Eugene “Jack” Kraszewski enlisted within the Military after he turned 18 and joined the 553rd Air Protection Battalion of the ninth Infantry Division on March 1, 1943.
He landed on Utah Seaside on D-Day and later participated within the Battle of the Bulge.
The Battle of the Bulge was the final main German assault throughout World Warfare II in December 1944. Its objective was to separate the Allied forces within the Ardennes area, but it surely in the end failed, inflicting heavy losses to Germany and laying the muse for the Allies’ closing victory.
As a result of army service, Kraszewski was unable to finish his senior 12 months of highschool.
Final week, nevertheless, the now 100-year-old veteran Been proposed Honors Excessive College Diploma from Pulaski Group College District.
World Warfare II veteran Jack Kraszewski receives diploma
It is exceptional that Jack Kraszewski obtained his highschool diploma 81 years after he was drafted into the Military throughout World Warfare II.
Earlier this 12 months, the Pulaski group got here collectively for a parade to commemorate his service and what would have been his a hundredth birthday. Kraszewski drove a World Warfare II-era jeep by way of the streets.
“Phrases cannot describe how a lot I find it irresistible,” Kraszewski mentioned parading. “So many individuals got here to see me.”
He additionally recalled to reporters the hazards he confronted whereas preventing for the USA in Europe.
“We’ll shoot down strafing plane, low-flying plane,” he mentioned. “As a result of our artillery was 40 mm, 50 caliber, we could not hit the bombers.”
“We’re in humid, twenty-four-seven climate.”
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D-Day additionally visited France
Jack Kraszewski additionally returned to France with different veterans to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of D-Day.
Months after D-Day, he entered France, NBC 26 Reporting from Northeast Wisconsin. After the march, he recalled being reunited together with his father when he returned house from struggle.
“I walked into the home and yelled ‘Is anybody house?’ and my dad stood up and it was a pleasant reunion,” he mentioned.
Kraszewski returned to work on the cheesemaker, the place he finally met his spouse and began a household.
He mentioned he wasn’t positive what the key to longevity was, however suspected it concerned some assist from above.
“I do not know, the man upstairs took care of me,” he mentioned.
Now the group is taking good care of he.