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Our Boys In Service
Sgt. Alfred S. Lubojacky Declared Dead By War
Department
Sgt. Alfred S. Lubojacky, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lubojacky of Richmond, has
been declared dead by the War Department. He had been missing in the
European Theatre since February 14, 1945, having served overseas since
December, 1944, and had 17 missions to his credit. He held the
Presidential Citation, Good Conduct Medal, three oakleaf Clusters and
the Air Medal. He was a turret gunner on a B17, with the 8th Air Force.
He was born at Rosenberg, Texas, and attended grade school there until
the family moved to Edna where he finished school.
He went into the service of his country in February, 1944, having
received his training at Sheppard Field, Texas, Las Vegas Gunnery
School, Nevada, and Drew Field, Florida.
Sgt. Lubojacky is survived by his heart broken parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joe
Lubojacky, five sisters, Mrs. E. J. Kaminsky, Rosenberg; Mrs. R.
H__aller, Boling, Mrs. C. O. Poythress, Birmingham, Ala., Alice and Anna
Felice; two brothers, Walter and Roman, who served his country four
years and is now honorably discharged and living in Towson, Maryland.
Memorial Services will be held at the Church of Christ Edna Sunday
afternoon, March 10th, and at the Presbyterian Church at Needville on
Mach 16th.
Friends and relatives extend sincere sympathy to the bereaved family.
Edna Weekly Herald, Thursday, March 7, 1946
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Sgt. Alfred S. Lubojacky
By Betty Humphrey and B. J. Pollock
Almost 10 years ago, members of the Lubojacky family stood by a marker
bearing the name of Sgt. Alfred S. Lubojacky of the United States Army
Air Force at a service during a family reunion at Davis-Greenlawn
Cemetery in Rosenberg. The ceremony at the Graveside of his parents, Joe
and Louise Lubojacky, honored the memory of the son, known as "Buddy,"
lost during an air battle after the B-17 was attacked over Dresden,
Germany in World War II on Feb. 14, 1945.
On May 8, 2005, in the 60th year since Lubojacky was listed as MIA, some
of those same relatives will stand at a memorial site near the village
of Hridelec in the Czech Republic marking the spot where the empty B-17
plane, on which Buddy was the ball-turret gunner, finally crashed that
same day. Just as at the empty grave in Rosenberg, he is not there. But
where do his remains lie? Research continues in the Czech Republic on
that question.
Other members of the crew were Leon "Greek" Nahmias, tail-gunner; Frank
McDonough, armorer; James Standlee, engineer; Hardin "Field" McChesney,
radio operator; Joseph Sicard, bombardier; Bob Whitelaw, co-pilot; Louis
Wilson, navigator; and Kenneth Streun, pilot. Several of these men's
remembrances or those from their families were chronicled from research
by Lubojacky's niece, Barbara Neal, now of California, in the 2001
story. The page was headlined "One family, one search, one hero."
While all the other guys successfully parachuted out, one at a time even
with grave wounds, they all lived and were captured by the Nazis. Only
two are alive now: McChesney, who now lives in Bowling Green, Ky., and
Lee Nahmias, who resides in Flushing, N.Y. Neal has been in contact with
both recently.
Of the group that stood at the marker in Rosenberg to honor their
parents and uncle, only four of Buddy's siblings remain: Olga Kaminsky
of Sealy, Alice Prosise and Ann Mikeska of Rosenberg, and Walt Lubojacky
of Oklahoma. In 2002, both Ellen Poythress of Alabama and Sylvia Galler
of Rosenberg passed away.
After the 2001 information, Neal had kept on with the research and the
email messages to any who would respond. In 2002, at the funeral of her
Aunt Sylvia Galler in Rosenberg, she learned from Ruby Lubojacky that an
article in a Czech genealogy publication was seeking to reach the family
members of Alfred Lubojacky. The article in the Texas Czech Genealogical
Society written by Dr. Josef Simicek (in Czech) had been translated into
English and put into the June 2002 "Ceske Stopy - Czech Footprints,"
seeking information on behalf of others. This turned out to be Milos
Podzimek of the Czech Republic, known as "The Bombers Fan," who first
tried to track down the Lubojacky family in December 2000. It was in
2003 that Neal finally had an intermediary whose friend was going to
Lichnov, near Novy Jicin, to deliver Neal's requests for information to
Dr. Simicek. The traveler brought back information and a Czech letter
Simicek had received Dec. 9, 2000 from Podzimek.
