Fred C. Pronchick was born in April 10, 2017 and resided in Spring City. Fred was the third born of four children. His parents immigrated from Poland in 1904. Fred's mother passed away when he was very young. 

Fred entered the service in June, 1941 and was stationed in San Francisco and the Hawaiian Islands before being sent to the Philippines. When last in contact with his family, he told them he was serving on Prompanga Island with an Engineer‘s Corp. He was assigned to the 803rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, U. S. Army Air Forces.

Fred's family was notified in July, 1943 that he died of Malaria in a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines. The message received from the American Red Cross was dated June 30, 1943, but military records list his date of death as October 22, 1942. 

He was buried overseas in the Manila American Cemetery. This hero was awarded the Silver Star.

Credits

Research by Vince Lukach, WCMSC