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Joseph "Joe" Thomas Drobnick
Jeremy Anderson2021-03-31T16:05:30-05:00
- Name: Joseph "Joe" Thomas Drobnick
- Location of Birth: Bovey, Minnesota
- Date of Birth: December 1, 1913
- Date of Death: November 10, 1996
- Parents: John Drobnick & Frances (Gerbec) Drobnick
- High School and Class: 1933 Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
- College: Dunwoody Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Highest Rank: TEC 3 (Technical 3)
- Branch: Army
- Other Branch:
- Date Sworn In: June 2, 1942
- Place Sworn In:
- Date of Discharge: January 17, 1946
- Place of Discharge:
-
- Military Awards:
Bronze Star
- Military Highlights:
WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
State: Minnesota
Name: Joe Thomas Drobnick
Race: White
Age: 26
Birth Date: December 1, 1913
Birth Place: Bovey, Minnesota, USA
Residence Place: Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota
Registration Date: October 16, 1940
Employer: Danube Mining Co., Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota
Weight: 165
Height: 6
Complexion: Ruddy
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Next of Kin: Frances Drobnick, mother, Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota
Newspaper article – Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota – December 25, 1942 – “Dear Friends: Received your swell Christmas gift today and am taking this opportunity to thank you for it. It sure is a wonderful thing what the people back home are doing for the boys in service. I haven’t seen any other organization doing it for their boys in service. Won’t be able to be home for Christmas, but wish you all a Merry Christmas. Joe Drobnick.”
Newspaper article - December 1945 – The following citation was awarded to Joe Drobnick, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Drobnick Sr., of Bovey: Technician Third Grade Joseph T. Drobnick, Ordnance Department, 786th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company, for meritorious service in connection with military operations against the enemy in Germany from 29 March 1945 to 8 May 1945. As Section Chief of the welding section, Technician Third Grade Drobnick supervised and personally accomplished many difficult repairs. He displayed original enterprise and keen ingenuity in fashioning many field substitutes for items that were scarce or totally unobtainable, thus materially contributing to maximum division mobility and greater combat efficiency. Technician Third Grade Drobnick’s outstanding performance of duty merits great praise. Home address: John M. Drobnick (Father), Bovey, Minnesota. – Harris M. Melasky, Major General, U.S. Army, Commanding.
- Wars Involved:
World War II
- MIA / POW:
- Civilian Life:
Joe Drobnick married Lois V. Loberg in Bovey, Minnesota. He was a WW II Army veteran and had served in both the European-African-Middle Eastern and Asiatic-Pacific Theaters and was a recipient of the Bronze Star. He was a welder and retired from the Balkan Mining Co., Danube Mine, Bovey, in 1971 after 37 years of service.
Joe died in Brand Rapids, Minnesota and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Coleraine, Minnesota (Block 66). He is survived by two sisters, Mary Steetar and Marjorie Baich; a brother John Drobnick, Jr. Preceding him in death were his parents; his wife, Lois, in 1985; and three brothers, Albert, Frank, and Rudy in infancy.
- Tribal Affiliation(s):
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