Joseph Slavik took flying lessons as a young man, but he didn’t soar on a jet plane or visit the nation’s capital until just last week. That’s when the 103-year-old World War II veteran from La Grange Park flew to Washington D.C.
“I got a big surprise because I was on an airliner and I’d never been on one before,” said Slavik, who traveled with 43 other veterans on an Honor Flight sponsored by the Veterans Network Committee of Northern Illinois. “It did a lot of bouncing in the air.”
The veterans spent three days in the capital and visited 13 monuments, including the World War II Memorial.
At home a few days after the Aug. 25 trip, Slavik called the trip “interesting” and “satisfactory.”
His granddaughter Maribeth O’Malley said it was much more for him.
“He was beside himself,” she said. “He got emotional.”
Slavik was born in Chicago in 1912, fifth in a family of 14 children. His father died when he was 12 and Slavik dropped out of school and went to work as a special delivery boy for the U.S. Postal Service, according to his family.
As a young man, Slavik earned a pilot’s license flying small prop planes. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1944 and, though he had hoped that he would serve in some capacity on a plane, he was assigned to the infantry. He served under Gen. George Patton and was among the allied forces that invaded Normandy. He was involved in the Battle of the Bulge and served in Italy, Germany, France and Belgium.
Even today, decades after the war ended, Slavik can still recall some of the harrowing details of his service. He remembers being directed during the Battle of the Bulge to take cover inside the middle building in a row of three. He spent the night listening to shells bursting and buildings crumbling around him.
“I started praying the Rosary before the shooting started,” he said. “The buildings on each side got hit. The building I was praying the Rosary in didn’t get hit. It was a miracle.”
He remembers that his feet would get sores because of the amount of walking that he did, and that he often felt ill from eating spoiled food that he found. One day he fell off a truck and injured his spine, which required surgery. During his recovery the doctor who cared for him asked if he’d like to join him and become a medic.
“No more rifle,” Slavik said. “I was into first aid. That was satisfactory for me. It was better than carrying a rifle.”
The worst part of being a medic was giving fellow soldiers their last cigarette and comforting them as they died.
Slavik’s war came to end on April 28, 1946 when he returned to Chicago and was reunited with his wife, Irene. They raised three daughters. Slavik worked as a bus driver for the CTA for 27 years and worked until he was 94 in security at the Arlington Park Race Track.
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Randy Granath, president of the Veterans Network Committee, which organized the trip, said they were happy to be able to offer the trip to Slavik.
“We were proud to have him,” Granath said. “To my knowledge he’s the oldest veteran from Illinois who’s gone on the trip.”
Granath said the thee-day trip is enough time for the veterans, including those from the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War, to enjoy themselves.
“We take our time,” he said. “We don’t rush the vets. The first day we travel and do one or two memorials, have a nice dinner and socialize. We have fun and the vets get younger on the trip. Each day seems like a party.”
The trip included more trips to memorials and more dinners and ended with a welcome home party at the Stades Farm in McHenry, where Slavik’s granddaughter, Maribeth O’Malley, said Slavik was the life of the party.
“He was a complete rock star,” she said. “He didn’t want to leave.”
O’Malley cares for her grandfather, who lives with her in La Grange Park. She said it’s an honor.
“I can’t tell you how blessed I am to be with him every day,” she said. “The best part is that my children get to see that this is what we do. We take care of each other.”
Knowing how lucky he was to survive the war, and to be looking forward to his 104th birthday, Slavik, who has 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, said his faith has helped him throughout his life.
“I will say this much about my life,” he said. “I did a lot of praying and it did a lot of good.”
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