The SAT Honors 40 Brave Soldiers, all from Cleveland’s St. Vitus Neighborhood, called to serve in WWII

Back in January of this year our friend, U.S. Army veteran, Larry Sterk, approached us with an old, barely-legible photograph, showing the blurred images of 39 U.S. Army veterans.  According to the photograph itself, all were from the St. Vitus neighborhood, Ward 23 of Cleveland, OH.   It was taken at a Boot Camp in Indiana in March of 1942.  While not stated anywhere, one could readily surmise these brave young men, responding to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, enlisted in the U.S. Army shortly thereafter.

Almost 85 years later most have forgotten who these men were and the service they did for their country.   Larry suggested we publish the photo and see who, within the SAT community, might remember them and if these men were identified, we could honor them in some way.   We set out in our March edition to reach out to our community to see who might remember them. 

Initially, we had very little response.  So little, we began to fear that none would be identified in time for inclusion in this, very special July edition of the SAT.  But then, the most heartwarming email came from a subscriber who recognized her late grandfather, Frank Ogrinc in the photograph.  Over the next few weeks, additional names came in from the St. Vitus Veterans group.  At that point we were pleased that at least five names could be shared with the community and our effort was not in vain.

What we did not know in March, when we began our search, was that years earlier, St. Vitus parishioner and U.S. Navy veteran Robert Mills, father of Gerri Hopkins, had the same thought.  He too, had seen this photograph, a clearer version of it incidentally, and resolved to identify each of the Soldiers, by name, with the hope of acknowledging them.  Sadly, he became ill and passed away in 2015 before he could complete his mission. 

At almost the very last minute before going to print, we learned that the answer was right in front of us. Upon reading about our search, Gerri Hopkins found her father’s research file that included a copy of the Ameriska Domovina printed on March 28, 1942, just weeks after the photograph was taken.  Right there was the photograph, complete with the caption beneath, clear as could be, of each of the soldiers identified by name. Gerri was kind enough to share that with us.  

Thanks to all who contributed to our project.  With the inspiration of Larry Sterk, and help from our SLO Community, we are pleased to present, by name, the 39 brave souls who stood up to fight for their Country.  

With great pleasure, we present the names of the brave soldiers that served in our military to honor them on this 250th anniversary of US Independence. May God bless them for their service.  

Though we are hopeful and trusting that the names submitted to us and the account presented in the Ameriska Domovina in 1942 are accurate, we have no way of knowing with certainty.  We therefore apologize and take no responsibility for any error or omission.