About 30 years ago I met Dave Ozuna while teaching skiing at Mt. Spokane. He was in his late 60s and a new instructor hire. I have to admit he was not the greatest skier, but he had great enthusiasm. He worked hard to become a good skier and instructor and continued to teach until age 93. He stopped skiing completely 3 years ago.

Dave also became friends with Ron Vierra, another long-time ski instructor, and together the three of us began to free ski more frequently as the years went by.

As I said, Dave was not the most accomplished skier, but he more than earned his on-mountain nick name, “Rocket Man.” He always skied with wild abandon, even though he was frequently close to out of control. On one beautiful spring day in the 1990s, the ski school director decided it would be fun for us instructors to race in a double slalom course set below the cat track above Chair 3. As luck would have it, I was paired with Dave even though he was about 20 years my senior. Needless to say he left me in the dust to great cheering from the others. It turns out Dave had begun competitive racing on the amateur Master Series at age 70, and had a lot of practice. I didn’t know whether to be humiliated or just enjoy his success.

Also, in his “retirement” Dave took up ballroom dancing and became a certified ski race course setter and traveled all over the west to help set up race courses.

So, who was Dave Ozuna? Here is what I do know about him.

Dave was born in New Mexico, and went through high school there. He enrolled in college there, but at the beginning of WWII he and a good friend enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He wanted to be a fighter pilot. After he finished basic training he went on leave to visit his girlfriend but his friend didn’t leave the base. While Dave was gone, the time to announce what line of further training the recruits wanted to follow occurred. But Dave was not there, so his friend signed the two of them up for training in cargo planes. When Dave returned he was not happy, but he was stuck.

A rather humorous aside concerned his physical size. He really didn’t meet the height requirement to be a pilot, but the shortage was so great they relaxed the standards. In order to see everything he needed to in the airplane cockpit, he placed his flight log book on his seat for elevation.

In hindsight, Dave realized that flying cargo planes was a better course to follow because it led to a much longer career. His stint as a fighter pilot would have ended at the end of WWII, but he was able to stay for a long career piloting in WWII, the Korean conflict, and Vietnam. During his flying days he flew cargo all over the world and was able to spend time and make friends everywhere he went.

Dave didn’t talk too much about his service but he and Ron told me about some of his adventures.

During WWII he spent some time delivering supplies to the Chinese Nationalist Army, which was fighting the Japanese. These flights originated in India and required flying over the Himalayas. To complete these missions he had to fly at night as the Japanese controlled the air space during the day. At that time, these cargo planes did not have radar so they had to navigate by compass. And at the last minute before landing, follow a radio beacon signal until the landing field was briefly illuminated. After several night flights Dave was required to make an emergency delivery during the day. When he saw where the landing strip was, he was quite anxious. The descent was in a narrow valley between two very large mountains and if they missed their approach by only a few degrees they would have hit one of them. Fortunately they always made it.

Dave told me he never knew what cargo he was going to have to deliver. One time it was mules, another time gasoline, and another time artillery shells and ammunition. It certainly was never safe.

While he was flying out of India, he made friends with a wealthy Indian who would invite him over and cook him dinner. Dave still enjoyed an evening out for an Indian meal on occasion in Spokane.

Towards the end of his career, Dave transitioned into management on the ground. As such, he was transferred to Payne Field in Western Washington and made acting Base Commander awaiting promotion to Full Colonel. However he was later denied that promotion because all his military records had been destroyed in a fire somewhere, and someone in the bureaucracy decided since they couldn’t prove his actual service, they couldn’t promote him. After he was notified he got angry and resigned his commission and left the Air Force.

During his flying career Dave received several medals including the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an areal flight.
After retirement, Dave went back to college, received a Master’s degree, and became a teacher.

Dave had a son who I met sometime in the late 1980s or early ’90s. I found out at his memorial service he had other children but he never talked about them with me and apparently, they didn’t visit often.

Sometime after his retirement, Dave met and married a lady named Sue who I met several times at social events—usually at Ron Vierra’s home or at restaurants. About 4-5 years ago, Dave and Sue sold their house and moved to a retirement facility, and about a year after that Sue past away.

Twice in the past 20 years or so, the Chinese Government honored all the WWII “Hump Pilots” that helped them in their fight against the Japanese. As part of the celebrations, the group, including Dave and Sue, were flown to Beijing, given tours, attended a large state dinner, and I believe some sort of award for their service.

I find it interesting the local Spokane news media and public television is either not aware of Dave’s illustrious military career and the way the Chinese government has honored it, or simply ignored it. I did write to the local public television station but received no reply.

In his final years, Dave began to fail both physically and emotionally. He fell down some stairs and his hearing deteriorated. It was sad to see such a vibrant person go downhill, but I guess that is the fate we all face.

In December 2022, Dave passed away. There is some disagreement about his age. I have heard 99 or 100, and Ron says he has proof Dave was 102 when he died.

Whatever his actual age, he made the most of his time here.

Last evening the Mount Spokane Ski School instructors, friends, and mountain staff celebrated David’s life with a torchlight parade from the top of Chair 3 to the ski school building. I felt honored to be part of it. Rest in peace my friend.

Ken Kaiyala
3-9-2023