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Charles, with the help of the Eldred WW2 Museum in Eldred, Pennsylvania, worked to establish the first Slovak American exhibit honoring the Slovak immigrants who fought for their new country, the United States of America.

With it being over 82 years since the US entered the war in 1941, according to VA over 16 million men and women US veterans served world wide during the war with approximately only 122,000 still with us today.

Our FCSU was proud of our members who served their new country in WW2 and honored the members by presenting them with a medal. Some people carried the medal with them, others held the sentiments close at heart. Thank you FCSU for taking the extra steps for giving the written word for the emotional support from our Society and our heavenly Father.

The card on which the medal was presented reads:
“In gratitude to you for having dedicated yourself to the service of Our Country in her hour of trial and in recognition of your self sacrifice when you took up arms in this righteous war and for thus fulfilling the age old motto of our fraternity “for God and Country” it is our privilege to present this token as a symbol of our appreciation and of our solicitude for your welfare and your safe conduct. Jednota prays with you to the Blessed Virgin Mary may She protect and guide you at all times.”

Signed by: Jednota US Service Committee

(Names interpreted from hand written signatures:) M. Oeaegonch, Rev Joseph A Banik, John Sabol, Andrew G Putka, Chas. A. Chaples

We think the signature of John Sabol was the same person who later became President of the FCSU.

The medal reads: Patroness of USA, Immaculate Conception BVM, Protect Me

Medal obverse: Member – The First Catholic Slovak Union U.S.A. Fighting for God and Country In the Armed Forces of the U.S.A. 1942.

The member’s name was inscribed on this obverse side of the medal.

Although Charles assumed that many members received this medal, he only had the privilege of seeing two medals. The first one belonged to our late fraternal FCSU brother Steven A. Matta who served in WW2 in the Army Air Corp being stationed in England and Germany. He was the uncle of our fraternal brother Branch 290 member John Golski from New Jersey.

Mr. Golski was organizing his late uncle’s information for the new Slovak American exhibit when he wanted to find out more information about this medal from the FCSU which had his uncle’s name inscribed. Mr Golski honored his late uncle by carrying this medal as a talisman.
Another member who also received this unparalleled token from the FCSU is our late fraternal brother William F Gavenda who served in the Army Air Corp during WW2. His son and our fraternal brother Robert Gavenda from Branch 313 in Illinois, helped us learn about this medal when he found this originally issued card given by the FCSU.

Charles is proud that he is a member of our FCSU that honored our members at a time of such conflict in the history of the world.

Charles Boone is an active member of Branch 853 in Pittsburgh, PA. He shares the pride of our FCSU as they honored and now remember our veterans.

Charles embraced the honor of being involved in finding out about such an important part of the FCSU history. Charles Boone is a young adult active member of Branch 853 and the Hlinka District 12. He is the son of former National Auditor and former Pension Board Trustee Monica Rodacy Boone and Ronald Boone.

Submitted by Monica Boone, Branch 853

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Ahoj! My name is Ben Sommer and I am a junior at the University of Pittsburgh. I study Political Science and German as my majors and Religious Studies and Slovak as my minors. I am also pursuing an undergraduate certificate in Central European Studies. I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and grew up in the suburb of Bethel Park. I trace some of my ancestral roots to the Spiš region of Slovakia, an hour north of the city Poprad.

After a short visit to Bratislava in the summer of 2022, I returned to the United States with a greater interest in connecting with the Slovak side of my heritage and began studying Slovak at the University of Pittsburgh, the only institution offering courses in Slovak language, culture, and history on the continent! I enjoyed learning Slovak so much during the academic year that I decided to continue my education in the summer through the Summer Language Institute which offered a 10-week intensive language program.

My classmates and I had instruction from 9AM to 3PM every week, Monday through Friday. This lasted for six weeks and for a continuing four weeks, some of us traveled to Slovakia where we continued our studies during the day and explored the capital Bratislava and other parts of the beautiful country during evenings and weekends. I was able to see so much of the country, and some highlights for me were Orava Castle, Žilina, Galanta, and hiking in the High Tatras.

