Sgt. Joseph S. "Joe" Kowalski  

Mil#  31042716

Enlisted: 24 March 1941, Hartford, CT

C. Company 643rd TD BN.

 

 

 

 

Born: 3 May 1918      Place: Newark, NJ

Died: 25 September 1999   Place: Old Saybrook, CT 

Buried: Riverside Cemetery, Old Saybrook, CT

 

Wife: Anne Kowalski (Dower)    Married: 18 June 1955 

Children: Joseph and Peter 

 

Father: John Kowalski    Mother: Sophie Kowalski (Huk)

Siblings: Adam, August, Leo, Thadeus, John, Louis, Angela, Mary, Dorothy, Eleanor, and Alice 

 

 

Awards

 

            Bronze Star Medal  -  Purple Heart  -  Good Conduct Medal  -  American Defence Service Medal

 

                                                                                                               

 

European African Middle Eastern Service Medal

Battle Stars"Ardennes-Rhineland-Central Europe"

 
 
 

E-Mail and Picture received November 28, 2010

Ben

 

Thank you -  Yes I was curious about the Netherlands website address then I read the article about you in Providence Journal on your website. 

I have a picture of my  Dad in his dress army uniform that I can reproduce or scan and send you.  My mom will look for additional pictures at her home in Connecticut. 

I will try to write something about his experience based on my recollection of his stories I will run it by my Brother and Mother too.

I have forwarded your email from Robert Tierney's son to my Mother to see if she recognizes the name.

 

Thank you again for your interest in the 643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion.

 Peter Kowalski

 

 
 
E_Mail from Peter Kowalski

My father was a Gun Commander of a Half Track (un-armored) equipped with a .50 caliber machine gun.  My father said that his Half Track took a direct hit from a German Tank. He was wounded and hospitalized in Belgium in January 1945.  He spoke of listening to the German "buzz bomb" attacks from his hospital bed.

He was discharged from the army in San Luis Obispo, California in Sept 1945.  He also talked about hitchhiking from California back to New England with some army buddies. One of my biggest regrets in my life was not video taping/interviewing my Dad about his experiences growing up in the Great Depression and serving in WWII.

  

 

Joe behind M32 Tank Recovery Vehicle (Picture: Randi Loncle)

 

 

 

Pictures (under) received from Peter Kowalski, son of Joseph "Big Joe" Kowalski.

 
 

 

Top