Frank Peter Witek was born on December 10, 1921, in Derby, Connecticut. He was of Polish ancestry. When he was 9, the family moved to Chicago. It was there he finished his student days at Crane Technical High School and went to work at the Standard Transformer Company.
On January 20, 1942, he left for recruit training after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. He left almost immediately for Pearl Harbor and in January 1943, his family heard from him while he was in New Zealand. From there he went to Bougainville where he fought in three major battles. Then he went to Guadalcanal for a rest. On July 21, 1944, the 3rd Marine Division invaded Guam. PFC Witek was a Browning automatic rifleman and scout behind the Japanese lines.
On September 8, 1944, his mother received a telegram from Washington informing her that her son had been killed on August 3. According to a combat correspondent's release, he was slain at the battle of the Mount Santa Rosa roadblock. He had only eight cartridges left out of an original 240 rounds when he was found.
On Sunday, May 20, 1945, 50,000 people, including his mother and Gen Alexander A. Vandegrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps, met in Soldier Field, Chicago, to do honor to his memory. PFC Frank Peter Witek had earned the highest military award his country could give him — the Medal of Honor.
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS FRANK P. WITEK UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE
for service as set forth in the following CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the First Battalion, Ninth Marines, Third Marine Division, during the Battle of Finegayan at Guam, Marianas, on 3 August 1944. When his rifle platoon was halted by heavy surprise fire from well camouflaged enemy positions, Private First Class Witek daringly remained standing to fire a full magazine from his automatic point-blank range into a depression housing Japanese troops, killing eight of the enemy and enabling the greater part of his platoon to take cover. During his platoon's withdrawal for consolidation of lines, he remained to safeguard a severely wounded comrade, courageously returning the enemy's fire until the arrival of stretcher bearers and then covering the evacuation by sustained fire as he moved backward toward his own lines. With his platoon again pinned down by a hostile machine-gun, Private First Class Witek, on his own initiative, moved forward boldly ahead of the reinforcing tanks and infantry, alternately throwing hand grenades and firing as he advanced to within five to ten yards of the enemy position, destroying the hostile machine-gun emplacement and an additional eight Japanese before he, himself, was struck down by an enemy rifleman. His valiant and inspiring action effectively reduced the enemy's firepower, thereby enabling his platoon to attain its objective, and reflects the highest credit upon Private First Class Witek and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
In 1946, a Gearing-classdestroyer, the USS Witek (DD-848) was named in honor of PFC Witek. The destroyer was launched on February 2, 1946, and was christened by Witek's mother, Mrs. Nora Witek. The USS Witek was commissioned on April 25, 1946. It was formally decommissioned on August 19, 1968.[1]
In 1999, Witek's hometown, Derby, Connecticut has named the PFC Frank P. Witek Memorial Park in his honor.[2]
The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation awards a memorial scholarship in honor of PFC Frank Witek.[3]
The area near the village of Yona on Guam, was named Marine Camp Witek. Although the camp closed decades ago, Guam natives still refer to the area as "Camp Witek".
