A review of military records revealed the honor was never awarded
By: Ashley Biundo, Editor-In-Chief
On Nov. 11, 2019 at Rockwood Summit High School, Edward Ucinski IV, a dual-enrolled student at STLCC-Meramec, received the Bronze Star for his great-grandfather, Edward Ucinski Sr. who was a prisoner of war (POW) in World War II. Ucinski Sr. was unaware of this award when he was alive.
“General Marshal, who was a four-star general, made it where everyone who had a combat action badge or combat medic badge got the award,” said Ucinski III, a police officer at STLCC-Meramec. “Well, we didn’t know he had it until just last year. So anyway, it’s tradition that the next of kin gets the award if the person is deceased, but I waived that so my son could get it in my place.”
According to the American Legion, “[Ucinski Sr] was born in St. Louis in 1914 to parents who emigrated from Europe, Edward Sr. was a first-generation American. After being drafted in 1943, he served with the U.S. Army 9th Infantry Division, Company K, 39th Infantry Regiment as a BAR gunner and deployed for war.”
“After landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy,” they continued, “Edward Sr. fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was captured. He was transported by train to the POW camp Stalag VII-A in Moosburg, Germany, where he was used as a laborer in areas damaged by airstrikes. Edward Sr. was liberated on Easter Sunday in 1945, and joined The American Legion a few years later, eventually resulting in three generations of Legionnaires.”
Twenty-two years after his death, Meramec Student Edward Ucinski IV and his father Edward Ucinski III, discovered that he won the award while they were checking out his military records.
“He was donating his uniform to the POW museum at Jefferson Barracks when they sent him a brief summary of his records,” Ucinski IV said. “They did say that also he was awarded the Bronze Star.”
Rockwood Summit High hosts a celebration for Veteran’s Day every year, according to Ucinski IV. “We were in the theatre and he presented us with the award,” he said. “It was the official ceremony to present families with the award. When we were on stage, he gave us a brief history of the award and then talked about my grandfather’s service.”
Ucinski III said that he is happy his grandfather was honored with the award. “I think it’s really nice that somebody awarded it to him. He was looked over in the award process like tens of thousands of other Americans,” he said. “I just think it was really; I don’t want to say wonderful, but I think it was really great.”
Ucinski III said that his grandfather would have never cared about the award. “[My grandfather] wanted to put it all behind him; he didn’t talk about it all. He didn’t want to have anything more to do with it,” he said. “[Although] he did make an exception. When I was back in high school, he agreed to talk about it for a project and then never talked about it again.”
After Ucinski Sr. died, Ucinski talked to his neighbor about how he lived after the war, according to Ucinski III. “I talked to his neighbor how he lived for the next 40 years and in all those years they said that maybe he made reference to it four times and that’s only because somebody else brought it up,” he said.
Ucinski IV said that he does not plan on being in the military. “I think the line ends with me,” he said.
