MAJOR DEEJ UNIVERSE

Roger started his life in Oklahoma (later named Oklahoma City), Oklahoma in 1918.  His father was an American World War I Army Air Corps aircraft mechanic that had been exposed to mustard gas attacks, one of which was with (what was discovered later to be) the X-65 mutagenic gas. Roger's father, after the war, went to work for Mid-Continent Aircraft Company, which was later renamed Spartan Aircraft.  There, his father built, flew and trained pilots to fly their aircraft.  Roger was taught by his father as early as 9 years of age how to fly. Roger had a good soul and always looked out for his younger brother, sometimes engaging in fistfights and at times, getting suspended from school.  That, however, didn't stop him from becoming the best student in school ever...and a weekend airplane ferry pilot who'd fly newly built Spartan Aircraft airplanes to their new owners and take a train or bus back home in time to attend school on Monday morning...every week.

 

In 1938, Roger graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.  His first assignment was to a new aircraft squadron of F2A-2 Brewster "Buffalo" fighter planes.  Within an hour of joining the squadron, he was ordered to fly to Guam with a flight crew and provide feedback on base conditions and if the new "Buffalo" would be a good fit for that region.  Sadly, Roger discovered problem after problem with the plane and its use in a tropical location; overheated engines, loss of maneuverability with all the extra Navy gear loaded on the plane, and even an issue with the landing gear not retracting properly. While there in Guam, he discovered a young local Guamanian named "Buffa", who later turned out to be a troubleshooting savant.  He helped fix Roger's landing gear problem with ease, and aided in troubleshooting and fixing dozens of other issues on the air base. As a result, Roger was tasked with continuing analysis of other aircraft that came to Guam and test their durability in the tropical region (Roger had an incredibly innovative and deductive mind, allowing him to identify early issues with aircraft being used in the region). Buffa quickly became a good friend of Roger; a friend that, one day, would be fighting beside Roger with one of the greatest World War II teams ever - The Allied Fighters.

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In 1941, Roger was reassigned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where he was to lead a squadron of Marine pilots flying P-40 Warhawks. It didn't take long before Roger and the Marine Wing Commander went to loggerheads.  The wing commander was a poor pilot and a 'yes' man; Roger fought with him time and again about doing more combat drills, security, training for fast loading ammunition and rapid reaction flight drills, all to which the wing commander disliked because 'we're not at war; what does it matter?'.  Nonetheless, Roger worked hard to get things changed. In the meantime, he'd developed new aerial tactics such as a 'wingman' system, high speed pursuit dive/attacks, and a special "S" maneuver used to horizontally strafe an enemies airplane form side to side.  These new tactics caught the attention of a particular Marine pilot known as "Pappy Boyington" and another Marine, Captain John Brown.  Buffa, Roger's friend from Guam, (who now went by Buffa Christian) had joined him in Hawaii.  Buffa quickly became a prized person on the base.  They allotted Buffa his own home for him and his new wife, Jewai, and their children. Together, Roger and Buffa were the best of friends. Roger became the godfather for Buffa's first son, Bo.  Together, they all were living a wonderful tropical life that seemed perfect - until 7 December 1941.

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On December 7th, 1941, a day that will 'live in infamy', the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted a surprise attack against Hawaii. Most of the US Pacific Fleet was destroyed or severely damaged as a result of the attack, with thousands of lives lost. On that day, Roger lost plane after plane valiantly trying to get into the air.  At one point, as he was roaring down the runway trying to take-off, his plane got strafed, causing him to jump out on the runway as his plane careened into several other P-40s 'parked' on the ramp as part of the Wing Commander's 'security' procedures.  He eventually got into a small boat and run it aground near Ewa Beach where there were P-40s ready for him to fly.  By the time he got into the sky though, the last Japanese attack wave was already on their way home.  Not long after, he was contacted by Captain John Brown who told Roger he had 4 days to get his world in order and report to him for a classified mission. shortly thereafter, Roger received another call...this one about Buffa Christian and was told Buffa lost his entire family.  Without hesitation, Roger jumped in a plane, flew to Ford Island, where Buffa was being treated at the island dispensary, and landed on Ford Island taxiing right up to the dispensary.  His best friend,Buffa was in a bad spot.  Depressed and near suicidal, Roger spent the next 2 days with Buffa, honoring his deceased loved ones and taking the time to help Buffa from 'going over the edge'.  As such, Roger promised Buffa a chance to get back at those that killed his family, but joining him on a flight to go sign up for a secret mission against the Japanese.  Buffa practically vaulted to the plane with Roger.

