If he had a penny in his pocket, he’d take it out and give it to you.”

Sitting across from her mom, his sister laughs.

“He might throw it at you with a rubber band," she said. "But he’d give it to you.”

All three of Elaine Hager’s children are connected to the military. Jeremy, 22, spent his last tour in Iraq deactivating explosives like the one that killed Roger. Jeremy — a Marine, like his brother — will leave for another deployment next month.

Her youngest, Faith Strang, is 18. She starts advanced training with the Army in two weeks.

Elaine Hager said she wanted her kids to serve in the military, wanted them to make something of themselves.

Roger Hager took to that message. So, he concentrated on graduating from high school, working toward bigger things.

“He was the kind of student who came to school to get his education, to graduate and to move on,” said Anita Watkins, assistant principal at Western Alamance. “He was always eager about going into the military. He knew that’s what he wanted to do, and he did it.”

The flag in downtown Gibsonville flew at half-staff Thursday in Roger Hager’s honor.

Gibsonville is a small, tight-knit community, Mayor Lenny Williams said, and even though many didn’t know the young Marine, they are saddened by the news.

“I just think we ought to pay respect to all of the folks who give their lives to our country,” he said.

Roger Hager will return to North Carolina on Saturday or Sunday, his mother said. Jeremy plans to be at the airport to bring his brother back to Gibsonville.

Elaine Hager said she’s glad her son will come home with people “he knew and loved.”

“He was so happy-go-lucky, so free-spirited,” she said.

“He was my boy.”

Contact Tricia L. Nadolny at 373.7028 or tricia.nadolny@news-record.com