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Biography of Emil Frank Trojacek
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Telico, Texas
Emil Trojacek was a private first class in the United States Army. He enlisted in the army on December 1, 1941, and received basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, north of Lawton in Comanche County. Geronimo, Chief of the Chiricahua Apaches, is buried in the Apache Cemetery at Fort Sill.
Trojacek was shipped from Fort Sill to Camp Roberts, near San Luis Obispo, California, for additional training, and then shipped directly overseas without the benefit of a furlough.
He arrived in Australia on May 16, 1942, and later landed on New Guinea. His last letter home was dated December 27, and on December 31, 1942 he was killed in action at Buna on the southeast coast of New Guinea. He was 26.
A Memorial Service was held by his regiment on Sunday, March 28, 1943 to honor the officers and men of the 126th Infantry Regiment who had been killed in action or were reported missing in action during the campaign in New Guinea. A Memorial Service program was sent to Emil's mother.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe M. Trojacek of Telico. He was born on July 22, 1916 in Telico, and educated at Telico school. He worked on his father's farm, and later was employed as a clerk at Slampa General Store at Telico. In 1938 he purchased the general store and gas station, and operated it until leaving for the army in 1941. Emil's sister, Lillie Trojacek, replace him at the store while he was in the service, and operated the store for his heirs following his death. In 1946 Lillie and her husband, R. E. Forsom, purchased the general store from Emil's estate.
Following the end of World War II, his body was exhumed, and reburied at St. Joseph Cemetery at Ennis, Texas. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal, Presidential Citation and Citation from the Governor of Texas.
He is listed on the Waxahachie Daily Light Honor Roll, the Memorial Monument to Ennis War Dead and the Ellis County Veterans Memorial.
Jack Lummus Memorial Park Ellis County Veterans Memorial
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