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Lt. Governor Quinn joins with host family of fallen hero Marine PFC Dawid Pietrek to salute his service to our country



CHICAGO - November 17, 2008.  Lt. Governor Pat Quinn joined with the host family of Polish native and fallen Illinois servicemember Marine Private First Class Dawid Pietrek (Bensenville) to honor and salute his service to our country. 

"Private Pietrek served with pride and honor and gave his last full measure of devotion to our democracy," Quinn said.  "A native of Poland, Private Pietrek made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and his memory will not be forgotten."

Quinn departed for Poland on Monday to present Private Pietrek's Purple Heart to his mother, Dorota Pietrek.  He will also present Mrs. Pietrek with a Gold Star Mothers banner and an original portrait of Private Pietrek.  The portrait travels the state as part of Lt. Governor Quinn's Portrait of a Soldier memorial tribute to each fallen servicemember from the state of Illinois. 

"We are helping and protecting these people and providing them with schooling and medicine," wrote Private Pietrek in a letter to his mother and sister after arriving in Afghanistan. "If something should happen to me remember -- this was my decision.  We're defending people here and fighting terrorists."

Private Pietrek was killed along with three of his comrades in southwest Afghanistan on June 14, 2008 by a roadside bomb.  He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, and in just over a year received numerous awards, including the Bronze Star Medal.

Quinn was joined by Bill and Joanne Rohn, host parents to Private Pietrek.  Private Pietrek worked as a caregiver for Joanne's elderly father until he passed away in early 2006 at the age of 88.  In June 2007, Private Pietrek joined the Marine Corps just three years after arriving in the United States.

Private Pietrek had always dreamed of receiving his citizenship, attending college and becoming a police officer.  On the day of his funeral, Mrs. Pietrek was presented with her son's certificate of posthumous citizenship by the Department of Homeland Security.

Just one week before Thanksgiving, Lt. Governor Quinn will continue his military mission by traveling to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in Germany to hand-deliver Thanksgiving messages of gratitude.  The cards were handmade by Illinois schoolchildren for servicemembers serving and recovering at the military hospital. 

LRMC is often the first stop on a long road home for many soldiers wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

Having visited three times before, Lt. Governor Quinn knows just how important messages from home are to the wounded soldiers recovering at Landstuhl, as well as the 110 physicians, 250 nurses, 40 Medical Service Corps officers, 900 enlisted personnel, and 550 civilian employees who work together to treat the most seriously wounded.

For more information on how to participate in the upcoming card drive for servicemembers overseas and help our military heroes, visit OperationHomefront.org.