PFC Anthony John Wlodarek

PFC Anthony John Wlodarek was born 6 Jun 1912 in South Bend, Indiana. He was the 5th of the 9 children born to Stanislaw and Maryjanna (Grzegorek) Wlodarek. Both parents were natives of Poland. His father worked for the Singer Sewing Machine Company in various jobs and the family lived at 517 South Warren Street in South Bend before moving across the street to 518 South Warren. Anthony only completed 1 year of high school before going to work. He worked for some time at Drewry's Limited Inc., a brewery that had been in business under other names since 1852 but wasn't employed in October1940. 

Anthony was drafted in December 1942 and went to Camp McClellan, Alabama for his basic military training and arrived in England in April 1943 when he was assigned to F Company 116th Infantry. He then trained with his company for the amphibious assault that was a planned element of the invasion and liberation of Nazi occupied France. PFC Wlodarek was shot and killed in action in that operation on D-Day, 6 Jun 1944. 

PFC Wlodarek was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in the Saint Joseph Cemetery in South Bend, Indiana. 

Anthony's brothers, Clement Leo Wlodarek, Sylvester Peter Wlodarek and Matthew Frank Wlodarek also served in the U.S. Army during WW2.