PVT Theodore Stapinski

courtesy of Just A Friend

PVT Theodore Stapinski was born Tadeus Stapinski on 3 May 1913 in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania. He was the 3rd of 9 children born to Polish immigrants Stanislaw and Bronislawa (Gawarecki) Stapinski. His father worked as a machinist for an electrical manufacturer. Teddy, as he was called, went to work for the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company.

Teddy was drafted in March 1942. He was then sent to basic military training and eventually sent to England. PVT Stapinski was transferred from the replacement depot to K Company 116th Infantry on 24 Jul 1944. He was injured and evacuated to hospital on 25 Aug 1944 but it was not a result of combat. He was able to return to the unit on 8 Sep 1944 while the attack on Brest was still on-going. PVT Stapinski continued to fight with K Company until, near Aachen, Germany, he was struck in the body by fragments from an artillery shell and killed in action.

PVT Stapinski was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in Grandview Cemetery in North Versailles, Pennsylvania.

Teddy's brothers also served during the war. His brother Edward had fought in Italy, France and Germany surviving uninjured only to suffer a heart attack and die just hours before Teddy was placed in his final resting place. Barney Stapinski served overseas with the U.S. Army for nearly 3-years and Stanley served overseas for 38-months during the war. His youngest brother served as a CPL in the U.S. Army in Korea.