Joliet resident honors family's World War II military service

JOLIET – To this day, Peter Papesh flies seven flags in his yard – a symbol of honor and remembrance of his family’s service to the country.

His World War II experience put him on the Pacific Ocean during his years of service in 1944 and 1945. He served as an Army technician in the amphibious engineering regiment in the south Pacific area, training with ship and aircraft rescue boats in the jungles of Zamboanga on the Philippines island of Mindanao.

And when the two historic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, Papesh, born and raised in Joliet, was on the front lines.

But he wasn’t alone.

Papesh’s six older brothers also served, with a Papesh in almost every arena of the war.

Seven brothers

Papesh, now 89, clutched one of his most prized possessions – a silk-set framed memorial painting showing the headshot photos of the seven brothers around an image of a bald eagle and U.S. flag with their last name inscribed on a gold border – when he told his World War II story.

The Papesh brothers grew up in Joliet on Broadway Street. But they were spread around the world during the war. While 407,316 U.S. soldiers died in the war, all the Papesh brothers survived.

“This is something that I’m proud of and that the family is proud of,” Papesh said. “We were all drafted, and we just did what we were supposed to do.”

The oldest brother, Mike, served in the Philippines. Papesh said he doesn’t know too much about Mike because he almost was a generation older. But he does know Mike moved to Indianapolis and worked as a pipefitter in a pharmaceutical company after the war.

Second in line, Albert campaigned in Africa through Italy with two injuries, one serious. When Albert came home, he worked at Joliet Pattern Works.

“He suffered the most,” Papesh said. “But he didn’t lose a hand or a leg. He always went back into action.”

The third brother, Stephen, served in France and Belgium but started working in Cleveland before the war.

Brother Joe, like Albert, stayed home after serving in New Zealand. He helped build homes as a carpenter in Joliet and Rockdale.

George joined older brother Stephen in Belgium during the war, and both played a part in the invasion of Normandy. After the war, George worked at the American Seed & Oil Company for most of his life.

Ralph also served in the Pacific and joined Papesh in Okinawa during the invasion.

“He was more or less a politician all his life,” Papesh said, noting Ralph was a local precinct committeeman who ran for several public offices and once jumped in front of John F. Kennedy’s motorcade to urge the young campaigning presidential candidate to meet the family in Joliet.

Papesh, the youngest of the seven brothers, ran the family’s local tavern for about 15 years. He also worked for Caterpillar for a little more than five years, and helped manage the park and cemetery for St. Joseph Catholic Church.

Papesh also said he was a state liquor commissioner for 19 years and played the accordion in shows throughout 17 states, Canada and Slovenia.

“They were all a great bunch of brothers,” said Papesh’s wife, Theresa. “They went and did their duties.”

The war

World War II was a completely different setting than some of the more modern wars, such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“When I went in with the infantry, they gave us cold clothes in the cold weather,” Papesh said. “We never knew how the war was going.”

The seven brothers also were almost completely unable to communicate back home or to each other, a stark contrast from the phone and video calls afforded to soldiers today.

“What you see today is so much different,” Papesh said. “When I came back, they had a little party in the backyard. Today, they go away from six to eight months and they’re honored very well.”

The brothers’ parents were proud of their sons’ service, although Papesh’s mother died in 1942 before he started serving. She collected news clippings and knew in what part of the world her sons were fighting.

Papesh said his Slovenian immigrant father, John, didn’t want him to join.

“My father took it like a man,” Papesh said. “But I was the last one. I could have gotten out and I could have refused to go. But I told him, ‘No.’ ”

Much of Papesh’s wartime experience was spent operating a J-boat – a single-mast sailboat – after news of the atomic bombs hit.

“I didn’t know how to operate it,” Papesh said. “But they told me, ‘Here’s your number. Just go out in the ocean. What are you going to hit?’”

Papesh stayed through the occupation of Japan. And that’s when he experienced one of the greatest moments of his service.

“I happen to be reading the paper and there was a Japanese man – he had good English – who owned a shipyard and asked what I was reading,” Papesh said. “It was a Herald-News article with all the brothers’ photos and names in it. He said it was nice and asked to take it and show his wife.”

Papesh gave the paper to the man on the condition that the man return it. But after several meetings during the next week, the man didn’t bring the paper back, despite Papesh repeatedly asked for the paper. A week later, the shipyard owner handed Papesh the silk painting bearing with pictures of his family – the same one Papesh prizes and displays in the center of a wall at his home.

“I asked him, ‘Here, you’re a Japanese and you’re doing this for an American.’ He said that he owned the shipyard his whole life. And the Japanese put him in a prison because he wouldn’t build a ship to fight the Americans,” Papesh said.

“That was just amazing.”