Marine Stanley Stephen Swiontek was the child of Polish immigrants who kept all his letters home.
He was a field cook on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
For years afterward his mother, Victoria Wierzbicka Swiontek, got sick every Pearl Harbor day. "It was exhausting… every Dec. 7, the Arizona sinking, and she could picture her son, her favorite son, inside of it. It just tore her apart," his youngest sister, Rosemary, said.
On the 75th anniversary of the attack, a niece, Judy Hedlin, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "I remember growing up, December would come, for (a) little Catholic child that meant putting up decorations and baking cookies, and my mother and grandma were crying. As a child, I couldn't understand why we were sad and everyone else was happy."
Mr. Swiontek was born Nov. 2, 1918. His father, John, was listed in the 1920 Census as a saloon worker, in the 1930 Census as a candy store keeper and in 1940 as a steel mill employee. The family had seven children.
Stanley Swiontek joined the Marines on Jan. 20, 1940. A muster roll early in his career with the Marines also identified him as a field musician. He played the clarinet.
Sources: The Chicago Sun-Times; Marine muster rolls; Census; Illinois birth record. Marine photograph. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
Contributor: USS Arizona Mall Memorial at University of Arizona (50022871)
He was a field cook on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
For years afterward his mother, Victoria Wierzbicka Swiontek, got sick every Pearl Harbor day. "It was exhausting… every Dec. 7, the Arizona sinking, and she could picture her son, her favorite son, inside of it. It just tore her apart," his youngest sister, Rosemary, said.
On the 75th anniversary of the attack, a niece, Judy Hedlin, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "I remember growing up, December would come, for (a) little Catholic child that meant putting up decorations and baking cookies, and my mother and grandma were crying. As a child, I couldn't understand why we were sad and everyone else was happy."
Mr. Swiontek was born Nov. 2, 1918. His father, John, was listed in the 1920 Census as a saloon worker, in the 1930 Census as a candy store keeper and in 1940 as a steel mill employee. The family had seven children.
Stanley Swiontek joined the Marines on Jan. 20, 1940. A muster roll early in his career with the Marines also identified him as a field musician. He played the clarinet.
Sources: The Chicago Sun-Times; Marine muster rolls; Census; Illinois birth record. Marine photograph. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
Contributor: USS Arizona Mall Memorial at University of Arizona (50022871)
Marine Stanley Stephen Swiontek was the child of Polish immigrants who kept all his letters home.
He was a field cook on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
For years afterward his mother, Victoria Wierzbicka Swiontek, got sick every Pearl Harbor day. "It was exhausting… every Dec. 7, the Arizona sinking, and she could picture her son, her favorite son, inside of it. It just tore her apart," his youngest sister, Rosemary, said.
On the 75th anniversary of the attack, a niece, Judy Hedlin, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "I remember growing up, December would come, for (a) little Catholic child that meant putting up decorations and baking cookies, and my mother and grandma were crying. As a child, I couldn't understand why we were sad and everyone else was happy."
Mr. Swiontek was born Nov. 2, 1918. His father, John, was listed in the 1920 Census as a saloon worker, in the 1930 Census as a candy store keeper and in 1940 as a steel mill employee. The family had seven children.
Stanley Swiontek joined the Marines on Jan. 20, 1940. A muster roll early in his career with the Marines also identified him as a field musician. He played the clarinet.
Sources: The Chicago Sun-Times; Marine muster rolls; Census; Illinois birth record. Marine photograph. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
Contributor: USS Arizona Mall Memorial at University of Arizona (50022871)
He was a field cook on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
For years afterward his mother, Victoria Wierzbicka Swiontek, got sick every Pearl Harbor day. "It was exhausting… every Dec. 7, the Arizona sinking, and she could picture her son, her favorite son, inside of it. It just tore her apart," his youngest sister, Rosemary, said.
On the 75th anniversary of the attack, a niece, Judy Hedlin, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "I remember growing up, December would come, for (a) little Catholic child that meant putting up decorations and baking cookies, and my mother and grandma were crying. As a child, I couldn't understand why we were sad and everyone else was happy."
Mr. Swiontek was born Nov. 2, 1918. His father, John, was listed in the 1920 Census as a saloon worker, in the 1930 Census as a candy store keeper and in 1940 as a steel mill employee. The family had seven children.
Stanley Swiontek joined the Marines on Jan. 20, 1940. A muster roll early in his career with the Marines also identified him as a field musician. He played the clarinet.
Sources: The Chicago Sun-Times; Marine muster rolls; Census; Illinois birth record. Marine photograph. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
Contributor: USS Arizona Mall Memorial at University of Arizona (50022871)
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Illinois.
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