Winston M. Roche; L.A. City Engineer, Decorated Veteran

Winston M. Roche, a former Los Angeles city engineer and World War I veteran whose wartime exploits earned American and French military decorations, has died of natural causes. He was 95.

Relatives said Roche, a North Hollywood resident, died Thursday at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Roche joined the U.S. Army at 17 and became a combat engineer in a joint American, British and French division. For helping a wounded French soldier reach an aid station, Roche received the Croix de Guerre .

In addition, he was awarded the Purple Heart and campaign medals representing his participation in battles at the Aisne-Marne, Chateau-Thierry, St. Mihiel and the Argonne forest.

He left the service with the rank of second lieutenant. In 1987, the French awarded him the Legion of Honor, in recognition of the 70th anniversary of America’s entry into the war.

Roche was hit with mustard gas in the trenches at St. Mihiel. Part of a finger was torn off by a machine-gun bullet that also entered his side and struck his rib during an attack by the Germans at Aisne-Marne. He spent 42 days fighting in the Argonne forest.

He returned home in 1918, his lungs and eyes burned by the deadly gas.

“It burned our eyes so bad, we had to be led by hand to a field hospital. I was only 19 and I thought I was done for,” Roche said in a 1991 interview.

Because of the poor treatment he and other veterans received when they returned home, Roche lobbied Congress “for hospitalization, schooling, and a chance to buy a home or farm” for veterans, he said in the interview.

“When we came home, there were no hospitals to go to, no jobs,” he said. “We were given $60 and put on a train. We were on our own.” Veterans’ work led to the GI Bill that benefited World War II veterans.

Roche finally received a hero’s welcome home in 1991 when he rode in Hollywood’s Desert Storm Parade.

“It’s the greatest honor in my life, being in the Hollywood parade honoring veterans--especially those returning from the gulf,” Roche said.

After the war, he obtained an engineering degree from UC Berkeley and later worked as a civil engineer for the Department of Water and Power on the Los Angeles Aqueduct. He also worked for the city’s Parks and Recreation department, surveying many local trails and roads, including those in Griffith Park.

After retiring in 1968, he served on the governor’s Board on Aging and often lectured local college and high school students about his war experiences. He was also active in a number of veterans groups and was a volunteer at the Sepulveda VA hospital.

At the time of his death, Roche was commander of the California department of the Veterans of WWI. He was one of 36,000 remaining survivors of the 5 million soldiers who served in World War I.

Roche is survived by his wife, Elsie Roche; sons, Richard and Phillip, and five grandchildren.

The family has planned a memorial service next Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Patriotic Hall Auditorium, at 1816 S. Figueroa St. The family requests that donations be sent to the American Heart Assn. in lieu of flowers.