From Orphan to Hero - WW2 Tank Destroyer Silver Star Recipient

[Geoff]

A little over a year ago I bought this small medal and documents group from a fellow Forum member. This is my second WW2 Silver Star acquisition, and I was interested partly because the veteran's connection to Ohio, and partly due to the tank destroyer attribution.

 

The veteran is Brownie Paul Sikora, Technician 5, 811th Tank Destroyer Battalion (M18 Hellcats), European Theater. His named Silver Star has a full wrap brooch, and is also numbered (#108523). The unnamed Army Good Conduct medal is a slot brooch wrap style, and the European Theater and WW2 Victory medals are both crimp brooch style.

 

Also in the group is a four page original April 1944 printed copy of the 811th Tank Destroyer Battalion's stateside history. The cover is heavily illustrated with Sad-Sack like GI's that tell the tale of the battalion's training camps. Finally, there is a binder put together by a previous owner with pages of research, including a National Archives copy of the general orders that awarded the Silver Star to Sikora.

[Geoff]

Here's what I've pieced together of Brownie Sikora's story:

 

Newborn Bronislav Sikora was welcomed into the family of John and Anna Sikora on a gray, overcast Tuesday, January 2, 1923. The Sikora family lived in a rented tenement apartment in a lower income section of Cleveland, Ohio. Both parents were recent immigrants from Poland and spoke little English. Bronislav was the second of what would soon be four children.

 

The 1930 US Federal Census shows that the Sikora family was together and living on Quincy Ave in the near southeast section of Cleveland. Their apartment in the rear of a multi-family building was just blocks away from “industrial valley” along the Cuyahoga River, where Cleveland’s booming steel industry belched smoke and flames into the sky. According to the census information Bronislav’s father John worked in one of those nearby steel mills. However, young Bronislav’s life would soon be ripped apart.

 

Sometime between 1930 and 1934 Bronislav and his younger brother John were made wards of the state of Ohio and were labeled “welfare children.” Two scenarios seem to fit this situation. During the Great Depression it was not uncommon for struggling families without the means to support all their children to parcel some of the children out to relatives or strangers, or in some cases to simply abandon the children. If this were the case with the Sikora family I would expect to find the parents and two remaining siblings in post-1930 records. However, I haven’t been able to find any solid evidence of the family after the 1930 census. The second, and at this point what seems to be the most probable scenario, is that the father and possibly both of Bronislav’s parents died and left Bronislav and his brother John orphans and wards of the state. Information on the other two children in the Sikora family after 1930 is also lacking. They may have been adopted and their surnames changed, or they may also have died?

 

 

[Geoff]

By 1934 Bronislav and his younger brother John were living in the home of Peter and Edna Johannsen in rural northwestern Ohio. The Johannsens had one daughter of their own and farmed a substantial amount of land in Huron County. Soon after being placed with the Johannsens Bronislav’s name was Americanized to “Brownie”. He quickly became involved in the 4-H after school youth program and would remain an active member of 4-H throughout his teens.

 

Brownie Sikora graduated from North Fairfield High School in rural Huron County, OH, in May 1941. Brownie was inducted into the Army on December 29, 1941. He was sent to Fort Hood, TX, and after basic training was assigned to Company B of the 811^th Tank Destroyer Battalion. The 811^th moved to a new home at Camp Carson, CO in late March, 1943, and then moved again in mid-November to Camp Gruber, Oklahoma. In January 1944 the 811^th TD Battalion was reequipped with new M18 Hellcat tank destroyers. The following month saw the battalion move to Louisiana for maneuvers, and then preparations began for movement overseas to Europe.

 

The battalion moved to Boston in August, 1944, and on September 4 embarked on the USS General J R Brooke (HQ&HQ Co and Recon Co), and the USS General W H Gordon (rest of the battalion). They debarked in Cherbourg, France on September 15.

 

Attached photo: Brownie Sikora's high school graduation photo in 1941, and the troopship USS W H Gordon during WW2.

 

 

[Geoff]

The 811^th Tank Destroyer Battalion moved to the front in mid-November, 1944, and was attached to the US 9^th Infantry Division. On December 16, 1944, Brownie Sikora’s Company B, the Recon Company, and HQ Company of the battalion was located around the town of Consdorf, Luxemburg when heavy German artillery fire began falling around its positions. The outposts also reported strong enemy forces attacking across their front and flanks which ultimately forced the battalion to withdraw to alternate positions. The following day, Dec 17, 1944, Company B was sent into its baptism of combat. Brownie’s company was ordered to attack the nearby town of Mullerthal which the Germans had seized the day before. The company of tank destroyers was accompanied by dismounted soldiers of the Recon Company. When the road to Mullerthal descended into a deep draw the American column was hit by heavy enemy fire and panzerfausts.

 

The leading tank destroyer, commanded by first platoon’s Lt Jerome Torgenson, was rocked by a panzerfaust hit that disabled it and stopped the American attack down the road. Several crewmen in the lead TD were wounded, including one who dropped from the damaged Hellcat and then lay on the road exposed to enemy fire. Brownie’s TD was just behind the disabled lead M18. Seeing his friend laying wounded and in mortal danger, Brownie climbed out of his own vehicle and dashed forward under heavy fire. Reaching his fallen comrade, Brownie slung him over his shoulder and staggered back to his own M18 where eager hands lifted the wounded soldier up and into the armored vehicle. Brownie quickly scrambled up to safety after his friend.

 

The American attack against Mullerthal was stopped at the draw and forced to retreat. For his December 17^th action of going to the aid of a wounded comrade while under intense enemy fire, Brownie Sikora was awarded the Silver Star medal.

 

 

[Geoff]

Brownie Sikora served the remaining months of the war in Europe without a scratch. He returned home to civilian life in early 1946, and soon found work in Mansfield, OH. In January 1951 Brownie enlisted in the Marine Corps as the Korean War raged in the Pacific. After basic training at Parris Island Brownie was assigned to a stateside armor training unit in California. He left the Marines at the end of his enlistment and soon was working for a US Defense contractor.

 

In 1966 Brownie married Carmen Barajas in Los Angeles, CA. The couple settled in Kingman, AZ not long after, where Brownie Sikora died on February 8, 1973, just a month past his 50^th birthday. His bronze gravestone reflects his WW2 and Korean War era service, but only lists his WW2 Army service and rank. However, someone who knew Brownie placed a USMC sticker on the bronze plaque to ensure that passersby would know that this veteran had also served as a Marine!

 

Photos below: photo of Brownie Sikora's gravestone in Kingman, AZ, and photo of the number on his Silver Star medal.

 

 

[ssggates]

Great story and great job with the research!

[huntssurplus]

Wow a great story about a veteran who served in 2 wars in different services. Thanks for sharing!

Hunt

[Timberwolf]

Very cool grouping!

[carbinephalen]

Fantastic write up! Thanks for the read!

[Jim Baker]

Great story!! I love the armor/TD items. Thanks for sharing this!!

[BelgianUScollector44]

Wow! Epic grouping and nice story.