JOHNSTOWN — Andrew Balaschak of Johnstown was not thinking about being a hero or earning medals as he and his machine-gun team fought their way from Utah Beach up the coast of Normandy and across the Cotentin Peninsula in June 1944.

“It was one of those things,” Balaschak, 87, said at his Boyer Street home. “You went in, you did your duty, and you got the hell out. And that was it.”



Balaschak’s “duty” as a soldier in the Fighting Falcons of the 39th Infantry Regiment found him near the front lines in some of the bloodiest battles of World War II: Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, The Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe.

More than 45 years after helping drive Nazi Germany’s forces out of France, Balaschak was honored last week at the French Embassy in Washington.

Balaschak was named a Chevalier, or knight, of the Legion of Honor, which is France’s highest civilian award and similar to the U.S. Medal of Honor.

It represents the French Republic’s high esteem, the letter accompanying his medal said, adding it is “a sign of France’s true and unforgettable gratitude and appreciation for your personal, precious contribution to the United States’ decisive role in the liberation of our country during World War II.”

Joining Balaschak at the ceremony were his wife, Ethel, and four of their children, Charlotte Boden of Windber, Michael Balaschak of Altoona, James Balaschak of Philadelphia and Debra Weidman of Finksburg, Md.

It took some time before Balaschak could embrace his role as a war hero. Even after being wounded twice by enemy fire and receiving several medals for service, Balaschak did not flaunt his accomplishments when he returned home to Johnstown after the war.

“I never talked to my children about being in the war,” he said.

It was not until his experience as an architect got him involved with renovations at the Cambria County War Memorial museum that he began sharing his story and his memorabilia.

The story is a compelling one that begins with his arrival at Casablanca in northern Africa shortly after the 39th Infantry stormed the beaches of Algiers in November 1942, becoming the first U.S. combat troops to set foot on foreign soil during World War II.

After more fighting in Africa and then Sicily and Italy, his regiment joined the 9th Infantry Division preparing in Britain for the invasion of Europe. Their battle experience proved valuable when Balaschak and his team landed at Utah Beach on June 10, 1944, with the assignment of capturing the Cotentin Peninsula.

“We cut the peninsula from Quineville – the first town we had to attack – to Barneville-Carteret, where we stopped around a town called Saint-Jacques-de-Nehou,” Balaschak said.

It was there the fighters had their first setback, he recalled.

“The Germans attacked during the early morning and we got our asses kicked back to the main road that cut across (the peninsula),” Balaschak said. “But we held ground and counterattacked, and went forward to town after town.”

Soon the forces moved to the port city of Cherbourg-Octeville.

“Our 39th regiment captured the first port, Cherbourg, and its general and some naval officer and about 25,000 German troops,” Balaschak said.

There was no time to savor the late-June victory. Within days, the Allied troops were moving back down the Cotentin Peninsula, ready to head east across France and through Belgium to Germany.

The 39th was halted again near a town called Saint Lo, and orders came through to retreat 1,000 yards, Balaschak said.

“Our Air Force came over and dropped all these bombs,” Balaschak said. “When the bombs hit the ground there was dust and everything.

“The other planes that followed dropped their bombs in on our troops – myself included.”

A few days later in the village called Le Desert, a German bullet went through Balaschak’s side, passing through just above his hip.

“Next thing I know, I heard somebody say, ‘Sgt. Balaschak is hit,’” he said. The wound sent him back behind the lines for a few days of treatment and healing.

“I spent a couple days at company headquarters,” he said. “Then I was sent to go to what the hell ever would happen next.”

Next was the fight across France and Belgium into Germany, where they encountered fortified German troops at the Siegfried Line and plunged into battle at the Hurtgen Forest.

“I think that was the hardest,” Balaschak said.

“It was so damn dense. They were shooting artillery, and the shrapnel would just come raining down. You had no protection.”

Shrapnel wounds in the Hurtgen Forest battle earned Balaschak his second Purple Heart.

Again, the injuries were treated in the field. Balaschak was back into the fray in time for the Battle of the Bulge.

“The 99th Division came over just before the Battle of the Bulge,” Balaschak said. “They replaced our positions and we moved on. They were fresh troops – never saw a battle. That’s when the Germans counterattacked and they just knocked the crap out of the 99th Division.

“We had to come back and pick up the stragglers and throw them in our units. We held what is known as the Elsenborn Ridge. They never did break through that line. Our lines held.”

Holding the ridge was not without cost, however, Balaschak said. The soldiers faced near-constant bombardment and assaults through the brutal winter of 1944-1945. Frostbite and jammed weapons also plagued troops entrenched at the front lines.

“On Christmas Day on this Elsenborn Ridge, our headquarters company was maybe 1,000 yards back,” Balaschak said. “I took some men back with me to get turkey sandwiches on fresh bread and filled up the canteens with hot coffee to bring back to the men because you don’t leave the front lines.

“On the way back the Germans shelled the heck out of us and killed a few guys. Canteens went here and there. We picked up the stuff and distributed it to the men. That’s a nice Christmas present you get.”

After the hard-fought victory at the Bulge, Balaschak’s regiment stormed across Germany to help capture the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen – the last standing on the Rhine.

The 9th Division continued on to the Elbe River, where the Allies met Russian forces to finally defeat the Nazis on May 8, 1945.

By his 23rd birthday in September 1945, Balaschak no longer was in the Army.

Back home in Johnstown, the young Balaschak took his mind off the war by studying architecture, which would become his career.

He still finds it hard to talk about the experience. There are too many questions he can’t answer.

“What was it like?” he asked. “You’ll never know until you experience it. It was too hard to describe.”

The other question that comes up is just as hard: Were you afraid?

“I don’t think I ever thought about being afraid or of being killed,” Balaschak said. “That was farfetched from my mind. Besides, I had men to take care of. You on my left; you on my right; protect me, and I’ll protect you. That’s the way it goes. We had to protect each other if we wanted to get through this ordeal.”