Remembering Bob Borlase
April 5, 2022 | By Voices of Oklahoma
Bob Borlase’s service to our nation and to our state came in the form of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.
Bob Borlase’s service to our nation and to our state came in the form of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office. He enlisted in the Navy in 1952 during the Korean War. He was chief radioman, using International Morse Code as his ship patrolled the coast of Korea. In 1959 he joined the Coast Guard with duties as a radioman on an ocean station near Honolulu. And then, during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Coast Guard played a vital role where Bob’s service was as a chief radioman. The ship assignment limited coastal infiltration by the Viet Cong into South Vietnam. He retired from the Coast Guard in Oklahoma City after twenty-eight years but continued his service in the Oklahoma City Sheriff’s Office for eighteen years.
But we should point out, this story is also about his wife Diane and their daughters, who accompanied him on his many assignments. Bob Borlase is the father of Kim Holland, who is the former Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner.
Bob served in the U.S. Coast Guard during the controversial Vietnam War and many Americans did not treat our soldiers with the usual respect.
When Bob was asked how he wanted to be remembered he said:
“Just for what I am, just an average American man who served his country and his community and happy to be here.”
Bob died on January 12, 2022 in Oklahoma City, OK.
Thank you for listening and for sharing Bob’s story with your friends.
