Former Greyhound Driver Reflects on a Life of Miles, Memories and Military Honors
After driving more than three million miles with Greyhound, Somerton native, Don Byers, recently reflected on a career that took him across the country, driving celebrities and military service members, and earning awards.
Byers, who turned 91 in June, lives on East Walnut Street in Barnesville where mementos of his late wife, his brothers’ military memorabilia and his own stack of awards from Greyhound abound. He remains close to his four children and 16 grandchildren.
Byers was born in 1934 in Centerville to Robert “Bob” and Hazel Wilson Byers joining a sister, Virginia, and four brothers Roland, Kenneth, Robert and Bill. His father, a Somerton native, served as school superintendent at Smith Township High School at that time. When he was five, the family moved to Somerton when his father took over the reins of Somerset Township High School.
Brothers’ Military Service
Roland enlisted in the Army Air Corp during WWII where he was a navigation specialist stationed in Europe. Roland navigated 43 missions over Germany as a B-17 Navigator. He received nine Distinguished Flying Cross with Cluster awards. He retired from the military as Lieutenant Colonel.
Kenneth went to Texas to train as a fighter pilot after graduating from Somerton High School in 1942. Unfortunately, Kenneth could not be a fighter pilot because he was too tall. Instead, he piloted the B-24 bombers. He flew 12 missions during the latter part of WWII. He retired and taught aeronautics at Kent State University.
Robert attended The Ohio State University and became part of the ROTC Program. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. He flew B-47s out of the Rickenbacker Air Base in Columbus.
Bill enlisted in the Army after graduating. He was stationed in Kentucky at Fort Knox where he was a part of the armored division and stayed stateside during his military career. He left the service as a Corporal.
Byers, the youngest of the brothers, graduated from Barnesville High School in 1952. He attended Somerton High School up through his junior year when it was closed.
Byers married his high school sweetheart, Ramona Byers, who was two years younger. Byers heard through the grapevine that Ramona said, “I’m going to marry one of those Somerton boys,” which was exactly what she did. They were married for 65 years and had four children before she died in 2020. Byers called her “special.”
Although Byers wanted to be an airline pilot, his career kept him on land, opposite from his brothers.
Byers started work at the foundry in Barnesville but got laid off. His wife worked at Kroger’s in Barnesville. He knew he needed to get a job because he had three children to feed at the time.
Storied Greyhound Career
He attended professional driving school, and then started working for Greyhound where he drove charter buses for 30 years. He began his career in 1960 and worked until he retired in 1990. During those years, the family lived in Johnstown, just north of Columbus.
Byers worked long hours, sometimes up to 70 a week, driving many celebrities, including Conway Twitty, The Ohio State Football Team, Woody Hayes, and Eartha Kitt. He even drove the United States Secret Service when President Richard Nixon visited Ohio.
Byers got to travel the country as well. He drove charter buses to Knoxville, Gatlinburg and Nashville, TN, St. Louis, MO, Buffalo, Lake Placid and Rochester, NY, Baltimore, MD, Boston, MA, Harrisburg, Hershey and Philadelphia, PA and Washington D.C., as well as Quebec and Montreal, Canada.
His hard work and dedication to Greyhound did not go unnoticed. Byers received many awards for his safe and courteous driving. He received a patch for 29 years of safe driving. A Greyhound friend gave him a 30-year-patch because he was just shy the goal when he retired.
He earned the Silver Stripe Award, which was for 25 years of safe driving. He also earned a special necktie that very few drivers receive. Byers won driver of the month in August 1985 and driver of the year in 1986. He received three gold watches during his time with the company. Byers said he was requested a lot by passengers and organizations due to his safe driving.
One of the most memorable and dangerous moments of his career happened with an attempted hijacking. A man pulled a knife on Byers because the attempted hijacker wanted the bus to go to Dayton instead of the Cleveland to Columbus route Byers was on. He pulled the bus over to the side of the road during the altercation catching the attention of a patrolman from the Mansfield State Patrol Post.
“I told the patrolman the guy can have the bus, but I want the people,” Byers declared.
It was a rainy and muddy day and the wanted felon did not go down without a fight. Byers and the patrolman were able to subdue him.
“He didn’t want to go peacefully,” Byers said. “We were getting muddy and between the two of us the patrolman handcuffed him.”
After the incident, Byers and the patrolman received an award recognizing their heroic acts.
“Flying”- A Byers’ Brothers Trait
Although Byers’s career took him miles and miles across the country on land, his passion was in the air.
Byers said he always wanted to be an airline pilot. After his retirement from Greyhound, he worked at the airport in Columbus for a year.
Byers did own a couple of airplanes in his life for personal use. He learned how to fly, obtained his license, and fulfilled his dream.
Byers Brothers Recognized
Byers transported thousands of service members throughout his Greyhound career, a contribution that led former State Representative Don Jones to say Byers deserved to be considered a veteran.
In June 2023, Byers and several family members joined Jones on SR 800 in Somerset Township between Barnesville and Somerton for the dedication of Byers Memorial Highway honoring the achievements and valor of the Byers boys.
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