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Private First Class Frank Peter Witek December 10 1921 August 3 1944 was a United States Marine who was killed in action on August 3 1944 in the Battle of Finegayan Guam For his heroism and sacrifice of life he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor He was the 28th Marine to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II Frank Peter WitekFrank P Witek Medal of Honor recipientBorn 1921 12 10 December 10 1921Derby ConnecticutDiedAugust 3 1944 1944 08 03 aged 22 Guam Mariana IslandsPlace of burialRock Island National CemeteryRock Island IllinoisAllegianceUnited States of AmericaService wbr branch United States Marine CorpsYears of service1942 1944RankPrivate First ClassUnit1st Battalion 9th MarinesBattles warsWorld War II Battle of Guam AwardsMedal of HonorPurple Heart Contents 1 Biography 2 Medal of Honor citation 3 Honors 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksBiography editFrank Peter Witek was born on December 10 1921 in Derby Connecticut He was of Polish ancestry When he was 9 the family moved to Chicago It was there he finished his student days at Crane Technical High School and went to work at the Standard Transformer Company On January 20 1942 he left for recruit training after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps He left almost immediately for Pearl Harbor and in January 1943 his family heard from him while he was in New Zealand From there he went to Bougainville where he fought in three major battles Then he went to Guadalcanal for a rest On July 21 1944 the 3rd Marine Division invaded Guam PFC Witek was a Browning automatic rifleman and scout behind the Japanese lines On September 8 1944 his mother received a telegram from Washington informing her that her son had been killed on August 3 According to a combat correspondent s release he was slain at the battle of the Mount Santa Rosa roadblock He had only eight cartridges left out of an original 240 rounds when he was found On Sunday May 20 1945 50 000 people including his mother and Gen Alexander A Vandegrift Commandant of the Marine Corps met in Soldier Field Chicago to do honor to his memory PFC Frank Peter Witek had earned the highest military award his country could give him the Medal of Honor Initially buried in the Army Navy and Marine Corps Cemetery on Guam PFC Witek s remains were reinterred in the Rock Island National Cemetery Rock Island Illinois in 1949 Medal of Honor citation editThe President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to PRIVATE FIRST CLASS FRANK P WITEKUNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE for service as set forth in the following CITATION For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the First Battalion Ninth Marines Third Marine Division during the Battle of Finegayan at Guam Marianas on 3 August 1944 When his rifle platoon was halted by heavy surprise fire from well camouflaged enemy positions Private First Class Witek daringly remained standing to fire a full magazine from his automatic point blank range into a depression housing Japanese troops killing eight of the enemy and enabling the greater part of his platoon to take cover During his platoon s withdrawal for consolidation of lines he remained to safeguard a severely wounded comrade courageously returning the enemy s fire until the arrival of stretcher bearers and then covering the evacuation by sustained fire as he moved backward toward his own lines With his platoon again pinned down by a hostile machine gun Private First Class Witek on his own initiative moved forward boldly ahead of the reinforcing tanks and infantry alternately throwing hand grenades and firing as he advanced to within five to ten yards of the enemy position destroying the hostile machine gun emplacement and an additional eight Japanese before he himself was struck down by an enemy rifleman His valiant and inspiring action effectively reduced the enemy s firepower thereby enabling his platoon to attain its objective and reflects the highest credit upon Private First Class Witek and the United States Naval Service He gallantly gave his life for his country S FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELTHonors editIn 1946 a Gearing class destroyer the USS Witek DD 848 was named in honor of PFC Witek The destroyer was launched on February 2 1946 and was christened by Witek s mother Mrs Nora Witek The USS Witek was commissioned on April 25 1946 It was formally decommissioned on August 19 1968 1 In 1999 Witek s hometown Derby Connecticut has named the PFC Frank P Witek Memorial Park in his honor 2 The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation awards a memorial scholarship in honor of PFC Frank Witek 3 The area near the village of Yona on Guam was named Marine Camp Witek Although the camp closed decades ago Guam natives still refer to the area as Camp Witek See also edit nbsp Biography portalList of Medal of Honor recipientsNotes edit FRANK P WITEK 1st Marine Division Association Archived from the original on September 27 2007 Retrieved April 17 2006 Medal of Honor recipient PFC Frank P Witek Memorial Park City of Derby Connecticut Retrieved April 17 2006 Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation Memorial Scholarships Archived from the original on February 9 2006 Retrieved April 17 2006 References edit nbsp This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps Private First Class Frank Peter Witek USMC Who s Who in Marine Corps History History Division United States Marine Corps Archived from the original on 2011 05 16 Retrieved 2007 02 07 Medal of Honor PFC Frank P Witek Medal of Honor citation Marines Awarded the Medal of Honor History Division United States Marine Corps Archived from the original on 2007 01 15 External links editFrank P Witek at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Frank P Witek amp oldid 1205775413, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
