Chester J. Gdowik
Rank: Private First Class, U.S. Army
Serial: 32758800
Unit: 6th Armored Infantry Battalion, 1st Armored Division
Entered service from: New Jersey
Died: May 25, 1944, Italy
Burial: St. Joseph Cemetery, 240 Lower Landing Road, Blackwood, NJ
Awards: Purple Heart
Biography
Private First Class Chester Gdowik, the son of Ludwik and Mary Gdowik of 947 Jackson Street, Camden, NJ, was born on February 2, 1923. He attended St. Joseph's Parochial School in Camden and Camden County Vocational Technical School in Pennsauken, NJ. An active athlete, he participated in various track, football, and basketball games. He worked in the machine shop at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyards in Camden before his induction into the Army.
After being called up, Chester Gdowik trained at Fort Dix, NJ, and Camp Croft at Spartanburg, SC, before being assigned to the 6th Armored Infantry Battalion, 1st Armored Division. Private Gdowik saw active duty in North Africa and in Italy, where he was killed in action on May 25, 1944.
Chester Gdowik was survived by his parents, and his brother John.
This bench, bearing the name of Chester Gdowik, is located at the St. Joseph Parish of South Camden NJ WWII Memorial, at Cooper River Park, Route 130 North and Park Drive, in Pennsauken, NJ.
Photos
Tag: chester-j-gdowik
Polish Heroes War Memorial
The Polish Heroes War Memorial at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, N.J. (Park Drive and Route 130) unites three monuments — to Casimir Pulaski (1936, moved here 1984), Thaddeus Kosciusko (1984), and, since 1995, the members of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church of South Camden who died in World War II.
St. Joseph's Parish WWII War Memorial
A bronze plaque in the vestibule of St. Joseph Church at 10th and Liberty Streets in Camden, presented by the Catholic War Veterans, St. Joseph's Post 418, and dedicated April 3, 1949, honoring the parish's heroic war dead of World War II.
Veteran of one war remembers casualty of yet another
Korean War veteran Stan Bednarczyk of Audubon remembers his Camden next-door neighbor Chester Gdowik — the big kid who invented "Mr. Muscles", played third base for the Falcons, and was killed in Italy in 1944 — in a Memorial Day column for the Courier-Post.
Military Rites Set For Pvt. Gdowik
The Camden Courier-Post announces a full military funeral for Pvt. Chester J. Gdowik, killed in action in Italy on May 25, 1944, with High Mass at St. Joseph's Church and burial at St. Joseph's cemetery, Chews Landing.