This past Christmas, Neal learned new information from the tragedy, this
time directly from Podzimek, a man interested in the history of World
War II, especially the air war. As a member of the Ornamental Society of
Army History (OSAH), Podzimek told Neal he concentrates on the fates of
airmen crew of the aircrafts which crashed "in our area," in what was
Czechoslovakia and in Poland and Germany. "The story of B-17 crew, there
was Alfred, I study and search for 15 years ago!" he wrote.
Included in what Podzimek had recently found was the German officer's
report, which was translated for Neal by W.M. Von-Maszewski, head of the
genealogy department at George Memorial Library in Richmond. Her aunt,
Alice Prosise, had suggested she contact him.
From the German report Podzimek had found, Neal was shocked to learn
that Buddy's body was found by the Nazi police with a partly opened
parachute on Feb. 15, 1945 and with a wound to the thigh. The
"parachutist indeed was identified. His tag showed his name, but the ID
number was damaged and not readable. "It makes me so sad to think that
was known then, and the information was never relayed to the family,"
Neal said.
On Jan. 1, Podzimek sent her several maps by email, the first with a red
arrow pointing to the village of Hridelec, close to the spa town of
Lazne Belohrad. That's where the monument is being placed at the site 30
kilometers north of the county seat of Hradec Kralove, 100 km east
northeast of Prague.
On another map, the red arrow points out the village of Merboltice,
where the Nazi police found "Buddy's" body. That location is 20 km east
of Usti on the Elbe River in Northern Bohemia. The left end of the arrow
points to the village of Hor. Zalezly, where the plane's McDonough, who
was wounded, landed by parachute.
Neal's correspondent told her that in his search, he got many of the
materials (documents regarding the aircraft and its crew) from the USA,
and that he had been in contact with Sicard, McChesney, and Whitelaw
some years ago. He said he sent them letters this year, but had no
reply. He also sent a picture of the museum that is being built inside a
bunker, a structure from the "Czechoslovak Frontier Defenses 1935-1938,"
close to the town of Hronov. Most of those sites will be visited in
early May by family members and others from Fort Bend County.
Neal knew that she and other family members would definitely want to be
there for the dedication of the monument. And she knew that it would be
a logical opportunity for her family members who had never done so, to
be able to see the towns and villages in Moravia that the family's
Franek and Lubojacky ancestors left in the 1800s to come to Texas. Neal
very much wanted to share this dedication ceremony with the family.
However, having traveled in the Czech Republic once before, she knew
that arranging the logistics of how they could all get to Hridilec from
Prague, would be difficult. How to get them to the areas of Moravia that
she wanted them to see - all this would be impossible for her to plan
from California. She knew that unless it was all planned "seamlessly,"
that it would not be a trip that relatives and crew could even attempt.
She felt she needed someone familiar with arranging such travel details
in the Czech Republic, and knew that Fort Bend County would have more
people experienced there (and able to speak and write the language),
than available where she lives. In talks with her aunt, Ann Mikeska she
learned that Jerry and JoannFabrygel of Needville had handled all the
arrangements for Mikeska's 1998 visit to the Czech Republic. Neal said,
"So, the choice was logical to ask them to help with the logistics of
being able to honor one of Fort Bend County's sons, and to arrange time
to see the villages of his, and all the family's, ancestors."
So far, family members going on the trip, which leaves May 5 for Prague
and returns on May 15 from Vienna, Austria through Paris, are: Ann and
Jim Mikeska of Rosenberg, daughter, Shawna Sandel, sons Clint and Cody
and their wives; Walt and Betty Lubojacky of Oklahoma; Charles and
Barbara Neal of California, Edna Kundel; Everett and Connie Kaminsky of
Houston; and, hopefully, the Neals two daughters and a son-in-law.
Others who expect to go are Guy and Betty Humphrey and crew member of
the B-17, Field McChesney of Bowling Green, Ky. and his wife.
(In February 2001, The Herald-Coaster in a Life & Times article reported
the Lubojacky family's quest to find information about the fate of Army
Air Force Sgt. Alfred Stanly Lubojacky, who went missing in action
Valentine's Day, 1945 after a plane battle over Dresden, Germany. That
January was the year they got some closure after 56 years of wondering.
His niece, Barbara Neal of California, had contacted Lubojacky's fellow
crew members and relatives and shared her findings with the family.)
