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Plane and Pilot Reunion, 65 Years after Iwo Jima

By Jerri Bergen

A  Vultee-built Stinson  Sentinel, L5-B (N5607V) that safely carried a Marine pilot and observer on difficult and treacherous missions during the epic battle of Iwo Jima, was reunited with that pilot 65 years later at Cable Airport.

The L5B, was recently purchased by  Mike & Terri Polley, Bob & Suzanne Cable and Chris & Jerri Bergen, in part because it had combat history, recorded in the airplane’s war diary.  Friend and fellow taildragger pilot Chris Le Favre, in reviewing the airplanes’ documentation, began researching  the combat history of VM04, the Marine Observation unit that this L-5B had been assigned in 1944.  A name that signed many of the daily logs during 1944 and ’45 was  a Lt. Thomas Rozga.  Chris took the additional step of attempting to contact a ‘T. Rozga’, that might've flown L-5Bs during WWII, and more specifically, on Iwo Jima.

Several Rozgas were contacted, and it was only when Thomas Rozga, of Palo Alto, Florida, affirmed that he knew what a ‘Brody System’ was ( a rudimentary carrier landing system once tested by Thomas Rozga using an L-5) that Chris realized he might have found the original combat pilot of this L-5.

After confirming dates and times, Mr. Rozga accepted an invitation to visit the L-5B at Cable Airport Thursday February 18th, 2010, exactly 65 years after the Iwo Jima invasion began.  Terri Polley painted ‘Lady Satan’ on the L-5 nose (it was already painted in Marine OY-1 colors) after receiving a photo from Mr. Rozga’s son, showing Rozga Sr. leaning against the L-5 with ‘Lady Satan’ nose art.

Tom Rozga, with his two sons Tom and John, spent Thursday at Cable, flying the L-5 with Mike Polley as pilot, and Chris Le Favre flying the Foothill Flying Club Cub Legend, as a photo plane for Frank Mormillo, aviation photographer. A crowd of journalists, photographers and family was present to see Mr. Rozga step into the L-5 once again, and hear some of his recollections of flying the L-5 in combat.

“This was a pretty sturdy bird and easy to fly” Mr. Rozga noted.  “I walked on shore to Iwo Jima two days after the invasion started, with just a .45 on me.”  Mr. Rozga, as CO of VMO4, was tasked with ensuring the runway at Matoyami Airfield, on the southern edge of the island was in suitable shape to land the aircraft from VM03, VM04 and VM05.

At one point during the 39 day engagement, Lt. Rozga was asked to fly a dangerous night mission with the L-5, and observe forward positions of the enemy while US battleships pounded the island with 14 and 16 inch shells.  Rozga took off at midnight, with no weapons, no lights, and just an observer, and slowly flew the beachead at 1700AGL, while shells whistled above and below him onto the island.  Rozga was given a window altitude of 1600-2000 feet and was told he should be ‘safe’ in that range. Two hours later, Rozga landed the airplane on the beach with the help of Marines holding flashlights to guide him away from the water.

Following his debrief with the commanding officer, it was decided that further night missions during the invasion would be too dangerous.  Rozga remembers the tremendous noise, and almost constant red glare in the sky from the blasts of ship’s guns.   The rounds, some almost as big as Volkswagons, were whistling below him, in front, behind and above him as he flew the beach.  He received a Distinguished Flying Cross for this flight.

Tom eventually racked up over 3,000 hours of observation duty in the L-5B,  and the Cessna L-19 ‘Bird Dog’  while in the military, but flew several other aircraft types as well. “The Marines thought if you were a pilot, you should be able to fly anything” said Mr. Rozga.  In addition to observation missions, Rozga transported Marines to forward positions, in Kingfishers, performed sub-chasing missions  in PBYs over the Pacific, perfected formation flying in Corsairs and SBD Dauntless divebombers.

Entering  the Navy in early 1942, Rozga earned his Naval Aviator Cadet Wings by the spring of 1943.   He switched his enlistment to the Marines, where he spent the remainder of the war as a Marine pilot, reaching the rank of 1st Luitenant. Following discharge, Rozga joined the Army Reserves, and in 1947, was activated with the 1st Calvalry and shipped to Japan.

Rozga spent 3 years in Japan, and brought his wife Gloria with him, as well as their young daughter Amy.  Tom Jr. was born in Japan, shortly before Tom Sr. was deployed to Korea. He spent 1951-52 in Korea, performing similar pilot/observation duties, and was sent home in 1952 with the rank of Major.

The military wasn’t done with Rozga yet, however, As a Reservist, Rozga was called to active duty once again in 1960 with the 32d division of the Army National Guard. He spent 2 years in Fort Lewis, Washington as a Executive Air Officer.  Though pressured to remain in the military, Mr. Rozga opted for a discharge in 1962, after 18 years of active service.

Mr. Rozga didn’t have much free time for flying, with the family business and now six children to raise.   He didn’t talk much about his war experiences until he got an unusual phone call from Chris Le Favre.  To say he was surprised when he learned the VM04 L-5B was still flying is an understatement. “I had no idea that little airplane might still exist” he marveled.

During their visit, Mr. Rozga related many fascinating episodes of his military experience with the L-5B. As an Observation aircraft, the pilot and observer carried no weapons, other than his .45 and a bowie knife.  This L-5B also carried a portable stretcher, which Rozga used on numerous occasions to transport wounded soldiers from the front lines to safety, landing and taking off from  plowed fields, shell-cratered runways, dirt roads, and hillsides.  They were shot at numerous times, and one time Rozga’s observer was hit by a bullet in the leg from enemy ground fire.

Rozga remembers conditions on the island as being very rocky and windy.  He remembers that the L-5’s prop took tremendous damage in taking off and landing on the rocky surface.  The unit would change out props almost daily to file down and/or repair the large chips created from rocks hitting the spinning prop.

He also remembers assisting the first B-29 to land on Iwo Jima ’s crater-filled runway at Matoyama Airfield.  A pilot in a crippled B-29 radioed from over the ocean that he needed permission to land. Mr. Rozga informed the pilot of the poor runway conditions, and the pilot replied “ it’s either your runway or I’m landing in the ocean beyond- I’ll take my chances on your runway”.

Rozga and his crew watched the B-29 crash land and assisted the crew in escaping the wreck before it burned.

The Rozga’s  thoroughly enjoyed their stay in Southern California, that included a lunch at Planes of Fame and a recording of Mr. Rozga’s story for the ‘Veteran’s History” recording project (with the help of volunteer Don Baer) and a friendly get-together BBQ at Chuck and Mary’s  hanger 316.  Rozga, his sons, the Polleys, Bergens and Chris Le Favre attended the 65th Annual Iwo Jima Survivor’s banquet at Camp Pendleton, in Oceanside, before Rozga returned to Florida early Sunday, Feb 21st.

His story was picked up by the Milwaulkee Sentinal Journal, a Florida newspaper, and most recently put on Google News. 

And the L-5B? She’ll keep her new/old name ‘Lady Satan’, and we’ll look forward to seeing Mr. Rozga fly in her again…..