Photo courtesy of Roundup Photography On his 100th birthday, Andy Bosko, formerly of Warren County, is surrounded by his children (from left) David Bosko, Thom Bosko, Carol Bosko Cusimano, Donald Bosko, and Andrew Bosko.

Almost 80 years ago, Andy Bosko left his young family in Warren County to serve his country in World War II.

He was just over 20 years old.

This month, Bosko celebrated his 100th birthday surrounded by his five children, Carol, Don, Thom, Andrew, and David, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Bosko grew up on Davey Hill Road. He went to a one-room schoolhouse not far from his home until high school. “Me and my brother Adam hitchhiked to Youngsville High School,” Bosko said.

He graduated in 1939 and worked at National Forge then Montgomery Ward.

Photo courtesy of Roundup Photography Andy Bosko, formerly of Warren County, is surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren on the occasion of his 100th birthday

One of his co-workers at Montgomery Ward asked Bosko if he’d like to go square dancing. He agreed and she said she would be bringing her sister along.

“I didn’t know her sister was the pretty girl with her,” he said.

He ended up marrying that pretty girl — Sophia Tutmaher — in 1942.

She passed away two weeks short of their 75th wedding anniversary in 2017.

Before he went off to war, Andy and Sophia had their first of five children — Carol.

Photo submitted to Times Observer Andy Bosko in his WWII U.S. Army Air Forces uniform.

In the U.S. Army Air Forces, the Air Force did not become its own branch of the military until 1947, leadership discovered Bosko had the aptitude they were looking for. “They wanted to make a pilot out of me,” he said.

Aptitude, yes. Eyesight, no.

“They couldn’t, I had astigmatism,” Bosko said. “They were afraid I was going to shoot down our guys.”

According to David Bosko, his father’s course of study in high school helped him stay out of the line of fire … for the most part.

“When he went to Youngsville, he took bookkeeping and typing,” David Bosko said. “He did that because he didn’t want to be a farmer. His goal was to become a CPA.”

Photo courtesy of Roundup Photography Andy Bosko, formerly of Pittsfield, Chandlers Valley, and Sugar Grove, celebrates his 100th birthday in Lakeland, Fla.

“He took those courses and was a hard worker in the military,” he said.

He was assigned to 7th Fighter Command as the secretary to the brigadier general.

“We escorted the B-29s,” Bosko said. “Over Tokyo, they were shooting too many B-29s.”

To provide cover for the bombers, more than 100 P-47 Thunderbolts would be sent out with the missions, he said.

“I ended up working for the general of the company,” Andy Bosko said.

That didn’t keep him off the beach at Iwo Jima. “It’s the Army … they put you wherever they need you,” he said. “I wasn’t in the invasion but I landed in there before they got it cleared out.”

The invasion started on Feb. 19, he said. In early March, Bosko took a rope ladder from a troop ship to a landing ship, then jumped into 2 feet of water, and slogged to the beach.

“When I first landed on Iwo Jima, I wished I was never there,” Bosko said. “I thought I was never coming back.”

There was little safety to be had once he made it to land.

“I wanted to dig a foxhole,” he said. “The volcanic ash kept falling back in.”

Japanese soldiers continued to make incursions into U.S. camps. Being an assistant to the general did not prevent Bosko from pulling other jobs.

“They always wanted to put me on guard duty,” he said. “When I was a kid on Davey Hill, I had a .22. I used to hunt chipmunks and squirrel.”

“I really was good,” he said. “When I came on range, the sergeant in charge couldn’t believe I could hit the bulls-eye all the time.”

One night on guard duty, he knew a Japanese soldier had been killed the night before after tripping wires set up around the camp. “They had to shoot him,” Bosko said. “The next day, I went on patrol. Something tripped the wires. The flare went up.”

He took aim and fired. He was confident in his shooting — “right between the eyes.”

They went out the next day and discovered Bosko had indeed shot his target between the eyes, but it wasn’t an enemy soldier. “It ended up it was a cat,” he said.

Bosko stayed on Iwo Jima until the end of the war in November. He was shipped home more quickly than most. “The reason I got out so early was I was married and had a child,” he said.

“I figured I did my duty,” Bosko said. “Everyone was supposed to do their duty. I was only 20-some years old, I feel real good that I did it.”

Back in Warren County, Andy and Sophia had four more children. They lived in Chandlers Valley and then Sugar Grove.

David said his father didn’t talk about the war.

“We as kids never saw it,” David said. “He used to have horrible nightmares.”

“I was in kinda bad shape,” Andy said. “I was very shell-shocked. I was shot at so much. I couldn’t talk too much to the kids. I kept quiet.”

Later, he recovered to the point of being able to talk.

One time, when grandchildren were peppering Bosko with questions, David interjected. “Did you shoot anyone during the war?”

“He smiled, and said, ‘Yeah, I did,'” and told his grandchildren about that cat.

Andy and Sophia moved to Florida after he retired from Blackstone in 1983.

They went looking for a winter home, David said. They didn’t come back.

“They went down there their first winter,” he said. “And they said, ‘That’s it, we’re selling our house.'”

Andy is something of a local celebrity.

Don Bosko lives in Lakeland and handles his father’s public relations.

“My brother does a great job,” David said. “He’s very involved in community affairs.”

Don doesn’t have to stay involved after the introductions. “When they talk to my dad, they always fall in love with him,” David said.

He threw out the first pitch at the Detroit Tigers first pre-season game of 2020.

A reporter from the Ledger interviewed him on the occasion of his 100th birthday — “the newspaper came in, took pictures of me” — and Congressman Scott Franklin paid him a personal visit and awarded him a certificate of recognition of his service.

Bosko lives in an assisted living facility.

“He’s pretty independent,” David said. “His meals are done for him, but other than that, he’s on his own.”

Actually, he is seldom on his own. David warned that his father is so busy he would be hard to reach.

Monday afternoon, he was with a group Wii bowling. “I do that every day except Sunday,” he said.

“He’s a ringer,” David said. “He has bowled 300 nine times — both left-handed and right-handed.”

“He broke his shoulder a couple years ago,” he said. “He bounced back. He was in a sling, so he started Wii bowling left-handed.”

He also plays Bingo and joins any outing that folks in the building put on.

How has he remained so active past his 100th birthday?

“I don’t know,” he said. “I try to help everyone. I try to live a good, clean, healthy, and religious life. Just do as things come natural.”