2nd Lieutenant Henry Kowalczyk
Today we honor and remember 2nd Lieutenant Henry Kowalczyk of the 101st Airborne Division.
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2nd Lieutenant (2LT) Henry Kowalczyk of Able Battery, 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion (GFAB), 101st Airborne Division, was born on February 25, 1919.
He graduated from Cumberland Township High School with the class of 1937 after which he was employed by the Crucible Fuel Company. On February 6, 1942, he married Margaret Allen at Winchester, Virginia.
Henry Kowalczyk entered the service at Fayette, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, on March 21, 1942. He was first stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where he succeeded to attain the enlisted rank of sergeant. He then attended the Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and after successfully going through the program he was commissioned a second lieutenant on June 24, 1943.
2LT Kowalczyk was assigned to the 321st GFAB and trained with them at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort George Mead, Maryland, before he travelled overseas. Lieutenant Kowalczyk left the U.S. on September 5, 1943, when he boarded the S.S. Samaria at New York Harbor.
After first fighting the Germans in Normandy, he was brought into the Netherlands by his glider plane on September 19, 1944. Three days later, while the 321st provided artillery support to the other divisional units who were fighting the enemy at Veghel, he was mortally wounded in battle. While leading his men in an infantry advance aimed at achieving a position where he could better observe and adjust fire on the enemy, he was fatally struck by German mortar fire.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
For his actions, 2LT Henry Kowalczyk was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart Medal. Besides his parents, he left behind his wife, Mrs. Margaret (Allen) Kowalczyk, a son named Henry, three brothers and five sisters.
After initially being buried in an American temporary cemetery facility in Europe, he was returned home almost five years later. Lieutenant Kowalczyk was reburied at Greene County Memorial Park, Morgan Township, Green County, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, April 10, 1949.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Henry. Rest in peace, sir.
Lest we forget. 🇺🇸