PVT Sigmond F. Stajkowski
Today we honor and remember PVT Sigmond F. Stajkowski of the 101st Airborne Division.
Private (PVT) Sigmond F. Stajkowski of Dog Battery, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (PFAB), was born in Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wisconsin, to Michael and Frances (Pietrigezkowski) Stajkowski on September 27, 1920. He was of Polish descent and had three brothers, Victor C., Joseph W., and Michael, and one sister, Viola B. Stajkowski.
Sigmond Stajkowski enlisted in the U.S. Army at Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin, on October 15, 1940, and became part of the 377th PFAB. His battalion was not very fortunate when they jumped into Normandy on June 6, 1944. The 377th was not able to perform any of their given D-Day orders due to the loss of 11 of their 12 75mm pack howitzers and the wide scattering of most of the artillerymen. As a result, most of these paratroopers had to fight as infantrymen with various groups on D-Day. PVT Sigmond Stajkowski was one of the 377th PFAB men who was misdropped far away from the Allied lines.
When the 101st Airborne Division was getting near the end of their mission in Normandy, PVT Sigmond Stajkowski unfortunately lost his life. Two men, who were held as POWs just like Stajkowski, confirm what happened to him on that fateful day.
SGT Werner Angress from the 82nd Airborne Division witnessed the tragic event. He was one of the many airborne paratroopers misdropped on D-Day and was required to team up with two other 82nd troopers, along with 21 of the artillerymen from the 101st Airborne Division, including Private Stajkowski. Both of these men had become good friends since their misfortunate drops into Normandy.
Then on June 15th, SGT Angress and several others were captured by the Germans as they tried to get some food from a local farmer. The men were then held captive in several locations throughout the city of Cherbourg.
On June 24th, as the Americans were advancing on and attacking the city, the American prisoners of war were moved to the northern edge of Cherbourg, at the local harbor. The next day, June 25th, allied ships bombarded the fortifications near the city.
According to SGT Angress, PVT Stajkowski was killed by an allied artillery shell fired from one of the ships in the Channel. Stajkowski was standing in front of the Hôpital Pasteur Maternité in Cherbourg when the bomb exploded in the vicinity of the hospital.
CPL Archie J. Lewis of Charlie Battery, 377th PFAB, also recalled this moment in an interview:
“Two days later Zeke (PVT Stajkowski) was standing at a crossroads not too far from where we were when a 16-inch from a battleship hit right on him. He was gone.”
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
In 1943, a year before Sigmond’s untimely death, the Stajkowski family had lost their son and brother Joseph.
Two years earlier on January 22, 1941, the family had been confronted with another tragic death when Sigmond’s brother Mike Stajkowski, who owned the Northern Lights Tavern in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, was found dead and half buried in the snow by his wife and a neighbor.
The local sheriff declared that Mike had been struck three times on the back of the head, possibly with a hammer. His wife had last seen him alive at 6:00 AM the day before when he left his place of business to show a stranger some harness he kept in a cattle sales barn. Mike’s body was found near the entrance of the barn.
The sheriff and local authorities stated he had not been robbed since $65 was discovered in his pockets. Mike Stajkowski died at the age of 28.
PVT Sigmond Stajkowski was initially buried at the Sainte-Mère-Église Temporary Military Cemetery #2, Normandy, France, in Block F, Row 7, Grave 121. He was later reburied at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse Normandie, at Block E, Row 26, Grave 27.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Sigmond.
Lest we forget. 🇺🇸
Sources:
Family Search
Witness to the Storm: A Jewish Journey from Nazi Berlin to the 82nd Airborne, by Werner Angress
Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the US Army to Fight Hitler, by B. Henderson
News-Record, Neenah, Wisconsin; Thursday, January 23, 1941.
God Speed Sigmond 🫡🇺🇸🫡
Happy Heavenly Birthday 🫶