Roger Madison Hartman was born on August 31, 1950, in Roanoke, Virginia. He was the son of Clovis Floyd "Crowbar" Hartman and Fannie Gertrude Hartman. He was married to Beth Garvey Hartman. He served in the Heavy Mortar Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, as a Private First Class and Mortarman during the Vietnam War era.

On August 18, 1971, a U.S. Army CH-47A Chinook (tail number 66-19023) transporting troops from Ludwigsburg to the Grafenwöhr training area crashed near Pegnitz, Germany, when a decommissioned rotor blade was mistakenly reinstalled and failed mid-flight. The aircraft broke apart in the air, killing all 37 aboard, including 33 soldiers and 4 crew members, marking the deadliest peacetime U.S. military accident in
West Germany since World War II.

PFC Hartman was among the passengers on board and now rests at Bandy Cemetery, Roanoke County, Virginia, USA.

Source of information: www.chinook-helicopter.com, www.findagrave.com