My dad's name was Steve Urick from Arlington Heights, IL. He was a PFC who served in North Africa and Anzio, Italy. He was in Company B/235th Combat Engineer Battalion, US Army dog tag #36 311 652.

He received 4 Bronze Battle Stars, 4 Overseas Service Stars, and a Good Conduct Ribbon.

He entered active service on 1/15/1942 at Camp Grant, Illinois. He was honorably discharged at Fort Sheridan, Illinois on June 14, 1945. He was born on 8/23/1916 and passed on 10/8/2006 at age 90. He worked most of his life as a carpenter.

*The original archive of his letter can be found here:

I rewrote his letter fixing the print errors and typos---but maintaining his narrative in the attached document. I hope to hear back from you, Marion. Thank you for all the work you do in keeping the memories of our WW2 veteran's alive. It would be wonderful to hear from a guy who was part of dad's battalion.

Submitted by his loving son, Ron Urick, Crystal Lake, IL

Marion...The caption my dad wrote under the photo of him holding the machete and rifle said: "Not so tough. I changed that expression when I arrived at Anzio". (He was also a non smoker--and used the cigarette in the photo only.)

Journey with the Combat Engineers in WWII - Essayons

View more of Steve's photos in the photo gallery