I spent this afternoon at a funeral home, the viewing for my wife's uncle. Fittingly on Memorial Day, a funeral for a war hero. To be laid to rest tomorrow....... RIP Uncle Tim.
TIMOTHY REZA |
Korean War POW never boasted of valor
Sept. 3, 1933 - May 25, 2017
By Chris Potter
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
There are acts of courage that you read about in newspapers, and then there are those that no one ever hears. Timothy Reza, who died May 25 at age 83, could boast of both kinds — if the Korean war veteran and former POW ever boasted at all. “If people thanked him for his service, he’d appreciate it, but he never talked about the war,” said Mr. Reza’s daughter, Cindie Reza, of East McKeesport. “My mom wanted him to have a [commemorative] license plate, but he didn’t want it.”
Born in McKeesport on Sept. 3, 1933, Mr. Reza was a private in the 24th Infantry Division when North Korean troops invaded South Korea in June 1950. (Mr. Reza was just 16 at the time: According to family lore, his daughter said, a priest helped change his age to 18 on records.)
Stationed in Japan, the 24th was the first to fight in Korea, and despite being illequipped and outnumbered, it delayed the North Korean advance long enough for reinforcements to arrive. But it suffered heavy casualties, and military records show Mr. Reza was captured July 12 in the battle of Chochiwon. That fall, he was among POWs who were forced on a 100-mile march under a brutal North Korean officer American troops called “The Tiger.” “We’d go long distances on very little food and water,” recalled Wilbert “Shorty” Estabrook, a fellow POW who established a “Tiger Survivors” veterans group. Those who fell behind were shot by their captors, and “even the ones
that died had to be carried until the North Koreans told us to lay them down.” By war’s end, over half of the original 835 captives had died — often from malnutrition, abuse, and frigid weather. Some 200 men died in a single winter, Mr. Estabrook said, “And because of the frozen ground, we
couldn’t bury them.” But Mr. Reza “was strong, and he helped a lot of people along the way,” Mr. Estabrook said. Whether it was chopping firewood or carrying a wounded POW, “He always did his part. He was very well liked.” Mr. Reza would not be released until August 1953, a month after an armistice was signed. In the following years, Cindie Reza recalled, “My father would never talk about what he went through. But he’d have nightmares.” There were joys as well,she said, as in 1965, when Mr. Reza married Norma Jean DiGiorgio. “My dad asked my mom to dance, and they were dancing ever since. They’d always go to oldies dances, and they loved to travel,” especially
to Las Vegas. “What he liked most was just the lights and the people — the action.” “I used to call him Timmy-baby. He was a good kid,” recalled 96-year-old Clifford W. Flegal Sr., who remembered Mr. Reza as an active volunteer for their chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and as a good-natured friend. “He was a dyed-in-thewool Democrat, while I was a Republican,” Mr. Flegal
recalled. “We’d argue like crazy, but we were still the best of friends.” Mr. Reza worked as a crane operator in U.S. Steel’s Irvin works, a job he held for 36 years. Here too his bravery was unexpectedly called upon on May 29, 1984, when a fellow crane operator, Alan Hribal, was trapped by an electrical fire in his crane’s cab, 40 feet in the air. “Tim pulled his crane up against mine, and climbed over the bridge” between them, Mr. Hribal recalled. “He dragged me out of one crane and into the other. There was no way anyone else could have gotten to me.” The Steelworkers union
gave Mr. Reza an Award for Industrial Valor for the rescue. “He was the love of my life,” Cindie Reza said, “and he always will be.” In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Reza is survived by his brother Augustine of White Oak, his sister Catherine Dunbar of McKeesport, his son Timothy
of Scott, and two grandchildren. Friends and family will be received on Memorial Day at the Forgie-Snyder Funeral Home in East McKeesport; a Tuesday funeral service, with military honors, will begin at 11 a.m. Tuesday in North Versailles’ Grandview Cemetery.
TIMOTHY REZA |
Korean War POW never boasted of valor
Sept. 3, 1933 - May 25, 2017
By Chris Potter
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
There are acts of courage that you read about in newspapers, and then there are those that no one ever hears. Timothy Reza, who died May 25 at age 83, could boast of both kinds — if the Korean war veteran and former POW ever boasted at all. “If people thanked him for his service, he’d appreciate it, but he never talked about the war,” said Mr. Reza’s daughter, Cindie Reza, of East McKeesport. “My mom wanted him to have a [commemorative] license plate, but he didn’t want it.”
Born in McKeesport on Sept. 3, 1933, Mr. Reza was a private in the 24th Infantry Division when North Korean troops invaded South Korea in June 1950. (Mr. Reza was just 16 at the time: According to family lore, his daughter said, a priest helped change his age to 18 on records.)
Stationed in Japan, the 24th was the first to fight in Korea, and despite being illequipped and outnumbered, it delayed the North Korean advance long enough for reinforcements to arrive. But it suffered heavy casualties, and military records show Mr. Reza was captured July 12 in the battle of Chochiwon. That fall, he was among POWs who were forced on a 100-mile march under a brutal North Korean officer American troops called “The Tiger.” “We’d go long distances on very little food and water,” recalled Wilbert “Shorty” Estabrook, a fellow POW who established a “Tiger Survivors” veterans group. Those who fell behind were shot by their captors, and “even the ones
that died had to be carried until the North Koreans told us to lay them down.” By war’s end, over half of the original 835 captives had died — often from malnutrition, abuse, and frigid weather. Some 200 men died in a single winter, Mr. Estabrook said, “And because of the frozen ground, we
couldn’t bury them.” But Mr. Reza “was strong, and he helped a lot of people along the way,” Mr. Estabrook said. Whether it was chopping firewood or carrying a wounded POW, “He always did his part. He was very well liked.” Mr. Reza would not be released until August 1953, a month after an armistice was signed. In the following years, Cindie Reza recalled, “My father would never talk about what he went through. But he’d have nightmares.” There were joys as well,she said, as in 1965, when Mr. Reza married Norma Jean DiGiorgio. “My dad asked my mom to dance, and they were dancing ever since. They’d always go to oldies dances, and they loved to travel,” especially
to Las Vegas. “What he liked most was just the lights and the people — the action.” “I used to call him Timmy-baby. He was a good kid,” recalled 96-year-old Clifford W. Flegal Sr., who remembered Mr. Reza as an active volunteer for their chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and as a good-natured friend. “He was a dyed-in-thewool Democrat, while I was a Republican,” Mr. Flegal
recalled. “We’d argue like crazy, but we were still the best of friends.” Mr. Reza worked as a crane operator in U.S. Steel’s Irvin works, a job he held for 36 years. Here too his bravery was unexpectedly called upon on May 29, 1984, when a fellow crane operator, Alan Hribal, was trapped by an electrical fire in his crane’s cab, 40 feet in the air. “Tim pulled his crane up against mine, and climbed over the bridge” between them, Mr. Hribal recalled. “He dragged me out of one crane and into the other. There was no way anyone else could have gotten to me.” The Steelworkers union
gave Mr. Reza an Award for Industrial Valor for the rescue. “He was the love of my life,” Cindie Reza said, “and he always will be.” In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Reza is survived by his brother Augustine of White Oak, his sister Catherine Dunbar of McKeesport, his son Timothy
of Scott, and two grandchildren. Friends and family will be received on Memorial Day at the Forgie-Snyder Funeral Home in East McKeesport; a Tuesday funeral service, with military honors, will begin at 11 a.m. Tuesday in North Versailles’ Grandview Cemetery.
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