Bovard men killed in World War II remembered with song, street names

Between recorded renditions of “Ragged Old Flag” by Johnny Cash and “God Bless America” by Kate Smith, West Mifflin musician Brian Loosz sang a song that touched home with his audience in Bovard — a tribute to five men from the community who were killed in action in World War II.

Loosz debuted his original song “Keep the Five Alive,” in 2010, when the Hempfield village marked its centennial. He’s returned with his guitar every year to perform it for the Memorial Day ceremony at the Bovard fire station pavilion.

“My father was a Vietnam veteran, so I’ve always had a reverence for our military,” Loosz said.

The five local men who perished in battle eight decades ago are memorialized with a display of their photos in the fire station’s social hall.

• Marine Cpl. Walter Burak, killed Oct. 9, 1942, during a battle on Guadalcanal that came to be called “Bloody Ridge.”

• Army Pvt. Robert E. Price Jr., who died in New Guinea on Dec. 18, 1942. He was awarded the Purple Heart after being shot in the stomach.

• Army Pvt. Kasmir Dziedzickie, killed during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.

• Army Pfc. Mario Prisani, killed in the Battle of Brest in 1944.

• Army Pfc. John I. Thomas, killed during fighting along the Burma Road in 1944.

Some also have Bovard streets renamed in their honor.

Loosz, whose day job for 21 years was working in information technology for the Diocese of Greensburg, learned about Bovard and its World War II losses from a co-worker whose family is a mainstay of the fire department.

“I wanted to write the town a song about the five,” he said, explaining he got inspiration from details about the men’s background and wartime correspondence that were included in a TribLive article.

“I pieced things together, about the soldier’s boots that were wearing off, the dampness and malaria, and that the one guy was going to be a football star,” Loosz said. “I didn’t want to tip anybody off that I was doing it. It was going to be a surprise at Memorial Day that year.”

At subsequent Bovard observances, he has paired the song with another he wrote, “Thank You,” addressed to Vietnam veterans like his father. “It came from them not getting the thanks they deserved.”

In “Keep the Five Alive,” Loosz sings, “Losin’ five sons is a big hit to a small town, so we’re gonna keep the five alive.”

There’s an added urgency in preserving the memory of the sacrifices World War II soldiers from Bovard and other communities made since that generation’s presence is steadily fading.

According to the National Park Service, about 1.25 million Pennsylvanians served in the armed forces in World War II. Fewer than 10,000 were still alive in 2022.

“Please remember all those who have gone before us,” said Frank Saunders, a Bovard native, former firefighter and Army veteran of the Vietnam era who served as master of ceremonies for Monday’s program.

Saunders read a roll call of six local veterans of various eras who have died since last year’s Memorial Day ceremony: Air Force veteran Wayne Lentz, 85; Army veteran John Yagla, 90; Army National Guard veteran Ronald Grace, 87; and Navy veterans Robert Hassinger, 58, Stanley Plonsky, 91, and Charles Debich, 94.

State Rep. Eric Nelson, a Marine veteran and Hempfield native, referred to those who have served in the military, including nearly 200 local veterans of World War I and World War II listed on a monument near the Bovard pavilion.

“It is our duty to ensure the sacrifices made by so many were not in vain,” he said.