After 75-year delay, WWII veteran receives Bronze Star

ABINGDON – Seventy-five years after Melvin Jonczak Sr. put his life in peril in World War II, he finally received recognition for that service.

In 2000, the Department of the Army notified Jonczak that his duty crossing the Atlantic on a “banana boat” and in the European theater had earned him a Bronze Star, Marksmanship Badge, Good Conduct Medal, Occupation Medal and WWII Victory Medal.

Fast forward 20 years to a conversation Jonczak had with Catherine Kundratic, a property manager with Catholic Charities Abingdon Gardens, where he resides. Talk turned to how veterans and seniors are easily forgotten, and he shared with her the letter about his overdue commendations.

Unbeknownst to Jonczak, Kundratic set about getting those medals to him, which he was given in a surprise pinning ceremony in front of family and Abingdon Gardens staff last December.

“A lot of veterans didn’t get their medals,” Jonczak, 97, told the Review. “I almost thought I would never get my medals, but I am sure glad I was running my mouth with Cat (Catherine Kundratic), because she made this happen. She did this for me.”

Months later, whenever Kundratic encounters Jonczak, he says, “Thank you, hon.”

“It was an honor for me to do it,” she said. “This gentleman deserved his medals and I would do it for anyone.” 

The date of the surprise pinning ceremony was Dec. 22, two days before his  birthday, which played into his military service.

Jonczak was just 17 when he began work at Bethlehem Steel’s Key Highway Shipyard, using a forged birth certificate he recalls an uncle got for him from a parish priest so he could help support his family. 

Life got more serious Dec. 7, 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Jonczak turned 18 a few weeks later. He attempted to enlist in the U.S. Navy, but was rejected for service because of high blood pressure.

Jonczak volunteered for the Maryland State Guard, which was activated in 1939, protecting the home front, and was later drafted into the U.S. Army. He set course for Southampton, England, from New York as a member of the 9th Division, 15th Combat Engineers, 3rd Army. 

For 15 days, Jonczak was on a banana boat, a fast-moving vessel used for importing fruit rapidly from the tropics to the United States and Europe to prevent spoilage. 

His ship zigged-zagged across the Atlantic. “Waves crashed over the bow,” he said, as they attempted to evade German U-Boats on the hunt for American troop carriers. 

“The ships were stacked with bunks,” Jonczak said. “I told my buddy we were heading north because it was getting cold. We were told to put on our life jackets and turn on the red beacons,” in case the ship went down in turbulent seas. 

He told of climbing down a rope ladder to smaller vessels for transporting to shore, as bombers and fighters flying toward German forces filled the skies above the English Channel. 

The combat engineer built bridges for troop crossing, destroyed bunkers and captured munitions, and secured and transported German prisoners of war. Jonczak’s travels took him to Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland. 

“Wherever I went, I was always in charge of something, even though I didn’t know what I was doing,” laughed Jonczak, a buck sergeant.

He described awakening in France in a tent collapsed by an overnight snowfall, and giving his confession in a German barn with no roof. He remembers fraught assignments, such as securing a train boxcar of nitroglycerin, and having to manually light fuses to destroy bunkers after electronic charges malfunctioned.

“We were right there with infantry,” Jonczak said.

After a year’s tour of duty, he returned home to Baltimore, where he lived in Fells Point and attended the former St. Stanislaus Kostka Church. He literally met the girl next store, Irene, who would become his wife of 49 years.

“She was sitting on the steps (of her house),” Jonczak said.

They raised two sons and a daughter. Irene died in 1995.

Jonczak returned to Bethlehem Steel as a welder. Laid off nearly two decades later,  he joined the local millwright union. He served in the Maryland Army National Guard until 1953, according to a news release from Catholic Charities. He’s a member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Knights of Columbus.

A parishioner of St. Margaret in Bel Air, Jonczak moved to Abingdon Gardens to be closer to family. He looks forward to warmer weather, when he can line his garden with American flags. 

The years have not slowed Jonczak, who still drives and has a girlfriend. His smile and energy are not unlike that of a teenager, as he describes his generation as “recycled teenagers.” 

Email Kevin Parks at kparks@catholicreview.org

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