SUBLETTE COUNTY – The horse-drawn caisson carrying the stays of Lt. Col. Roman T. Piernick, U.S. Army, moved slowly down slim lanes flanked by rows of white marble monuments marking the graves of servicemen and girls in Arlington Nationwide Cemetery.
Out of nowhere, a member of the Special Forces materialized from behind a tree or bush, stepping ahead to salute the funeral procession because it handed by. The Special Forces officer disappeared again into the recesses of the cemetery and one other officer appeared to salute Lt. Col. Piernick.
Throughout the service, U.S. Army pilots flew a lacking particular person’s formation over the cemetery in honor of Lt. Col. Piernick. The U.S. Secretary of State on the time, James A. Baker III, introduced the folded flag to Roman Piernick’s spouse.
“It was essentially the most transferring service,” mentioned Roman “Rocky” Piernick, Jr., Lt. Col. Piernick’s son.
Lt. Col. Roman T. Piernick died on Oct. 31, 1990, solely weeks earlier than Veterans Day, following an extended and distinguished profession within the U.S. Army. Roman Piernick served in World Conflict II, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam Conflict. The lieutenant colonel acquired three Purple Hears, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, a Presidential Korean Quotation and a Legion of Advantage medal for service within the European theatre throughout World Conflict II.
Upon retirement from the U.S. Army within the Nineteen Sixties, Roman Piernick was “director of operations and safety worldwide” for the U.S. Special Forces, mentioned Rocky Piernick.
Unraveling Roman Piernick’s army historical past is a problem. His involvement within the U.S. Special Forces, the U.S. Army Rangers and the predecessors to these elite, secret forces, means most of Roman Piernick’s army data are troublesome, if not unimaginable, to entry. Roman Piernick hardly ever shared tales in regards to the many years he spent within the U.S. Army.
World Conflict II particularly was an “terrible, brutal time in historical past” that veterans seldom spoke about, Rocky Piernick recalled.
Piecing collectively a veteran’s story
Rocky Piernick’s grandparents fled Poland and “White Russia” (what’s at this time Belarus) as communists and fascists seized energy throughout Central and Japanese Europe within the early twentieth century.
Roman Piernick spoke fluent German and a number of Slavic dialects, mentioned Rocky Piernick, a talent that proved invaluable in the course of the Second World Conflict.
Rocky Piernick’s father loathed dictators and mass murderers like Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler.
The Piernicks landed in Detroit. Throughout the Nice Melancholy, Roman Piernick joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and was dispatched to the Snyder Basin CCC Camp west of Large Piney.
The CCC “gave metropolis guys one thing to do,” mentioned his son, Rocky Piernick, together with constructing roads, logging and erecting fences.
The CCC males spent their downtime on the town, frequenting the Image Present and Doc’s Cafe and Bar Room in Large Piney, owned by Charles “Charlie” Clyde. A younger waitress named Flora Helen Dunham labored at Clyde’s restaurant and caught younger Roman Piernick’s eye.
Flora Dunham’s father, Henry C. “Doc” Dunham, helped construct the Large Piney Airport with a truck and a scooper blade, Rocky Piernick mentioned. Henry Dunham’s spouse ran the native cellphone workplace.
Roman Piernick married Flora Dunham in 1938 or 1939.
After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the USA declared struggle on the Japanese Empire. Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, declared struggle on the USA and America entered the bloodiest battle within the twentieth century.
Roman Piernick enlisted within the U.S. Army a number of months afterward Might 5, 1942, based on U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs data.
Preventing his method by means of WWII’s main battles within the European theatre, Roman Piernick started his service battling German forces commanded by Subject Marshall Erwin Rommel in North Africa.
Roman Piernick participated within the Allied invasion to dislodge the Germans from Sicily in summer season 1943.
Hours after midnight on June 6, 1943, paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division, together with Roman Piernick, parachuted from plane onto German-occupied French soil to make method for the principle Allied touchdown power to storm Normandy on D-Day.
Roman Piernick spent Christmas 1944 and New Years 1945 within the bitter chilly, pushing again Hitler’s final ditch try to dislodge the Allies on the Battle of the Bulge.
The army awarded Roman Piernick his first Silver Star in 1945 for “gallantry in motion” whereas serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in Germany on April 30, 1945, the day Hitler ended his life.
In response to Navy Occasions, an internet database, 1st Lt. Piernick drew fireplace from German troopers lodged in a farmhouse.
“Entering into plain view, 1st Lt. Piernick referred to as for the give up of the occupants and fired his sub-machine gun into the higher a part of the home,” the file acknowledged. “About 40 (German troopers), together with officers, have been taken.”
Rocky Piernick describes his father as a gifted linguist. The U.S. Army took full benefit of Roman Piernick’s information of German, Polish and French, dispatching him on quite a few operations to “attempt to discover out what Hitler would pull subsequent,” Rocky Piernick mentioned.
Roman Piernick was stationed in Berlin following the unconditional give up of Germany on Might 7, 1945. His “principal responsibility” was “ferreting out German scientists,” Rocky Piernick acknowledged.
Roman Piernick additionally boasted the title because the “undisputed boxing champion” of the 82nd Airborne Division for 5 years.
“He was one robust f**ker,” his son mentioned.
Korea and Vietnam
The Korean Conflict broke out on June 25, 1950. Roman Piernick served on the Korean Peninsula as a U.S. Army Ranger in the course of the battle. Most of Roman Piernick’s time in Korea is shrouded in thriller. He was wounded and acquired his second Silver Star in the course of the struggle.
Piernick’s knack for selecting up languages got here in helpful as soon as extra, and he discovered to talk fluent Mandarin Chinese language, Rocky Piernick mentioned.
Roman Piernick was “out and in” of the army after the 1953 armistice that cut up the Korean Peninsula into the separate nations of North Korea and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) alongside the Demilitarized Zone.
In the meantime, battle was heating up throughout French Indochina in Southeast Asia. Following France’s withdrawal from its colonies there in 1954 and the formation of the unbiased states of North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, the USA elevated its army presence within the area to cease the unfold of communism.
Because the Vietnam Conflict intensified, Roman Piernick as soon as once more discovered himself on the entrance strains. Piernick spoke fluent French and was concerned in “clandestine operations,” organising contacts throughout Vietnam and coaching troopers to enter Laos and Cambodia, Rocky Piernick mentioned.
Roman Piernick was a member of the Navy Help Command Vietnam-Research and Observations Group, a covert department of the U.S. army concerned in “plausibly deniable” operations throughout Southeast Asia. Roman Piernick additionally labored within the Pentagon throughout Vietnam.
Roman Piernick finally retired from the army within the Nineteen Sixties and settled in Naples, Florida. Rocky Piernick nonetheless lives in Large Piney.
Lt. Col. Roman Piernick’s medals and repair saber can be found for the general public to view on the Marbleton Senior Middle at 429 E. 1st St.
