Frank entered the US Army in May 1942. After completing basic training in Camp Wheeler, Georgia, he was assigned to Company B, 18th Infantry, 1st Division. He never received the furlough normally given to soldiers after basic training, and his unit was rushed to a staging area in Scotland. They invaded North Africa on November 8, 1942 at Oran, at which time he was seriously wounded in action. He was sent to a hospital for rehabilitation and then returned to duty. The First Division was placed under the 8th Army (II Corps). In the final North African battles in the final push to Bizerte he was killed in action on April 29, 1943, in Tunisia. He was awarded 2 Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star medal, and other medals. Frank was the oldest of six brothers who served in the Army, four in WWII and one in the Korean Conflict. The youngest served the US during the Cold War. He was one of 12 children of Veronica and Franciszek Rychcik, an immigrant from Poland. He was a beloved son, brother, and uncle, and none of us - even those who know him only from the words of older family members. photographs, and the loving letters that he wrote to his family - will ever forget him. God bless you, Uncle Frank: we're looking forward to seeing you. Do widzenia! Bog zaplac!

Mary Rychcik Derkach, Niece