On April 12, 2018, U.S. Defense Attaché Colonel John Downey presented three veterans of the Warsaw Uprising with U.S. flags. Accompanying him during the ceremony was Peter Chudy, a Polish-American resident of Warsaw and an avid amateur historian. The three veterans, all in their nineties, served in key roles during the Warsaw Uprising. Nearly 1,000 Warsaw Uprising veterans are still with us today.
Col. Halina Jędrzejewska, code name Sławka, joined the Uprising as a nurse in the Battalion Miotła. After the war, she went on to become a medical doctor.
Col. Eugeniusz Tyrajski, code name Sęk, assigned to the Baszta Regiment fought during the Uprising and was later captured and sent to a Prisoner of War camp before being freed by American forces. He later served as the first Polish translator for the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947.
Col. Zbigniew Galperyn, code name Antek, fought with the Chrobry I Battalion during the Uprising and was heavily wounded during the battle for Old Town.
Col. Downey expressed his gratitude to the veterans’ service by stating, “We are awestruck by the overwhelming odds you and your brothers and sisters in arms faced during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Anyone who has visited Poland cannot come away without a deep appreciation for your fight against tyranny. And given today’s challenges, we must never forget that struggle and be watchful of those who threaten our way of life at this very moment.”
The U.S. flags were sent by a Polish American resident of Virginia through Senator Mark Warner’s office, after being flown over the U.S. Capitol. The Embassy is proud to thank these three heroic officers for their longstanding and selfless service to Poland that continues today.