Herald Coaster,
February 2, 2005
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Sgt. Alfred S. Lubojacky
By Betty Humphrey and B. J. Pollock
On May 8, Czech Liberation Day, the family of the late Army Air Force
Sgt. Alfred Stanley "Buddy" Lubojacky and a few friends gathered with
about 400 others at the village of Hridelec in the Czech Republic to
honor Lubojacky and eight others whose plane went down on that spot on
Valentine's Day, 1945, following a plane battle over Dresden, Germany
during World War II. Dresden was destroyed by a firestorm after Allied
bombing raids that day, but a Fort Bend County family was devastated
that day as well when Lubojacky paid the ultimate price.
More than half a century later, at a service at Davis-Greenlawn Cemetery
in Rosenberg, his family honored his memory and that of his parents, Joe
and Louise, but still had no idea what became of their veteran the day
his B-17 was attacked. His niece, Barbara Neal, of California,
determined to find out what happened to her uncle and in 2000 began
contacting Buddy's fellow crew members. In 2002, Neal learned that Milos
Podzimek of the Czech Republic was seeking to contact Lubojacky's
family. Affectionately known as "The Bombers' Fan," Podzimek, a member
of the Ornamental Society of Army History, specializes in the fates of
the airplane crews that crashed near Hridelec and in Poland and Germany.
In late 2004, Podzimek provided Neal with a German officer's report,
which was translated for her by George Memorial Library's head of
genealogy, W.M. Von-Maszewski. It was then that Lubojacky's family
learned his body and partly opened parachute were found Feb. 15, 1945,
and he suffered a wound to the thigh.
His fellow crew members (tail gunner Leon "Greek" Nahmias, armorer Frank
McDonough, Engineer James Standlee, radio operator Hardin "Field"
McChesney, Navigator Louis Wilson, Pilot Kenneth Streun, Joseph Sicard
and Bob Whitelaw) all successfully parachuted from the plane as it
plunged to Earth - some despite suffering serious wounds - and were
captured by Nazi soldiers. Only McChesney, who lives in Kentucky, and
Nahmias, who resides in New York, still survive. In addition, only four
of Lubojacky's siblings remain: Ann Mikeska and Alice Prosise of
Rosenberg, Olga Kaminsky of Sealy and Walt Lubojacky of Oklahoma.
Nearly three weeks ago, family members stood at the crash site, where a
monument was erected with the names of the crew of the B-17G bomber
#42-97185, for a memorial service. The monument recognizes Lubojacky as
being of Czech heritage, and also as the only crew member who did not
survive parachuting from the burning bomber.
Lubojacky's family members attending the ceremony were Mikeska and her
husband, Jim; their daughter, Shawna Sandel; their sons and
daughters-in-law, Clint and Suzanne and Cody and Lindsey Mikeska; Walt
and Betty Lubojacky; Neal and her husband, Charles; their daughters,
Dawn and Bronwyn; nephew Everett Kaminsky and his wife, Connie; and
Lubojacky's cousins, Edna Lubojacky Kundel and Robert Franek. Whitelaw's
grandson and granddaughter-in-law, James and Tina Whitelaw, and family
friends Guy and Betty Humphrey of Rosenberg were also in attendance.
Part of the 369th Bombardment Squadron (H) of the 306th Bombardment
Group, U.S. 8th Air Force, Lubojacky's bomber was attacked by the
Luftwaffe. Fire broke out in the bomb bay and in one engine, and several
crew members were seriously injured. The plane turned east, hoping to
make it to Russia, the nearest Allied territory, But over northern
Bohemia, in what is now the Czech Republic, the crew was forced to
parachute out before the plane exploded, crashing in Hridelec, near the
spa town of Lazne Belohrad, about 65 miles east northeast of Prague.
Lubojacky, the ball turret gunner, was a Czech American whose maternal
and paternal grandparents had emigrated to Texas in the late 1800s from
Moravia. For decades, his family held out hope he had survived the
crash, had amnesia and was living in the Czech Republic.
"While it is sad that it took 60 years for our family to learn his fate,
we were all relieved to finally know what had happened to our Buddy,"
said Neal. "Podzimek is still seeking any remaining memories anyone in
the vicinity of Merboltice may have, to help us learn where he is
buried."