Embarking on this program has greatly improved my Slovak as I now feel much more comfortable when speaking, and can listen, read, and write with greater ease. I am now enrolled in Advanced Slovak and am close to finishing my minor. I want to sincerely thank Dr. Renáta Kamenárová and Dr. Vlasta Štofová, my instructors at the University of Pittsburgh’s Summer Language Institute, and Dr. Helena Ľos Ivoríková and Dr. Petra Kollárová, my instructors at the Comenius University in Bratislava. I also wish to thank a few organizations which financially helped me study Slovak this summer. Namely, the Western Pennsylvania Slovak Cultural Association, the Slovak American Cultural Center, and support from the Jack Wilson Fund and the Pittsburgh Foundation.

My entire experience was made possible through the support of my professor, Dr. Renáta Kamenárová, who not only encouraged me to go to Slovakia, but also cultivated a new love of the Slovak language and culture in me, a love of the language and culture that I hope to continue to share in the future.

For more information on the University of Pittsburgh Summer Language Institute visit: https://www.sli.pitt.edu/

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Delicious Slovak food including klobasa, halusky, schnitzel, pirohy, and halupky was prepared onsite by members of the Cleveland Slovak Radio Club, many of whom also are FCSU members. Radio Club President Henry Horvath is an FCSU National Supreme Court Member and Branch 855 Auditor; Radio Club Vice President and Program Director Milan Kobulsky is a member of Branch 450; Karin Scally is the Radio Club Treasurer and also Branch 855 Vice President; Radio Club Trustees Vlad Cvicela and Dana Glova are members of Branch 24; and Radio Club Trustee Martin Kulik is a member of Branch 1. Other members of both organizations who worked at or contributed to the event included: Tim Scally, Joe Elias, Jana Horvath, Jana Chuba, Jessica Chuba, Susie Halley, Lily Halley, Maria Cvicela, Milka Anderko, Joe Oros, Terri Ivanec, and Tom Ivanec. In addition, four local-area FCSU Branches offered their members food and beverage tickets. Seventy-two members of Branches 1, 24, 450, and 855 attended. Thanks to the FCSU Home Office for helping to sponsor the event as well as to all our members who came to the festival. A very special round of applause to the Cleveland Slovak Radio Club for working so hard to put together a wonderful event that brought us together after such a long time apart and helped to keep our great Slovak traditions alive.

– Submitted by Thomas Ivanec, Region 6 Director

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Although he lived in Michigan, Janiga was born in Veličná, Slovakia, a village in Orava, near Dolný Kubin.  His mother is a university professor and his father formerly served as a mayor. He is 19 years-old and a student of law at the Comenius University in Bratislava.  He also does work for the Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. 

The Ukrainian war and its consequences for people motivated him and others to want to do something personally to relieve people’s suffering in Ukraine. After the Russians invaded Ukraine, he organized a benefit piano recital in the Saint Cyril and Methodius Slovak Catholic Church while living in Sterling Heights.  Then his brother hooked him up with Caritas, Slovak Catholic Charities.  So, Marek moved back to Slovakia and is currently busy helping the Ukrainians and doing some dangerous work at times.  He has spent more than a month in Ukraine and has made six humanitarian trips to Ukraine to help.  In fact, he left for a seventh trip taking supplies to Ukraine just a few days after our conversation. When he returns to Slovakia, he gives presentations, interviews, and writes articles about the situation in Ukraine.

In our discussion, we asked what do people of Ukraine think about the outside help?  He stated that a common misconception caused by misinformation concerns discrimination or even genocide of the Russian people in Donbass. About 80 percent of the people in Kharkiv speak Russian as their native language, and it is only 30 minutes from the Russian border. Some people in the city and many in the surrounding villages do not speak Ukrainian at all. He visited the second-largest city (1.5 million people before the war) on five occasions and saw destroyed neighborhoods and a non-functioning city. The Russians were in the city in the first days of the war.  He was in the city already in July when the Russian army was only 15 kilometers from the city. The holes where bombs fell were visible. Until 2014, many people saw Russians as natural brothers, and hoped for cooperation, but all has changed, and now only very few people, mostly in their 80s are more pro-Russian and gave vague answers. Almost everyone wants the Russians to go away for good.

