BLACKLICK TOWNSHIP, CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A local World War II veteran is honored in Cambria County for giving the ultimate sacrifice.
Private first class Steve L. Klosz, a former resident of Cambria County, served with the 191st Tank Battalion during World War II.
“This community will always remember the sacrifice that he made,” his nephew Charlie Klosz Kramer said.
On September 11th 1943, during Operation Avalanche, off the coast of Salerno, Italy, Klosz was killed at just 27 years old.
“It’s a very famous location where this occurred. For more than 2,500 years, people have been invading this part of the world on these very same beaches, so there’s a great deal of history, and my uncle is a part of that now,” Kramer said.
On Friday morning, Klosz’s family gathered as the bridge that spans Plank Road over Blacklick Creek was named in his honor.
“I’m glad to see that this community still alive, and the memory of my uncle will continue to live,” Kramer said.
But the bridge and the creek running underneath it have a deeper meaning for the Klosz family.
“This is my roots. When I was a child, I would come and play in this creek. Little did I know,” Kramer shared.
A man who gave his life for his country being remembered in the community that knew him best.