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Days later, the two arrived at the site set by Captain Brown.  Captain Brown was furious with Roger for bringing Buffa with him and 'endangering' the whole operation.  Roger told the Captain, 'he goes, I go'; to which the Captain begrudgingly accepted both onto his team.

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Captain Brown was creating a team of exceptionally talented fighters and warriors that would make up a super-powered team designated as "The Allied Fighters".  Should Roger and Buffa pass the tests, they'd be invited.  Roger told Buffa, 'I'll understand if you want to back out', to which Buffa simply said, 'bring it on'.

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The tests were torturous...except for Buffa.  Roger, although he passed the tests, did so barely.  Together, both were introduced to Captain Brown who made them part of Beta Squad of the Allied Fighters unit.  Both were given code-names; Roger was given the code-name "Dauntless" (out of respect for Roger's father who was now leading the production teams at the new Oklahoma City Douglas Aircraft plant, making new A-24 Dauntless dive-bombers) while Buffa was initially called "Wildcat", but Buffa convinced Captain Brown to instead call him "Brewster Buffalo", named after the very first airplane he'd ever worked on - Roger's F2A-2 "Brewster Buffalo".

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After that, they trained. Hard. Roger was given a flight suit with a personalized experimental flight pack and a belt of bombs.  He was one of the most maneuverable and dangerous men in the air - next to his buddy, Buffa AKA Brewster Buffalo.  It was brought up that, in Roger's medical report, they identified that Roger's blood contained an excellent healing structure, allowing him an increased rate of healing, a higher overall body and internal organ endurance and a heightened ability to take on excessive G-forces while performing hard turns, dives and climbs in flight. It also identified that his inner ears were practically armored, allowing him to hear better than most, and not get vertigo or be as susceptible to sonic attacks. This was believed to be a genetic hand-down from his father who'd suffered the effects fo the X-65 mutagenic mustard gas attacks during World War I. Regardless, Roger came through like a trooper; work and beat, but a trooper.

 

After their training, they were all sent in squads out into the field; Roger led one such squad. Buffa was part of Roger's squad initially. Roger and his teammates fought together for the first year or so during the war, but as things got busy all over the Pacific, and the Allied Fighters gained dozens of new replacements, Buffa and Roger were split up, with Buffa leading another squad. Sadly, Buffa died in the Invasion of Tarawa not long thereafter.  Roger gave the eulogy at Buffa's memorial in Hawaii a week later. Roger stated that losing Buffa was like 'losing his own brother'.

Roger fought for the rest of the war, but received multiple injuries; bullets, bombs, flak, flash grenades, samurai swords, and even a spear through the heart.  Whenever the going got tough for him and the troops, Roger always restated that which his old friend Buffa used to say: 'Bring it on'; this unto itself, was usually all that was needed for Roger and the troops to redouble their efforts and win.

 

Roger survived the war and, at war's end in 1945, was honored for his service with the Medal of Honor.

 

Roger kept doing his super-hero job for the US Navy into the Korean War. In 1952, in an attack on the Sui-ho Dam with a Marine Air Combat Squadron VMA-212, Roger was hit by a powerful Soviet ground-to-air missile and fell, badly injured, from nearly 5,000 feet in the air.  He was found and evacuated from the battle site by a brave rescue helicopter team, but Roger was hurt so bad he had to be sent to the states for over two years of medical rehabilitation. After that, the US Navy had him, dressed up as the 'hero' Dauntless, attend USO tours, US Navy promotional ads and hundreds of recruiting events out into the late 1950s. He even provided the stories and scripts for a TV series that was later made about Roger's WWII adventures called "Dauntless: The All-American Hero". In 1960, Roger finally retired as Dauntless, however, he continued his successful career in the US Navy. In 1982, Roger finally retired from the US Navy after 44 years of service at the rank of Vice Admiral.  During his retirement, he wrote several books and an auto-biography.

 

On 7 December 1991, at the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, Roger, as retired Vice Admiral Richmond, attended one last ceremony at the Arizona Memorial.  That night, Roger passed away quietly in his sleep.

 

Today, his remains are interned at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, with his name has since been added to a monument in Washington DC made for him and his fellow Allied Fighters that had all since passed on.  What Roger didn't know before he died was that his great grandson, John Wescamp, would go on to become an astronaut and a superhero in his own right called "Astroguardian".

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