When he went to Kharkiv, nothing was functioning in the city and Russians were just15 minutes away. They helped a local charity, Caritas Spes-Kharkiv. Several vans arrived from Slovakia, and they united with other charitable volunteers.  They needed to coordinate because of security.  With a chain of cars of local volunteers, they brought mostly food and medications, baby products, blankets, and water to the northernmost district of Kharkiv called Saltivka that was under Russian shelling at the time.  About 3,000 people lined up in a long line

How many Slovaks are involved? He said that many people helping/collecting aid at home and dozens of Slovaks are driving with aid back and forth. It is a 20-hour drive to deliver the aid to eastern Ukraine, going through many military checkpoints. Since the beginning of the war, Slovak Catholic Charity has delivered 900 tons of humanitarian aid. In the beginning, they used to send trucks with 200,000 euros worth of supplies, but now they are short of money because popular support has been declining because of donor’s fatigue.

When asked if there is a story that describes best what is happening, he replied that the hardest thing is to see the children, who suffer and dream and hope for a brighter future.  One particular child, 8-year-old Inha, used to go to Kharkiv for dance classes but had not been able to leave the house for months because of the Russian occupation.  Her grandfather was hit by shrapnel from a rocket that fell around 3 meters from him while working. With wounds in his lungs, intestines, heart, arm, and leg, he had to crawl 300 meters to his house. When his wife had asked the occupying Russians for help, they refused to care for him, and locals drove him to the nearest Russian hospital where he was treated for his injuries and later moved through Finland and back to Poland and Ukraine.

Marek got as close as 3 km from the Russian lines. They were not targeted specifically, but a few days before our talk, they started shelling nearby, 6-700 meters away, and as close as 400 meters to him in Kharkiv.  The windows and the walls were shaking.

If citizens in the USA wants to help sending material, what can they do?  He suggested finding a person or an organization that you trust and can see the results of your contribution.  Things often get lost if given to a non-verified person.  Sending material aid from the US is not worth it because the prices are much lower there. Organizations like Caritas provide humanitarian aid, not military equipment, and all those materials can be bought in Europe.

He did relate that Ukraine still has problems with corruption and a black market, at a high level and at the local level. If given to a non-trusted person, it happens that the aid “gets lost” in someone’s cellar. The military is very strict about enforcement, security, and thefts in the conflict areas.

A network helps organize where help goes. In Kharkiv, three Polish priests help the Ukrainian Catholic Charity assist in telling where something in needed. He left again on the last Wednesday in March and would be gone 6-7 days, and when he returned, he planned on making yet another run to Ukraine.   Such is his dedication and that of many other Slovaks.

If you wish to help, Slovak Catholic Charities is a safe choice as 95% of the funds collected go directly to those in need; Caritas keeps administrative costs at a minimum and uses volunteers. Here are links in English and Slovak to give donations:

English – https://charita.darujme.sk/help-ukraine/  Slovak – https://charita.darujme.sk/ukrajina/

Dr. Michael Kopanic, Jr., editor

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Alexandria “Alé” Muzika Simmons was recently elected as President of the Saint Vincent College Alumni Council where she has been a member since 2010. Alé is currently employed as a Senior Business Development Manager for Clark Hill PLC, in Pittsburgh, PA and has worked as a liaison between mine operators, attorneys and judges.

In 2010, she was a recipient of a Jednota Benevolent Foundation Scholarship and was president of her class during her senior year at St. Vincent College.  She is a member of Branch 367.  FCSU National Chairman of Auditors Greg Maurer has also served as President of Alumni Council.

Submitted by Greg Maurer

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Submitted by Dolly Workman

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Submitted by Monica Boone

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