Their Stories

 
(sketch by Ingrid Hardy) 

PFC Robert James Modracek was assigned to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in August of 1944. 

Eye witness accounts relate how F Company launched an assault on two German 88mm guns in Eindhoven (Woenselsestraat) with Private Modracek in the left flank. Either a mishandled grenade or a mortar shell detonating in the mortar tube, exploded, sending shrapnel into his chest, killing him. His name is one of 22 inscribed on the Eindhoven monument to the liberators from the 101st. 


He celebrated his 23rd birthday three days before he died.
He is buried in Shueyville Cemetery in Johnson County, Iowa.

  




 Thank you sir.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



 

I thought the scant information I could find on PVC Modracek was heartbreaking until I did some research before buying a new sketch.

There are no writeups about Pvt. John A. Vendelis and I can't even find his date of birth. I know he was someone's baby boy, and perhaps a naughty two year old. He was a teen whose rebellious nature may have spurred him to join the 101st. Or, perhaps he was in his twenties.

Regardless, I do know he left Maryland and made his way to Fort Benning, Georgia to join the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He passed training, shipped out with the 506th to England and finally, jumped from his 'stick' on D-Day.

He died that day.


His entire life is summed up in an entry on wwiimemorial.com:

John A. Vendelis
ID: 33066904
Entered the Service From: Baltimore, Maryland
Rank: Private

Service: U.S. Army, 506th Parachute Infantry Regt, 101st Airborne Division
Died: Tuesday, June 06, 1944

Buried at: Normandy American Cemetery
Location: Colleville-sur-Mer, France
Plot: C Row: 16 Grave: 46

Awards: Purple Heart


Thank you sir.


(sketch by Ingrid Hardy)


Edit: October, 2010 - I have located Pvt. Vendelis' enlistment record. In it, his birth year is shown as 1919 which means he was about 22 when he enlisted and about 25 on D-Day when he died. He was of Greek descent, and took two years of high school before doing some sort of metal work.

Comments

Anonymous said…
This short life summary surely doesn't do him justice. It would be nice to know more of him.
September 17, 2010 at 4:06 PM
Joysze said…
Reading about Vendelis saddened me.
September 19, 2010 at 12:22 PM
Psoras said…
John was from Edgemere a suburb in Baltimore, County, Md . His nephew is a local dentist --Andrew Vendelis , (410) 628-0086 . John's death on D Day was a tradgedy mourned by his parents , siblings ,family and community . Call Andy for more information . You may call me and I can fill in some gaps . Thanks for your remembrance and honoring a fallen son . Dennis J.Psoras , (410) -952-5837 .
September 15, 2012 at 2:30 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thank you, Major Winters.

Image
From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother William Shakespeare Henry V - Act IV Scene III  Major Richard Winters (2004) As you may know by now, Dick Winters lost his battle with Parkinson's on January 2, 2011. He was laid to rest during a private ceremony on the 8th and is buried in Ephrata, Pennsylvania next to his parents. His tombstone reads: Richard D. Winters WWII 101st Airborne   I have no more words. 
Read more

A Second Front – Part One

Image
Some help here guys? Now fully engaged, as he would be for the remainder of the war, Stalin did what he knew best. He spent people. Having a near endless supply of farm-boys, factory workers, miners, trappers, and other unskilled civilians from his vast empire, he undertook a simple but ruthless strategy; he would out-man the Germans. The military was required to slow the enemy, yield, and then counterattack. Hold. Attack. Yield. Counterattack. In the meantime, farms were burned, supplies moved ever backwards, as the season advanced. This strategy was one few nations could afford because it required millions of expendable people and vast tracts of land. Both would have to be sacrificed in enormous quantities because that was the only way to fight an enemy possessed of superior weaponry, better training, fighting experience, and hell-bent on moving forward. If we can presume Stalin had few qualms with the costs of the campaign, what exactly would he then worry about? There
Read more

Operation Barbarossa

Image
Hitler failed because he repeated Napoleon's mistake. Yes, and no... Why Napoleon failed in Russia: He invaded Russia. He invaded Russia in June, perilously close to the brutal winter season. He presumed rapid advances and victories would cause the enemy to seek peace. His supply train was hampered by disease, starvation, deserters behind his lines, weather, and finding nothing but devastated land all around due to Russia's scorched earth policy. He reached Moscow in September and took it without a fight. Since the Russians had evacuated Moscow and removed all the supplies they could take with them, French troops found nothing to take as spoils. With winter upon them, they took to burning anything they could find and were likely responsible for a fire that destroyed most of the city, housing that the French needed for shelter. With no shelter, and no supplies, Napoleon ordered a retreat in October, during which the Russian army herded him down the same roads he had t
Read more