Pearl Harbor Survivor List Shrinks By One

A decorated Pearl Harbor survivor later credited with saving the crew of a damaged B-17 bomber will be laid to rest tomorrow in Riverside.

Retired Senior Master Sgt. Louis Roffman of Riverside died on Aug. 10. He was 94.

At 8 a.m. Monday, a funeral procession is planned to transport Roffman's body from Preston and Simons Mortuary to the Riverside National Cemetery, where a burial service is scheduled at 9:30 a.m.

A veterans' motorcycle honor guard will accompany the casket as a tribute to the 31-year military veteran who served in World War II and Korea.

Roffman was the recipient of both the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross, which is awarded for acts of bravery in support of air operations.

The native New Yorker enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps immediately after graduating high school in 1936 and became a flight engineer on B-17s. He was stationed at Hikam Air Field in Hawaii when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941.

Roffman survived the attack uninjured and went on to fight at the Battle of Midway. Soon, he began flying bombing missions out of Australia, targeting Japanese bases in the Dutch East Indies, according to a biography.

During one mission, both his pilot and co-pilot were wounded, and Roffman was forced to land the aircraft himself -- an action that earned him the DFC and a Purple Heart.

He went on to serve in the Korean War and served multiple embassy assignments overseas before rotating back to the United States and retiring in 1968 while stationed at March Air Force Base in Moreno Valley.

Roffman and his late wife Irene owned three bars and a pool hall in Riverside.

He is survived by a niece and three nephews.