Edward William Sell was born on 13 September 1915, in Peru, Illinois, to Max and Anna (Fitzsimmons) Sell. Edward’s father Max was a German-born immigrant who traveled to the U.S. as a young boy with his parents and sister and brother. Edward’s mother was born in Illinois. Max and Anna married in Peru on 7 August 1907. As a young boy Edward lived in a home his parents rented at 1409 Pulaski street in Peru with his three sisters, two older and one younger, and two younger brothers. His father was an electrical engineer at the local Zinc Works for…
Tag: SBTS
PVT Albin J. Pocivasek, Service No. 36693406
Albin John Pocivasek was born on 10 June 1919, in the city of Peru, Illinois, on the first of a 10-day stretch of 90 plus degree days. His parents, John and Mary (Setinc) Pocivasek, were immigrants from what was then Austria, hailing from the towns of Rann and Bukosek respectively—areas now part of eastern Slovenia. Albin was their second child with the first being a son named John. The Pocivasek family’s early days in America were filled with both opportunity and hardship. Albin’s father, John, operated a soft drink parlor and provided for his family until tragedy struck. He succumbed…
PFC Ralph William Mueller, Service No. 36062038
PFC Ralph William Mueller was born on 18 August 1911, in the city of Peru, Illinois—a small city nestled in the heart of the Illinois Valley. His parents, John and Petronilla (Wagner) Mueller, were both natives of the area, with deep roots in the local community and large extended families. Ralph also had a younger sister Mildetta who was born in 1914. Ralph’s paternal grandparents William and Mary (Schwamborn) Mueller were immigrants from Ruppichteroth and Heßheim in Germany respectively. They left their country for the U.S. in the early 1880s. Upon arriving, they met and married in 1882, and eventually…
S SG Frank Florian Liss, Service No. 36014000
Frank Florian Liss was born the day before Christmas in 1916, in Peru, Illinois, to Frank and Anna (Budziak) Liss. He was the third son born to the couple. Frank Sr. worked as a machinist and ultimately a sheet metal worker at the cement mill. By 1930 when Frank Jr. was 14, the family was living in a home they purchased at 715 Fifth street in Peru. Frank’s upbringing was possibly influenced by his maternal grandmother, Josephine Budziak, who lived just a few blocks away. His paternal grandmother, Josie Liss, also resided in the area living in 1930 in LaSalle…
S SG Alfred Charles Knudtson, Service No. 16079636
Alfred Charles Knudtson, born on 5 June 1921 in Peru, Illinois, was the second child of James C. and Luella (Schmidt) Knudtson. Alfred’s father was a Norwegian immigrant who arrived in America in 1889 under the name James Christian Winter. James Knudtson ultimately settled in Peru, Illinois, where he met and married Luella Schmidt in November 1910. Much of Alfred’s life was spent in his family’s home at 2229 State Street in Peru with his parents and three sisters— Genevieve, Mavis, and Ruth. Their father James supported the family by working when he could as a cigar maker. As a…
1 LT Valerian Emet Klein, Service No. O-819407
Valerian Emet Klein, who entered this world on 26 April 1920 in Peru, Illinois, was the first-born son of Henry A. and Clara M. (Zaniecki) Klein. His early years in his Roman Catholic family were marked by the hardworking ethos of his father, grandfather, and uncle, all employed at Westclox—a local clock factory. Tragedy first struck the family with the death of Valerian’s grandfather, a German immigrant, who succumbed at age 60 to flu and pneumonia when Valerian was just under a year old. Throughout his childhood, Valerian experienced further personal loss; his younger brothers, Howard and William Edward, passed…
PVT Albert Lee Johnson, Service No. 36673535
Military Service In the summer of 1943, 21-year-old Albert Lee Johnson joined the U.S. Army to serve his country in World War II. He trained at Camp Reynolds near Greenville, Pennsylvania and in May 1944 deployed overseas as a medical aidman in the 18th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division. A month later he parachuted into Europe as part of the D-Day invasion. In the ensuing months, PVT Johnson’s resolve was unyielding as he aided his unit across the war-torn landscapes of France and Belgium. Amidst the chaos of one of his unit’s battles in Germany on 15 September…
PFC John Anthony Torchia, Service Number 36438620
John Anthony Torchia’s story is a poignant reminder of the human cost of war and the valor of those who serve. He was born on 27 June 1922, in LaSalle, Illinois, to Anton and Angelina (Colmane) Torchia, immigrants from Parco, Sicily, Italy (now Altofonte). John’s father, Anton, had arrived in America in 1912 at age 16, and married John’s mother, Angelina, in 1920. John’s mother Angelina made her own journey of immigration from Italy to the U.S. in 1906 at age four along with her mother and younger brother Antonio. John’s early life was steeped in the close-knit, hardworking community…
PFC Delmar A Delaney, Service No. 36372055
Delmar Albert Delaney was born on 21 August 1917, in Peru, Illinois, to John and Edith (Meyer) Delaney. When Delmar was born his parents had been married for five years and had two older children: John and Lucille. Delmar had Irish ancestry through his paternal great grandparents John and Mary Cusick Delaney who immigrated to America from Ireland in the 1800s. However, he also had a strong German background through his other set of paternal great grandparents Philip Fouth and Philipena Walter Fouth who had arrived in America from Germany in the early 1800s and settled in Bureau county. Delmar…
TEC5 Clement L. Gillio, Service No. 36323575
TEC5 Clement Louis Gillio was born to Italian immigrant parents, August and Angelina (Benedino) Gillio, in Oglesby, Illinois, on 12 October 1916. Clement’s father, August Gillio, had come to the United States at age 21 to join his older brother Antonio. It’s unclear where August first settled upon arriving. However, in Pontiac, Illinois, in 1906, August Gillio married Angelina Benedino, a young lady from his hometown of Cascinette, Italy, By 1910, August and his wife were living in Oglesby, Illinois, and August was supporting his family by working in the coal mine. In 1920 when Clement was three, the Gillio…