Hello, happy to be here. I am Roland Young. At this time the name is accurate, I am but 27 years old. I joined for a couple of reasons. One, I've always been fascinated & interested in what happened to the two pilots in 1937, and TIGHAR seems to have the most logical take on actual evidence to support the castaway theory. Two, I am sad that these two people were stranded & met their fate, when it seems as though they were right on the edge of being rescued, and this sadness fuels my passionate interest in discovering, analyzing & preserving every bit of evidence to uncover as much of the true story as possible. I feel like Earhart & Noonan could have been rescued so easily, given what we know about the events today. It hurts to know that despite how close it was, they perished & can't tell the story in their own words. Breaks my heart thinking of the great things the two could have accomplished, had the search teams decided to scour Nikumaroro on July 2nd..even 3rd. They were right there.
Currently I spend what little time I have in between a J-O-B to work on car projects, make music, & learn about the 1920s-1960s. I love cars from that stretch, and often wish I were around back then. Airplanes recently caught my attention from those eras, too, but I know far less about them.
I would love to live a life dedicated to combing over the entire Nikumaroro island & sharing what I find with the people who care most about the matter...but that would take Howard Hughes type freedom, a freedom I don't have. I want to help, and I'm not satisfied with only the TIGHAR membership I got, or a donation. I'm not sure though that I would be accepted among scholars & scientists, with only my kind spirit & passionate obsession, but all I want to do is is trek the island & unearth clues and evidence. I can at least do the grunt work, while I'm young...
