


Sometime around the battle, Penkala was wounded by a Mortar explosion in the arm. They were eventually sent to Bastogne in the Ardennes forest, Belgium on December 18 to relieve the 28th Infantry Division under command of Major General Troy Houston Middleton, during the Battle of the Bulge. He and his unit were pulled off the line on November 26, and were sent to France. Death and burial ground of Penkala, Alex Mike Jr. They fought against a unit of German SS soldiers, and beat them on October 5. The Operation eventually ended on September 25, and the 2nd Battalion was sent to an area known as “The Island” on October 2. They met little resistance when they landed, but were bested at Nuenen on September 20th. He and the unit the landed in Holland on September 17, part of Operation Market Garden. They then headed back to Aldbourne in July, where they waited for their next mission. They met a fierce counterattack by the Germans, but won the fight. Donald “Don” Malarkey, and Private More chatted about how 1st Lieutenant Ronald Speirs killed a few Germans on D-Day, before heading out.

While relaxing, he, Private Albert Blithe, Sergeant “Skip” Muck, PFC. They eventually won with only a few wounded. On June 10, he and the 506th headed to Carentan, where they fought a fierce battle for the town. After completing more training at Camp Mackell in 1943, he and the rest of the unit were sent to Aldbourne, England.Īlex dropped with the 101st Airborne into Normandy, France on June 6, 1944, part of Operation Overlord. No memorial services were held for him.Īfter completing training in August, Mike Penkala was sent to Fort Benning, where he earned his jumpwings as a paratrooper. He died there of malnutrition on 30-09-1987. Soon afterward, he began living at a VA assisted-living facility in Waukegan, Illinois. Both of his optic nerves were severed by the shot, leaving him blind. The bullet entered his left temple, passed behind his eyes, and exited the other side of his head. In 1970, Sobel shot himself in the head with a small-caliber pistol in an attempted suicide. He was sent to Camp Toccoa, Georgia, where he was assigned to Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th, of the 101 Airborne Division where he was put under the harsh leadership of Herbert Sobel. He was drafted into the Army on 27–02-1942, at Toledo, Ohio, and volunteered for the paratroopers. He dropped out of high school in 1939 when he was in his sophomore year, and found a job as a cook. He had two brothers and nine sisters: Angela M. Penkala Sobczyk (1909–1983), Mary Penkala Setlak (1911–1987), Helen E. Penkala Hawblitzel (1912–1972), Matilda V. Penkala Budney (1914–1999), Genevieve A. Penkala Guljas (1915–2000), Edward F. Penkala, Alex Mike, born 30-08-1924 in in South Bend, Indiana to Alexander “Alex” Penkala (1882–1963) and his wife Mary, born Kinski Penkala (1888–1928) His mother died after giving birth to another child and Penkala’s sister Irene looked after him and his 12 other siblings.
