MEEKER | For Rob Baughman, the applause waiting in the Baltimore airport terminal was something he never expected to hear.
As he and fellow veterans walked through the terminal during a recent Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C., people stood and clapped while a town crier dressed in colonial clothing welcomed them.
For Baughman, the moment carried a deeper meaning.
“We didn’t get that when we came home,” he said quietly.
The Meeker veteran and former Rio Blanco County law enforcement officer recently returned from the Honor Flight, where he was one of just 29 veterans selected to travel to the nation’s capital and visit memorials honoring military service and sacrifice.
“I was excited to go,” Baughman said. “I’d heard about it and thought it was going to be a fun time, and it was.”
But the trip became much more than a visit to Washington landmarks.
As Baughman stood before the memorials, memories surfaced of fellow servicemen and women — those who served beside him and those who never made it home.
“A lot of thoughts of brothers and sisters that I served with,” he said. “The ones that went before me, and the ones that have followed after me.”
Baughman’s own journey of service began shortly after high school. After spending about a year in college, he realized he was ready for a different path.
“I was kind of tired of school,” he said. “It was time for a change.”
He joined the military police during the Vietnam era and eventually worked as a military police dog handler, a role that demanded constant alertness and trust between handler and dog.
Originally, Baughman thought military service might lead him toward becoming a game warden because he enjoyed being outdoors. Instead, law enforcement quickly became his calling.
“As I started working regular police work, that kind of took over,” he said. “Six years doing different kinds of police work in the military, and then I just continued on after I separated out of the Army.”
After returning from overseas duty, including time stationed in Germany, Baughman worked for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office before applying to the Colorado State Patrol. Recruits were asked to list preferred duty stations, and Meeker was never supposed to be the final destination.
“They gave us a dream sheet with three choices,” Baughman said with a laugh. “Grand Junction was my first choice because I’d driven through there. Craig was my second because I’d heard of it. Meeker was just kind of a throwaway. I’d never heard of it.”
Still, Meeker was where he landed.
“It was a good thing,” Baughman said. “It was the best of the three.”
Over the years, Baughman became a familiar face in Rio Blanco County law enforcement and within the local veterans community. Even after retirement, he has remained involved in Memorial Day ceremonies and veterans organizations dedicated to honoring those who served.
“It’s just a chance to display to the public the service that veterans and those that didn’t come back have given,” he said. “This weekend is not a veterans weekend — it’s for those that didn’t come back. We just need to honor them and their memories.”
Looking back now, Baughman said military service shaped him in ways impossible to fully understand as a teenager.
“It made me grow up in a hurry,” he said. “You don’t get to stay a teenager when people are shooting at you.”
Like many young soldiers, he entered the military believing he was untouchable.
“At 18, you’re 10 feet tall and bulletproof,” Baughman said. “You can’t conceive of something happening to you. Then you come to terms with your own mortality, and that’s a huge game changer.”
Decades after first putting on a military uniform, Baughman’s Honor Flight became more than a trip to Washington, D.C. It served as a reminder of a lifetime spent answering the call to serve — from Vietnam to the streets of Rio Blanco County and throughout the veterans community he continues to support today.
For a man who quietly dedicated much of his life to protecting and serving others, the journey offered something many veterans wait years to experience: a long-overdue welcome home and the recognition of a community and country grateful for his service.
Rob Baughman sits in front of the “Service and Sacrifice” bronze monument, sculpted by artist Susan Bahary and honoring the bond and service of military working dogs and their handlers, during his Honor Flight visit to Washington, D.C., reflecting on generations of military service and sacrifice honored at the site.
Rob Baughman stands in front of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., during his Honor Flight visit, holding a folded half-size American flag as he reflects on the service and sacrifice of the Greatest Generation honored at the site.
