Joseph Lesniewski

Joseph A. Lesniewski (August 29, 1920 – May 23, 2012) was a soldier with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Lesniewski was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Simon Schatzberger. He was one of 20 contributors to the 2009 book We Who Are Alive and Remain: untold stories from the Band of Brothers, published by Penguin/ Berkley-Caliber.

Youth
Lesniewski was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, to Joseph and Ciechaka Lesniewski. He graduated in 1939 from Erie Technological High School. He was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps and then worked on machinery for General Electric. Joe enlisted and joined the Army Air Force on October 28, 1942. He tested and was accepted into the Cadet School to become a pilot. In August 1943, Lesniewski volunteered for the Airborne.

Military service
Lesniewski completed Airborne Infantry training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Afterward, he was shipped to Northern Ireland. Because he was fluent in Polish, he was sent to work with the Office of Strategic Services. His mission was to jump into Nazi-occupied Warsaw. The Russians overran the area and the jump was canceled. Joseph was given the option of staying with his unit or being transferred to any other unit. He requested the 101st Airborne. Joseph Lesniewski joined E Company in March 1944. As a replacement soldier, Lesniewski did not get along with the other men. One day when Lesniewski was singing some Western songs he learnt back in the States, Warren 'Skip' Muck and Alex Penkala went over and joined him. They became good friends. Lesniewski did not have any problem with the other guys from then on.

Lesniewski fought in Battle of Normandy, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge.

Lesniewski jumped at approximately 0100 hours on June 6, 1944 in Normandy. He landed near the town of Sainte-Mère-Église along with fellow E Company paratrooper Ed Joint. After several days, Lesniewski linked up with the rest of his unit and began the assault on Carentan.

During Operation Market Garden, Lesniewski was sent out on a patrol near a dike along with Art Youman, Joseph Liebgott, James Alley, and Roderick Strohl. After climbing to the top of the dike, Lesniewski came face-to-face with a German prepared to hurl a potato masher at him and his unit. Joe warned his comrades of the live grenade, saving many of the men in his squad, though he was lightly wounded in the neck by shrapnel from the grenade blast. Lesniewski began lobbing grenades over the dike toward the enemy soldiers. It turned out they encountered an entire company of German SS.

During the Battle of Bastogne, Lesniewski's feet were wrapped in burlap bags because he had turned his boots for repair and had no boots to wear in Bastogne. Easy Company was under constant artillery barrages from the Germans. During one of the shellings, Lesniewski took cover in a shallow foxhole. A shell came in and landed about 2 ft in front of him. The shell was a dud. Lesniewski tied a handkerchief to a stick and stuck it in the ground where the shell was to warn of the danger.

Later years
Lesniewski went to work for the United States Post Office as a mail carrier. He was one of 20 contributors to the 2009 book We Who Are Alive and Remain: untold stories from the Band of Brothers, published by Penguin/ Berkley-Caliber, and an interviewee in the HBO documentary We Stand Alone Together - Band of Brothers. He died, aged 91, in Erie, Pennsylvania.