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| Wedding picture of Pvt. Edward Michalski and his wife Evelyn. Their son's name was Gerald Edward. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=38693404&PIpi=62502411 |
Edward P. Michalski never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on June 26, 1917 in Minnesota. His mother was also born in Minnesota while his father was born in Wisconsin. All four of his grandparents came from the Polish area of what was then part of Germany. His father worked as a machine shop woodworker and later an ice fruit truck driver. Edward had one older sister, two younger sisters, and one younger brother. By 1940 Edward was also working as a truck driver while living at home with his parents. He had completed two years of high school. Ed married his wife Evelyn sometime after the 1940 census. They had one son.
He enlisted in the army on October 30, 1943. He would ultimately serve as a private in Company K, 3rd Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division (Nicknamed "Blue and Gray"). However, when Pvt. Michalski joined the army, the 29th Infantry was already in England so he did not land on Omaha Beach with the 175th Infantry Regiment on D-Day.
The Blue and Gray lost 742 dead and nearly 3,000 wounded during the Normandy invasion through the month of June 1944. Pt. Michalski probably joined his division after D-Day as a replacement. He fought in the Battle of St. Lo during July. Pvt. Michalski, and 41 other GIs from the 29th Infantry Division, died on the day the town was captured -- July 17, 1944.
His grave is at St. Mary's Cemetery, Winona, Minnesota. His widow remarried after Edward died. She died in 1998. If his son is still living, he would be in his mid-seventies.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
To mark having over 100,000 visits to my project to honor the fallen of WW2 on their 100th birthdate, I created this video to share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
I loved a brother I barely knew.
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