Neal Howell pauses for a photo on the back porch of his home in the Pine Swamp community. Howell recently retired as Roaring Gap post-master.

Neal Howell enjoying retirement from USPS

Neal Howell retired this past summer following a 31-year career with the U.S. Postal Service, almost all of it here in Alleghany.

Howell, who lives just south of Sparta, served with the Army in Vietnam and is one of the veterans recognized during Monday's Veterans Day celebration at Alleghany High School.

He had been postmaster at the Roaring Gap post office since 1995. Born and raised in Alleghany, Howell met his wife Amy at the local skating rink, then located where Glass Unlimited is now. "I picked her up off the floor of the skating rink," he recalled. "She fell one night and I helped her up, and we started dating." Mrs. Howell works part-time at Betty's Dollar Mart. The couple have been married for 36 years; they have one son, Matthew, who is a junior at Alleghany High School.

Neal Howell was drafted the year after they married. Following basic training at Fort Bragg, he spent a year in Vietnam, from September 1968 until September 1969. He was an artillery surveyor there. "Our job was to make sure we knew the coordinates where the artillery piece was setting. It's basically about the same as land surveying, that's what it is," he explained.

"Of course, they're a whole lot more accurate now than they were then." He did not see much combat action.

"I was one of the fortunate ones," he remarked.

After Vietnam, Howell finished his two years in the military with six months at Fort Knox, Ky.

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