Leo J. Petrik
Army Engineer
Corps WWII EUR
Leo J. Petrik was born Sept. 23, 1923 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was the son of Joe and Alice (Vaverka) Petrik. Leo graduated from Shueyville High School in 1943.
Leo entered the military in January 1944. He was a member of Company B 282nd Engineer Combat Battalion. His unit was part of the Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe Campaign that began in England and crossed into France and Germany. Leo left the Army in May 1946 with a grade of TEC/5.
After returning home, Leo married his high-school sweetheart Irene Louvar in August 1946 in the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. Leo and his father built a home for the couple in Swisher, Iowa. He and Irene lived there until Leo died March 1996 in University Hospitals in Iowa City. Leo enjoyed photography, polka music, talking with people and taking trips with Irene in their van.
Honors earned: European African Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and Army of Occupation Medal-Germany.
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