Benjamin Theodore Anuskewicz – Colonel, United States Army

COLONEL BENJAMIN ANUSKEWICZ DIES; WINNER OF SILVER STAR ON D-DAY

NEW YORK, New York, June 4, 1967 – Colonel Benjamin T. Anuskewicz, USA, retired, died Tuesday of a heart ailment in the St. Albans Naval Hospital in Queens.  He was 67 years old and lived at 30 Stoner Avenue in Great Neck, Long Island.

Colonel Anuskewicz served in the Cavalry on the Mexican Birder Expedition of 1916, overseas in the First Gas Regiment in World War I and in the Chemical Corps in World War II.

He won the Silver Star for bravery in the first wave of the Normandy Invasion. He continued to supervise smoke-screen operations from patrol boats after having had an eye shot out.

He also was wounded when a Nazi bomb his observation post at St. Lo, and earlier in Southern England, where he had served with an anti-aircraft unit.

Colonel Anuskewicz won the Soldier’s Medal for heroism on July 7, 1935.  A Captain commanding the Civilian Conservation Corps at Oxford, New York, he swam the raging current of Genegantslet Creek after a cloudburst to warn motorists that the bridge had been washed out.

He also held the Croix de Guerre, the Garcia Moreno Medal of Ecuador for aiding victims of the major earthquake there in 1949 and other decorations from Poland and other countries.

Colonel Anuskewicz was born in Brooklyn, New York.  In 1934 after serving as a Deputy United States Marshal in the Eastern District of New York, he became a supervisory administrator for the City Department of Welfare.  In 1937 he went to the highway department of the Brooklyn Borough President.

In 1940-41, as assistant director of Selective Service here, he organized its foreign language division, taking over 3,000 volunteer interpreters representing 38 nationalities.  On the day after Pearl Harbor he applied for combat duty.

After the war he headed the Brooklyn Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans and fought successfully for the right of New York disabled veterans to choose their own physician, with the Veterans Administration paying the bills.

In 1945 Colonel Anuskewicz became chief clerk to District Attorney George J. Beldock of Brooklyn.  Later he was assistant Civil Defense director for Nassau County. He retired about five years ago.

He was a former national commander of the Polish Legion of the American Army and a former president of the Brooklyn Chapter of the Reserve Officers Association of the United States.

Surviving are his widow, Josephine, 2 daughters, Mrs. Theodore Heesen and Mrs. Juliette Ashe; 2 brothers, Colonel William Anuskewicz of the Army Reserve and Theodore; 10 grandchildren.  A brother, Colonel Julian Anuskewicz, was killed in World War II.

A requiem mass will be offered tomorrow at 10 A.M. at St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church in Great Neck.  Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery.
ANUSKEWICZ, BENJAMIN T
COL   US ARMY
MEXICAN BORDER, WORLD WAR I, WORLD WAR II
DATE OF BIRTH: 06/28/1899
DATE OF DEATH: 06/01/1967
BURIED AT: SECTION 3  SITE 2062-Q
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

ANUSKEWICZ, JOSEPHINE
DATE OF BIRTH: 03/18/1907
DATE OF DEATH: 05/23/2001
BURIED AT: SECTION 3  SITE 2062-Q
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard