War hero Rozga was funeral home director for 60 years
Thomas Rozga knew the Japanese hid whenever observation aircraft flew over the moon-like landscape of Iwo Jima.
The Japanese were shelling American troops at night and the U.S. forces, mostly Marines, were getting killed but couldn’t see in the darkness to accurately aim fire.
So Rozga took his observation plane up one night to direct artillery fire, flying a very narrow area in between landbased artillery and shells fired from Navy ships. He landed with the help of fellow Marines holding flashlights along the runway and was later awarded the first of three Distinguished Flying Crosses.
He survived that mission and lived for another seven decades. Rozga died March 30 of pneumonia in Wauwatosa. He was 95.
“My father wouldn’t send any of his men up because it was crazy,” said his son, John Rozga. “It was night and there was no runway with lights. So he did it himself. He was extremely successful at giving the coordinates. It was the last night the Japanese shelled the American forces at night.”
Rozga enlisted in the Navy the month after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After earning his wings, he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Marines in December 1943, flying a variety of aircraft including the Corsair,
Thomas Rozga
Visitation is from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Rozga Funeral Home, 703 W. Lincoln Ave., followed by a funeral Mass at St. Josaphat Basilica at 11 a.m. TBM Avenger, SBD Dauntless and PBY Catalina. He flew OY-1 Sentinels in Saipan and Tinian before landing at Iwo Jima, where he was commander of Marine Observation Squadron 4 in the 4th Marine Division.
He joined the Army Reserves in 1947 and was sent to Korea, where he flew more observation aircraft, and served during the Cuban missile crisis. He retired as a major in 1969.
Rozga was born in Milwaukee in 1922, the son and grandson of funeral home directors. Rozga joined the family business and spent decades helping people through the loss of a loved one.
“My dad would personally meet with every family. To this day, I run into people who remember when their parents died that my father helped their family. It was wonderful to hear how he helped them,” said John Rozga, a fourth generation funeral director.
Rozga and his wife, Gloria, would have celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary next month.
Survivors include his wife, Gloria, and children, Susan Barrett, Thomas, Melissa Kay Rabe, Mary Ellen, Ann Elise Kryszak and John.