Chattanooga veteran pursued lifelong love of sports through military and professional careers

Nov. 8—A Chattanooga veteran whose roots go deep in local academia and athletics had his first career in the U.S. Army doing exactly what he wanted to do.

For retired U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Edward L. Rowe, the difference might have been in ignoring his cousin Namon "Reco" Derring Jr.'s advice never to volunteer for anything and a desire as a young man to get away from his mother.

"I wanted to grow up. I wanted to become a real man — you know, do for yourself — and I wanted to leave my mama, too, because she had control," Rowe laughed during a recent interview at the Times Free Press. His future might have been a job in a local plant where his mother worked but he wanted to be free and didn't think he was "college material."

Thirteen days after he graduated from Ringgold High School in Georgia, he entered the Army as a basic infantryman where he would find the decisions made in his first years in uniform would serve him the rest of his life.

"I got over to Germany and never for one day did I work as an infantryman," Rowe said. "I've always been behind some kind of typewriter or computer.

"My cousin told me, 'Now you done volunteered to go in. Don't volunteer for nothing else,'" Rowe, 64, recalled.

"But guess what? The first day of basic training they said, 'I need four people for KP duty,' and I thought, 'Hmmm, that sounds like kitchen patrol. If I do this now, it might be a while before I have to do it again,' so I raised my hand and I volunteered, and I was one of four," he said.

Those four became squad leaders, he said, and Rowe found himself in charge for the first time.

After he arrived in Bindlach, Germany, with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, another opportunity to volunteer arose while he was playing games in the day room and a superior came in with a question.

"'Hey, which one of y'all can type?' It just so happened I took typing four years in high school because I always had to type in homeroom. I hunt-and-pecked and then I had typing, so I raised my hand up again," Rowe said. As he was instructed, he typed, "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."

"'Good enough for me, You're my new TAMMS [The Army Maintenance Management System] clerk and driver,'" Rowe said, imitating the captain who'd given him the new job that would somehow lead him back to what he loved — sports.

He played football at the base, played basketball and softball and started learning how to officiate after he was fouled during a game and there was no call, he said. He learned that no one was a "professional" official, just volunteers.

Rowe found out he could officiate the next game and said, "Gimme the whistle."

"I was 18 years old when I blew my first whistle," he said. Rowe is still blowing that whistle 46 years later as the current USA Softball umpire in charge in Tennessee.

During some reorganization, Rowe was sent to another unit in Bamburg, Germany, "but I ended up in the same type of unit," he said with a smile.

Rowe learned how to do a duty roster, kept typing up reports and again worked as a driver. His job performance and continuing luck led to promotions, going before the "E-5 board" for a review to become a sergeant in his third year in the service.

It took two more years to make sergeant, he said. After he was sent to Fort Riley in Kansas he decided knee-deep snow "wasn't the place for me," he said. Soon he was back at the enlistment officer's desk looking for a different job.

On his second tour of duty he returned for a second round in supply and started leadership school and was eventually sent to Fort Knox where he used his athletic skills for more than keeping records.

"I made the post softball team, and that's what I did for about a year and a half; I played softball, I practiced softball and I worked at a place called the cannibalization yard," he said. "I worked from 8 to 12 and then I'd go to softball practice, played softball in the evening and I kept officiating."

But he soon returned to Germany working in an Army depot as a supply sergeant and was coaching and playing again for the next three years until he returned to Fort Knox. Same job, supply sergeant.

"This time I stopped playing everything and just kept to officiating basketball, football and softball," he said.

Newly married with a child, he found he just didn't have time to play.

As Rowe went through a series of reenlistments during the 1980s and 1990s, each time he took an angle on athletics and found himself coaching, officiating and working in leadership positions or as a trainer, and he even led teams to championships in Germany. It seemed natural, he said.

During his service, Rowe earned the Army Commendation 5th Award, Army Achievement Medal 3rd Award, Army Good Conduct Medal 6th Award, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service and NCO Professional Development Ribbon 3rd Award. Rowe also earned membership in the Sergeant Morales Club, which recognizes professional and civic-minded leaders, and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.

When Rowe retired from the service in 1995, he returned to college and earned his teaching degree and went on to become a Hamilton County teacher, coach and, of course, a first-class sports official.

Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.

Veteran Salute will be published daily through Veterans Day on Nov. 11. Read about more veterans at timesfreepress.com/veterans/2021.

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