Noted Trumbull County WWII veteran Sam Lanza dies

Staff report

WARREN

Samuel E. “Sam” Lanza, 92, a World War II veteran for whom the Trumbull County Veteran Service Commission building on East Market Street downtown was named in 2015, died Saturday at home.

Lanza was a Marine who was injured by an incendiary bomb on Okinawa in 1945, his daughter said in 2015. He nearly lost both legs and an arm as a result of an explosion. He is a member of the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

But Lanza was also honored because he served 18 years on the board of the Veterans Service Commission and had been a member of the Disabled American Veterans since 1951, said Herman K. Breuer, director of the Trumbull County Veterans Service Commission.

Over the years, Lanza helped countless veterans obtain benefits and jobs by helping them obtain things such as work clothing or transportation to an interview, Breuer said.

“When veterans needed help, they would call Sam Lanza,” Breuer said.

Calling hours will be 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Sinchak & Kaszowski Funeral Home and Friday from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. at Bazetta Christian Church (tribute, A5).