WWII veteran Herbert Rosenberg, dead at 102

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Herbert Rosenberg, a World War II veteran, and longtime Rockville Centre resident, died at his home on Cleveland Avenue on May 25, 2023, at the age of 102. He is remembered fondly by his family, friends, and the community including fellow members of American Legion Post 303.

Born Nov. 6, 1921, to the late Gazella and Joseph Rosenberg, he grew up in the Bronx with his older sister, Thelma, and younger sister, Nadine.

Rosenberg was drafted by the US Army in 1942 where he served in the Air Corps for three years, working his way up to the rank of staff sergeant and becoming the right waist gunner on a B-17 bomber.

He served with the 452nd Bombardment Group in 1944, when their aircraft was shot down by German fighters during a mission over Poznan, Poland, and made a crash landing in Nazi-occupied Denmark. Rosenberg along with members of the crew were captured as prisoners of war and sent to the Stalag Luft 17 prison camp.

He spent 15 months in the camp before the German guards abandoned all prisoners in a forest nearby, where they were eventually rescued by American soldiers and returned home.

He met his future wife, Barbara Ulman, while he was on a road trip to Toronto when his friend’s car broke down in the Catskills. One of his uncles owned a resort in the area, so he decided to go there and that is where he met Ulman, who was staying as a guest.

The two married in 1949 and settled down in the area around the mid-1950s. Together they had three children, Carol, Joan and Robert.

After the war, Rosenberg attended a trade school for pharmacology and went on to open Herbro Pharmacy in nearby East Rockaway, where he continued to work for 25 years before retiring.

Over the years he received many accolades for his wartime contributions. In 2016, he was presented with a prisoner of war medal from the Department of Defense, recognizing his survival in the camp as a Jewish-American soldier. He later received a proclamation from the Village of Rockville Centre in 2021 in recognition of his service and was named Grand Marshal of the Rockville Centre Memorial Day Parade in 2022.

His wife Barbara, who died in 2017, preceded him in death. He is survived by their three kids, 15 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.