{"id":18592,"date":"2016-09-03T01:52:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-03T05:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/?p=18592"},"modified":"2016-09-03T02:19:39","modified_gmt":"2016-09-03T06:19:39","slug":"leo-mayor-of-oneida-street-wabick-awarded-medals-for-world-war-ii-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/2016\/09\/leo-mayor-of-oneida-street-wabick-awarded-medals-for-world-war-ii-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Leo “Mayor of Oneida Street” Wabick Awarded Medals for World War II Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the\u00a0nation marked the 71st anniversary of the end of World War II on Friday, September 2, 2016, Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) presented 92-year-old United States Navy veteran Leo Andrew Wabick with medals earned while serving during World War II.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis anniversary is a time to reflect on the sacrifices made by Mr. Wabick and the thousands of others who bravely served during World War II,\u201d said Congressman Higgins.\u00a0 \u201cOn behalf of a grateful nation, it is our privilege to have this opportunity to present service medals earned over seven decades ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leo Andrew Wabick was born in 1925.\u00a0 His parents emigrated from Poland in search of a better life in the United States. In the early 1900s they bought a house on Oneida Street in Buffalo, NY where they raised six children – four daughters and two sons.\u00a0 The Wabick family celebrated their culture and good life in this country by regularly listening and dancing to Polka music.<\/p>\n

When Leo was 16 he met Ann, the love of his life. \u00a0He left Buffalo Public School #40 on Oneida Street early to work for his Aunt and Uncle on the family farm in Marilla, NY and when he was old enough began work with the Pennsylvania Railroad. \u00a0\u00a0But his job and his life with Ann would have to wait because of the war.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wabick enlisted in the U.S. Navy on May 5th, 1944, shortly after his 19th birthday. \u00a0He selected the Navy because he remembered his parents dressing him in a sailor suit when he was a child. \u00a0He chose service because he was grateful for the opportunities this great nation provided his family.<\/p>\n

Seaman First Class Wabick was assigned to the USS Sarasota<\/em> which was sent to the Pacific Theatre of Operation during WWII.\u00a0 The USS Sarasota<\/em> was commissioned on June 14, 1944 and on November 9th the ship arrived at Seeadler Harbor at Manus Island. \u00a0The next day the USS Mount Hood<\/em>, another ship in the Harbor carrying 3,800 tons of ammunition, exploded causing damage to other ships and hundreds of causalities. \u00a0Thankfully the Sarasota<\/em> was not destroyed but the mission of the ship immediately shifted to transporting the wounded to the nearest hospital.<\/p>\n

The Sarasota\u2019s <\/em>first major battle was the battle of Luzon, where the ship was responsible for transporting assault troops to \u201cCrimson Beach,\u201d \u201cBlue Beach,\u201d and other areas while also picking up casualties for transport to medical facilities. \u00a0But the ship\u2019s most noted involvement came during the Invasion of Okinawa which is considered the largest invasion of the Pacific and the most deadly during World War II, taking place from April 1st until June 22nd, 1945, and killing over 12,000 Americans.\u00a0 The Sarasota<\/em> transported troops to Guam and brought casualties to Saipan and Pearl Harbor. \u00a0In total, the USS Sarasota <\/em>earned three battle stars during World War II.<\/p>\n

When the war ended the USS Sarasota<\/em> was assigned to the \u201cMagic Carpet\u201d fleet and its mission became bringing troops back home to the U.S. \u00a0During his service Mr. Wabick recalls crossing the Equator twice and explains, \u201cWhen on-board the Sarasota<\/em> you don\u2019t just cross the Equator there is a ceremony.\u00a0 Those who never crossed were considered \u2018Pollywogs\u2019 and they were initiated by the \u2018Royal Officers,\u2019 those who previously crossed.\u201d The ritual involved sliding through scraps of food. \u00a0Wabick was pleased to move to \u201cRoyal Officer\u201d status on his second crossing.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wabick rose through the ranks throughout his two years of service in the Navy, starting as an Apprentice Seaman, advancing to the Seaman 2nd Class, Seaman 1st Class, and eventually became a Shipfitter, Third Class.<\/p>\n

On May 16, 1946 he was honorably discharged from the United States Navy.\u00a0 A few short years later he married Ann.\u00a0 They moved into the family home on Oneida Street and he returned to his job at the Pennsylvania Railroad. \u00a0\u00a0In 1964 he went to work building bridges for Ernst Construction until his retirement in 1979.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wabick\u2019s daughters contacted Congressman Higgins\u2019 office in an effort to honor their father for his service. \u00a0For his sacrifices Mr. Wabick was presented with the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Discharge Button, and the Honorable Service Lapel Pin.<\/p>\n

The ceremony took place at the Buffalo Naval and Military Park in front of the Polish-American Veterans WWII memorial on the 71st Anniversary of the official end of World War II. \u00a0The presentation included a wreath laying ceremony in remembrance of the more than 60 million people killed during the war.<\/p>\n

Today Mr. Wabick still lives in his childhood home on Oneida Street, and has passed down the family\u2019s love for Polka music and dancing with his 6 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren. \u00a0\u00a0Mr. Wabick\u2019s years in the home and constant watchful eye looking over neighbors has earned him the nickname \u201cMayor of Oneida Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery (click on images for full view)<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Leo <\/a> <\/div>
\"Dyngus <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the\u00a0nation marked the 71st anniversary of the end of World War II on Friday, September 2, 2016, Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) presented 92-year-old United<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":18595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"On the 71st Anniversary of the End of World War II Congressman Higgins Honors World War II Veteran Leo Andrew Wabick with Long Overdue Medals","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-bf-people"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/1-Wreath-Laying_0-001.jpg?fit=560%2C335&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1Wcy1-4PS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18592"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18601,"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18592\/revisions\/18601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadwayfillmorealive.org\/2.0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}