Memorial Day
A tribute to Stephen Mekarski written by his Granddaughter Kelly Carroll
Photo: World War II Veteran Stephen Mekarski
Just in time for Memorial Day, World War II Veteran Stephen Mekarski is finally home. His remains were interred 31 years posthumously and was laid to rest last week in the Field of Valor in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York thanks to his daughter Suzanne Carroll (nee Mekarski). His granddaughter, Kelly Carroll, conducted the historical research required for his burial and U.S. Government issued monument.
Mekarski enlisted in the United States Selective Service on June 30, 1942 at the age of 18, two short weeks after the victorious Battle of Midway, a turning point in World War II for the victorious Allies. Perhaps it was this Battle that inspired Mekarski to enlist.
Mekarski completed his training at Sampson Naval Training Station (now Sampson State Park) on Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes. His best friend during training was an Irishman named Jack McMahon. It is unclear if the two ever met again after the war. A goodbye photo from this friend was preserved in a scrapbook, dated July 19, 1943. Mekarski's service on the USS Chase (Destroyer Escort 138) began the day before on July 18, 1943.
Photo: USS Chase (Destroyer Escort 138)
Chase escorted six convoys between New York City and Norfolk to North African ports between September 14, 1943 and November 23, 1944. During her second crossing while approaching Bizerte, Tunisia on April 20, 1944, Chase fired on attacking enemy torpedo bombers, driving them off, then rescued swimming survivors from three torpedoed merchant ships. During the return passage, Chase helped search for the submarine which torpedoed Flechteler (DE-157) 5 May, and rescued 52 survivors of the sinking.
On February 4, 1945, Chase left Boston for the Pacific Theater, conducting antiaircraft and antisubmarine operations near Okinawa. On May 20, 1945 Chase successfully fired on a diving kamikaze, but the downed plane's two bombs exploded under water only ten yards from Chase, ripping her hull open, and flooding the engine and fire rooms. With her steering gear jammed at hard left rudder, Chase drove off yet another suicide plane. In danger of capsizing, Chase was kept afloat by the skillful work of her crew, including Mekarski, and was towed to Kerama Retto near Okinawa, and then to San Francisco, California arriving back to the United States on October 11, 1945.
Mekarski arrived back to the East Coast and was released from service from Lido Beach, Long Island in October, 1945. He married Eleanor Mazurek in 1947 and all of the correspondence the couple shared (including her pin-ups!) is preserved in its original scrapbook.