My Twin Brothers - American Heroes
Every day we read in the newspaper about heroes, from the military and those on the home front, police officers, firefighters and emergency crews.
I want to tell you about my identical twin brothers, Bernard and Carl Matylewicz. They were born July 11, 1925 on our family farm not far from Lake Winola, Pennsylvania. In 1944 they were drafted into the United States Army and this is their story.
At the beginning of World War II, my oldest brother, Leonard, joined the Army/Air Force in 1942, and my sister Eleanor, became a Navy WAVE the following year, 1943. During basic training, Leonard suffered the loss of his hearing and was sent home with a medical discharge.
When Bernard and Carl received their draft notices in 1944, my parents, Adam and Helen Matylewicz, were told that only one of the twins had to report to basic training and the other could stay home to help with the farm.
Rather than choosing which twin would serve, as they both wished to go, my mother wrote to the draft board and requested that they both be allowed to go and that they keep the twins together if at all possible. Thus, they departed to Texas for basic training together, as the military promised they would honor my parents request.
While at basic training, Carl underwent an operation for a hernia. Bernard remained in Texas with him while he recuperated. The twins were granted a leave to return home before they were shipped overseas. My parents proudly accompanied them to visit our Grandfather, uncles, aunts, and cousins, who lived in Scott Township, in Lackawanna County. They arrived home in January wearing army issued clothing that did not include overcoats. I remember how cold they were at the time, as it was freezing cold here in the northeast.
All too soon, the boys departed for the West coast, where they joined their outfit to fight the Japanese on Okinawa. My parents listened to the radio and read the newspaper daily, knowing that their sons were engaged in fierce fighting.
I will never forget the summer day, my Mother was with my brother Leonard, delivering produce from the farm to the cottage residents at Lake Winola. My Father was working in the field, when a gentleman who was at the post office, was asked to deliver a wire to the farm and it was I who he gave it to. I was only fifteen that summer. The news was devastating. I handed the telegram to my Father, it read, “We regret to inform you that your son, Carl Matylewicz, died in action on June 21, 1945. My Father broke down and cried. I cried with him. Carl and Bernard would have turned twenty years old the next month, July 11th.
It was six months before my parents received a letter from Bernard, who was on Okinawa with Carl. Another soldier told Bernard that he and Carl were on night maneuvers when Carl was hit by a Japanese sniper and died right next to him. Bernard was so distraught he left camp and wandered about the island for quite some time. One can only imagine what his emotions were!
Bernard finally returned to the base, bearded and with a monkey he had caught. It was then he wrote home that he had shrapnel in several places, one near his left eye, which could not be removed. After serving time in Korea, he received a Purple Heart medal and was honorably discharged from the Army.
Carl was interred in Okinawa until after the war ended. Bernard was present when Carl’s casket arrived in Scranton by train, where the family, once more together, was there at the station to meet Carl‘s casket and the military honor guard escort. The casket was set down in the parlor of our farm house where he was raised, for the ensuring wake.
Bernard was quite stoic all this time, until Carl’s body was interred in the family plot, where members of Mother’s family lie. Bernard broke down as our brother was laid to rest, and sobbed as a soldier played Taps.
This is not an easy story to tell. I still cry remembering my brothers, my heroes.