On Liberation Day each year, Czechs celebrate being freed by the Allies
in World War II. This year marked the 60th anniversary - a perfect day
to honor Lubojacky and his crew mates. "All of us were amazed … to find
about 400 people had come to the field outside the village for the
dedication," said Neal, adding the ceremony had been arranged by
Podzimek and the mayor of Lazne Belohrad. "The tall monument was guarded
by the green-bereted Czech Honor Guard. A small band, the Swing Sextet
of Náchod town, played the Czech and American national anthems, along
with Dixieland and jazz tunes."
"It was a much bigger deal than I anticipated," Mikeska said of the
dedication ceremony. "It was almost overwhelming, the number of people
that came out. Most of them walked. The response was overwhelming to me,
I didn't have any idea what kind of monument they were going to put up.
It was bigger than I expected."
Flowers were placed at the monument by Lubojacky's family members and by
others. Among them was an arrangement emblazoned with a banner that
read, "From the American People." It was placed by U.S. Air Force Master
Sgt. Scott Reuter, who is assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Prague.
Speakers for the ceremony included the mayor of Lazne Belohrad, the
family's Czech guide, who Neal said was described as "a member of the
Czech Parliament or House of Representatives," the director of Czech
Army command and Walt Lubojacky, who is retired after being a civilian
employee of Tinker Air Force base in Oklahoma. His speech was translated
into Czech for the crowd, and the speeches given in Czech were
summarized later for the Lubojacky family and friends by their tour
guide, Lenka Sovadina.
In his speech, Walt Lubojacky thanked the family's hosts, the event
planners, the Czech people, those who helped Allied troops at risk to
their own lives, and Podzimek for his years of research that resulted in
the family finally knowing how their hero died in service to his
country.
Walt Lubojacky also relayed a message from Nahmias and McChesney,
quoting from a letter written in April by McChesney: "I, too, am
grateful that new generations remember what we did so many years ago. It
was no more than young men of any time would have done. I am sorry we
will not be able to make the trek to the Czech Republic next month. It
is such a nice and friendly thing that the people there are doing. I
hope those who attend will let them know that our absence does not mean
we are any less appreciative."
"It was an emotional ceremony during which even the sky cried. The
weather shifted from cold wind to rain, sleet, and hail - then to sun,"
said Neal. "As the last photos were taken, it began to rain again as we
left."
"The memorial itself was sad, but it made me proud that they went to the
extent they did," Mikeska said of the local people, " and I think they
were proud that so many of us showed up."
Shortly after the ceremony, an elderly woman approached Lubojacky's
family and gave them a small piece of white silk fabric approximately 10
inches square, which she said was a remnant from a parachute found at or
near the crash site. "She said that the people in the nearby village of
Hridelec had made shirts and blouses from the parachute, and she had
kept this small piece of the fabric for 60 years," Mikeska recalled.
"Her grandson had asked her to give the silk fabric to him after she
told him what it was; however, she didn't think it would have as much
meaning to him as it had to her and the other people of the village who
had experienced the heartaches and problems during World War II."
Following the ceremony, many traveled to nearby Lazne Belohrad for the
K.V. Rais Museum's opening of Podzimek's in-depth, month-long exhibit
about the plane's flight and its crew. Included are fragments found at
the crash site and diagrams of the location within the plane of each
displayed fragment that had been gathered from the snowy field in
February, 1945. The People of the village gathered the remains and
carefully maintained the artifacts throughout the years, in honor of the
crew.
"Among the crowd attending were several elderly people who lived
nearby," said Neal. "They told us of seeing the crash, and of their
families' attempts to help the last crew members who parachuted near
their village."
The Lubojacky family and friends, their Czech tour guides and bus
driver, and Podzimek and his son, Milos, were honored by about 50
individuals at a formal dinner given by the town of Lazne Belohrad.
Afterward, they moved to the town hall, where they were entertained by
the swing band at a concert in their honor. "They played mostly American
tunes that were popular during World War II," said Mikeska. "They
treated us like royalty." After the dinner, the family and their friends
were treated to a private tour of the museum.
"I was amazed at how much information and how many artifacts he had
gathered over the years," Mikeska said of Podzimek. Among the items on
display were photographs of and information about each crew member,
including a large portrait of Lubojacky. Just below it was the hatch to
the lower ball turret where he sat as a gunner, and a letter from an
elderly Czech woman, who stated that the plane crashed near her home
when she was a young girl.
