Tuesday, April 28, 2020

WW2 Fallen - Steven Pouchak, 210th Coast Artillery, B-25 accident

Pvt. Steven Pouchak served as at Fort Glenn in Alaska during World War II.

Steven Pouchak never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

If you have enjoyed reading the stories of the WW2 fallen, Can you help write some stories? It's a big project. The more help, the better. 
Announcing "The Stories Behind the Stars", see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org.
This crowd-sourced national project has the goal of compiling stories of all 400,000+ of the US World War 2 fallen in one free-to-access central database. 
Anyone visiting a war memorial or gravesite will be able to scan the name of the fallen with a smartphone and his story will appear on the phone.

Steven was born on April 28, 1920 in Chisolm, Minnesota. His parents Harry and Theckla were both born in Poland and immigrated to the US in 1905 and 1910, respectively. His father worked as an iron miner. Steven had two older brothers, one older sister, and two younger brothers. In 1940, Steven had completed two years of high school and was living at home.

He was drafted into the US Army in April 1942 and served as a Private in Battery C of the 210th Coastal Artillery, which was an anti-aircraft unit. In September 1942 the 210th CA was deployed to Fort Glenn Army Air Base in Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands for the defense of the airfield located there.

On 13 February 1943, a USAAF B-25 Mitchell bomber was limping back to the airfeld on one engine after being hit by Japanese anti-aircraft fire during a mission against the enemy on the Island of Kiska. The aircraft’s remaining engine quit upon final approach, causing it to make an uncontrolled landing. Pvt Pouchak was stationed in the airfield's radio shack/defense bunker, and was caught at the bunker’s doorway during the B-25’s crash landing. The bomber crashed off the runway into the bunker, collapsing the enclosure upon Pvt Pouchak. He was quickly dug out by his fellow servicemen, however he had suffered a severe head injury and passed away about 45 minutes after the accident. 

Steven Pouchak was buried in Adak’s military cemetery and was later reinterred in Calvary Cemetery in Chisolm, Minnesota.

Thank you Pvt Pouchak for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Steven.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them." 
Last year on this date I profiled Henry Citty of the 82nd Airborne Division. You can read about Henry here.
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!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.

Follow on Twitter @ww2fallen100
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100

WW2 Fallen 100 is supported by
The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation
“Where Every Day is Memorial Day”

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