A distinguished military career honored
Former Naperville resident, Col. John R. “Jack” Roche, USAF, Ret., will be laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA at 11AM, March 24, 2008.
Roche, age 90, a resident of West Palm Beach, FL, died November 4, 2007, at the Good Samaritan Medical Center.
“Jack lived with Bob and me and our girls in a small Shiffler apartment near the train station after he came home from the war,” e-mailed Mae Roche Raymond, Jack’s sister who still lives in Naperville. “He became one of the first investors in John Case's Pfiester Feeds on Ogden Avenue. He made many friends in Naperville during those years between wars. In his last years with the Air Force he was Commander of Hickam Field in Hawaii.”
Roche was born on March 24, 1917, attended St. Ambrose College, named his bombers after St. Ambrose, and was a real war hero. His correspondence with John O'Donnell was published in the Quad City Times during the war and later resulted in a book called Dear John, which was a collection of wartime letters.
Obituary published in the Palm Beach Post stated: “A veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, Colonel John ‘Packy’ Roche began his military career as a pilot with the Army Air Corp in 1941. He was a pilot with the first squadron of B24s to depart from North America for the European Conflict and later joined the North African campaign with the 8th Air Force, 93rd Bomb Group.
“As an original member of the famed 93rd Bomb Group, Col. Roche survived being shot down twice and was awarded numerous service medals that included 2 Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Cross. The Distinguished Service Cross was awarded for the low level bombing run over Ploesti, Romania, arguably the toughest air battle of WWII. Late in the war, he was recruited to work on the highly secretive Manhattan Project.
"In 1946, he participated in the nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll. During his 30-years in the Air Force, he served as a commander of numerous air bases around the world and was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon.”
He retired from his military career in 1970. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Patricia M. Roche of West Palm Beach, FL, five children, and numerous members of his extended family.
---Mae Roche Raymond, Naperville, IL, February 18, 2008
Posts
**
My view out the window is so beautiful, and my excuse for not getting much done! You can see part of the horse trail in our valley, which is "greenspace" for hikers and horseback riders.
My Uncle Jack Roche was buried in Arlington Cemetery in Washington, DC this week. Last spring we celebrated his 90th birthday with a great party in West Palm, Florida. I was the flower girl in his wedding to Aunt Pat in 1950 before he headed off again to the Korean War. The following is an article from the Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa:
Veterans of World War II are fading fast. We are losing them at a daily rate of about 1,135, the Veterans Administration says. There will be 414,000 deaths this year. All are heroes, but Col. Jack Roche was one of Davenport’s most notable.He was proud of all his honors and medals, but he carried a favorite in his billfold. Jack Roche was the first service person to be issued a “Dear Joe Club” membership card.The club was the brainchild of the late John O’Donnell, sports editor of the Democrat & Leader. In 1942, he began printing letters from service people in lieu of his Sunday column. It grew to two full news pages of letters. Service people who wrote — and those who didn’t — were mailed membership cards to O’Donnell’s Dear Joe Club. Every service person was “Dear Joe” to O’Donnell. Thousands of cards were mailed, ending up in foxholes and on flight decks. The club drew national attention.Col. Roche is a saga of guts and fame, a subject of Associated Press stories. After one raid, and while still a second lieutenant, he met Winston Churchill. The British prime minister had just finished a speech, thanking “Young America for coming to the support of Mother England.”He piloted 40 missions, losing two B-24s, both of them affectionately named “Ambrose,” because St. Ambrose College was his alma mater. Once, after Ambrose was shot up by Germans, Roche made a dead-stick landing in Algiers. Two engines were gone and three crew members dead. The plane broke its back in landing, but Roche’s piloting skill was able to save the rest of the crew and himself.
You are invited to Horse Power Farm for a Halloween Drill Team Event on Saturday, October 20th. Please gather for appetizers and Halloween Cheer at 4 PM before the 5 PM musical presentation.
