November 2025 Lights of Peace Flag to Honor The Memory of S1C Alfred D. Rosa WWII Navy Veteran

During the month of November, the 74th Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of Seaman First Class Alfred D. Rosa, of New Bedford, a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a diver aboard the USS Mainstay, a mine sweeper during WWII.

Alfred Delgado Rosa was born in Philadelphia, PA, the son of the late Professor Adolph Delgado Rosa and Eva (Rittle) Rosa. He lived in New Jersey before moving to New Bedford in 1972.

Alfred served as a U.S. Navy S1C (Seaman First Class) diver aboard the USS Mainstay, an Admirable-class minesweeper. Minesweepers were used during WWII to clear mines from sea lanes to protect warships and merchant shipping, as well as clearing a path so warships could engage in battle or launch amphibious landing assets, according to Britannica.com.

According to Rosa’s daughter, Sandra (Rosa) Silva, her dad was stationed in Okinawa, Japan and at one point performed minesweeping in Hawaii, just days prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. She explained that her dad had already completed his mission and had left Hawaii before the attack, returning to Okinawa.

During WWII, 1,316 Axis ships were sunk and 540 were damaged by mines. The U.S. and their allies lost 1,118 vessels to mines. According to Britannica.com, “Hundreds of minesweepers were used to clear the tens of thousands of mines left floating in the world’s sea lanes after the end of WWII.”

Alfred Rosa was honorably discharged and received the American Campaign Medal and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal for his military service.

After completing his military duty, he lived in Newark, NJ where he attended the College of Dental Technology. He was then employed by Western Electric as a Relay Inspector. In January of 1948 he married Beatrice (Defeste) Rosa at which time he joined the American Legion Post 107 in Hoboken, New Jersey and worked as a polling officer during elections. Their daughter, Sandra, was born in 1951 in Jersey City, NJ. His wife Beatrice passed in 1966 and Rosa remarried in 1971 to Deonilda M. “Deo” (Santos) Rosa.

Alfred moved his family to New Bedford in 1972 where they resided in Harborview Towers. He worked as a security guard at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Park, according to his

daughter, Sandra. In 1975, while working in the guard shack, Rosa sustained severe injuries when a drunk driver collided with the shack, pinning Rosa to the wall. His daughter explained that her dad was lucky that another guard was on duty that night, or her dad would most likely have died from his injuries before receiving help.

In the 1980’s, he was employed by Morse Twist Drill as a security guard. Alfred died January 28, 2011, at the age of 89.

Artifacts from Rosa’s WWII service are on display at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum, including photos and medals.

Alfred Rosa is survived by his daughter, Sandra (Rosa) Silva, of Wareham; his two grandchildren: Regina Silva of New Bedford and Melissa (Silva) Nascimento and her husband René of Wareham; 4 great-grandchildren: Desmond and Jayden Nascimento and Jasmine and Josiah Williams; and several nieces and nephews.