Roger was born January 7, 1924 to Adelard and Alma Chagnon, and grew up in Fall River, MA. He enlisted in the Navy at age 19 and served as a Radioman, First Class Petty Officer. Just six months later, he landed on Utah Beach on D-Day and was a supervisor of a group of radio operators who provided ship to shore communications on Utah Beach for the Allied forces landing in Normandy. After the war, Roger graduated from Boston College in 1950 and was employed by United Aircraft, Raytheon and Mitre Corp. He married his sweetheart Vivian Ledoux in 1949 and had six children.