M Sgt. Aloysius R. Klugiewicz

Biography and Wartime Service

Aloysius Ralph "Al" Klugiewicz is born on June 14, 1916 in Erie, Pennsylvania to Agnes (Filipiak) and Teofil Klugiewicz, who emigrated to the U.S. from Poland in 1904. He attended St. Casimir School and then East High School but left in 11th grade.

Al Klugiewicz formally joined the US Cavalry Corps in 1934. Al was stationed primarily at Fort Myer, Virginia, adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery, where he started his cavalry training. He was a proud member of the 3rd Rifle Regiment, Brave Rifle Division. Some of his most memorable moments were participating in maneuvers on the wheatfield at Gettysburg, doing some guard duty for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, while he gave some speeches at the cemetery, and riding on a horse down Pennsylvania Avenue during the 1936 FDR inauguration parade. He was discharged in 1938 and spent the next few years back home in Erie, Pennsylvania and joined the Army Reserves. Aloysius Klugiewicz rejoined the service and entered active duty in February 1941, prior to the United States entering World War Two. Al was sent back to Fort Myer. However, there was a new guy in town completely disrupting the old cavalry and creating a new mechanized cavalry. The new guy called General Patton. Some of his old friends were retiring and opined that 'you cannot have an army without horses'. Al Klugiewicz was then sent to the newly created 83rd Infantry Division which he proudly served as a Master Sergeant with 331st Infantry regiment where he was communications Chief, Radio Specialist. He landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day plus 17. On July 4, his division engaged in its very first battle in the village of Sainteny after relieving the 101st Airborne Division near Carentan. That day, the 83rd lost 1500 men in combat. Al Klugiewicz participated in all subsequent battles through Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe. Because of his rather difficult last name to pronounce he was often called 'Kelly' by his battle buddies.

Al Klugiewicz left the Army in 1945 and returned to Erie, marrying Eleanor V. Yushkiewicz, in 1946. He'd carried her picture in his wallet during the war but hadn't wanted to marry her while still serving and risk making her a widow. Eleanor Yushkiewicz (°1919) served in the United States Navy during World War II at the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Maryland. She passed quietly on January 7, 2012 at the Pennsylvania Soldiers and Sailors Home. She was a lifelong resident of Erie. Al Klugiewicz worked at General Electric for about 40 years. He spent time on the refrigerator production line and assembling motors for atomic submarines.

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