"Soon after the plane crash, German men came and began picking up pieces
of the plane for scrap metal," said Mikeska. The hatch to the ball
turret was covered with snow, and the Germans did not see it. The young
girl found it after the men had gone, and she put it under her skirt and
took it home on her bicycle. She kept it hidden in her home for almost
60 years. The letter stated that she has been living in a 'home for old
people' during the last four years and she wanted to give the metal
hatch to someone who would appreciate the historical value of it."
Walt Lubojacky described the dedication ceremony and the trip as a whole
as "overwhelming, emotionally," and said local villagers requested
autographs from Lubojacky family members. "It was quite an emotional
day. It really was," he said of May 8. "When I first got off our tour
bus and was introduced to Milos Podzimek, I lost it right then - and I
don't think I ever regained my composure. It was quite an emotional
thing to see the person who had done all the research to make all this
possible. He's the one who should have been treated like royalty and
asked for his autograph."
"During the ceremony and immediately afterward, I got teary-eyed,"
Mikeska said as tears flowed again at the memory. "It just made me so
proud for them to do all that for all of us. Our family just kind of
kept his memory alive just by talking about him from time to time," she
said of her brother. "It's hard to explain what all this means to us. It
just kind of made his memory more vivid. And the friendliness of the
people there and their hospitality - well, it was just all
overwhelming."
Herald Coaster,
June 3, 2005
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Joe Louis Lubojacky
Funeral services for Joe Louis Lubojacky, 74, of Rt. 1, Richmond, who
died Saturday, are scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Garmany & Co.
Funeral Home Chapel in Rosenberg, with the Rev. Joseph Seiler, pastor of
Immanuel's United Church of Christ in Needville, officiating. Burial
will be in Greenlawn Memorial Park. Friends may call at the chapel after
11 a.m. today.
Mr. Lubojacky was said to be in ill health. He died in Hermann Hospital
in Houston after being transferred there from Polly Ryon Memorial
Hospital. A native of DeWitt, he was a farmer and a carpenter.
Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Louise Lubojacky; five daughters, Mrs.
Olga Kaminsky of Sealy, Mrs. Sylvia Galler of Richmond, Mrs. Ellen
Poythress of Birmingham, Ala., Mrs. Alice Feldhoff and Mrs. Ann Mikeska
of Rosenberg; two sons, Roman E. Lubojacky of Carthage and Walter V.
Lubojacky of Phoeniz, Ariz.; two sisters, Mrs. Julia Pospichal of Rowena
and Mrs. Frances Stasek of Moore, Okla.; three brothers, C. J. Lubojacky
of Turner, Louis Lubojacky of Rosharon, and Adolph Lubojacky of
Richmond; 23 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Herald Coaster,
January 26, 1970
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Louise A. Lubojacky
Funeral services for Louise A. Lubojacky, 91, are scheduled for 10 a.m.
Friday, Oct. 26, at St. John's United Church of Christ, 1513 West
Street, Rosenberg. Rev. Donald Kolkmeier will be officiating the service
and burial will follow at Greenlawn Memorial Cemetery.
Mrs. Lubojacky died Tuesday, Oct. 23. She was born June 6, 1899 in
Garwood in Garwood to Anna Ondrusek Franek and Jacob Franek. During her
childhood, they moved to Fort Bend County where she resided most of her
life in the Rosenberg, Needville, and Fairchilds area.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Joe L. Lubojacky; sons, Roman
and Alfred; and seven brothers.
She was a member of St. John's United Church of Christ in Rosenberg and
the Martha Circle. A "Gold Star Mother," she was a member of the Ladies
Auxiliary to Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3903 and American Legion
Ladies Auxiliary Unit 271 in Rosenberg.
Survivors include her daughters, Olga Kaminsky and husband, E.J. of
Sealy, Sylvia Galler of Rosenberg, Ellen Poythress and husband, Clifton
of Birmingham, Alabama, Alice Prosise of Rosenberg, and Ann Mikeska and
husband, Jim of Richmond; son, Walter Lubojacky and wife, Betty of
Piedmont, Oklahoma; 24 grandchildren; 50 great-grandchildren; and 6
great-great-grandchildren.
Her grandsons will serve as the pallbearers.
Memorials may be sent to St. John's United Church of Christ, 1513 West
Street, Rosenberg, or the Veterans Monument Fund, 1500 Mulcahy,
Rosenberg.
Services are under the direction of Garmany & Carden Funeral Home in
Rosenberg.
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the
faith." 2 Timothy 4.7
Herald Coaster,
October 25, 1990
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