Frank P. Witek

World War II Medal of Honor Recipient

Private First Class Frank Peter Witek (December 10, 1921 – August 3, 1944) was a United States Marine who was killed in action on August 3, 1944, in the Battle of Finegayan, Guam. For his heroism and sacrifice of life, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the 28th Marine to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II.

Frank Peter Witek was born on December 10, 1921, in Derby, Connecticut. He was of Polish ancestry. When he was 9, the family moved to Chicago. It was there he finished his student days at Crane Technical High School and went to work at the Standard Transformer Company. On January 20, 1942, he left for recruit training after enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. He left almost immediately for Pearl Harbor and in January 1943, his family heard from him while he was in New Zealand. From there he went to Bougainville where he fought in three major battles. Then he went to Guadalcanal for a rest. On July 21, 1944, the 3rd Marine Division invaded Guam. PFC Witek was a Browning automatic rifleman and scout behind the Japanese lines. On September 8, 1944, his mother received a telegram from Washington informing her that her son had been killed on August 3. According to a combat correspondent's release, he was slain at the battle of the Mount Santa Rosa roadblock. He had only eight cartridges left out of an original 240 rounds when he was found. On Sunday, May 20, 1945, 50,000 people, including his mother and Gen Alexander A. Vandegrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps, met in Soldier Field, Chicago, to do honor to his memory. PFC Frank Peter Witek had earned the highest military award his country could give him — the Medal of Honor. Initially buried in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps Cemetery on Guam, PFC Witek's remains were reinterred in the Rock Island National Cemetery, Rock Island, Illinois, in 1949.

In 1946, a Gearing class destroyer, the Witek was named in honor of PFC Witek. The destroyer was launched on February 2, 1946, and was christened by Witek's mother, Mrs. Nora Witek. The USS Witek was commissioned on April 25, 1946. It was formally decommissioned on August 19, 1968. In 1999, Witek's hometown, Derby, Connecticut has named the PFC Frank P. Witek Memorial Park in his honor. The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation awards a memorial scholarship in honor of PFC Frank Witek. The area near the village of Yona on Guam, was named Marine Camp Witek. Although the camp closed decades ago, Guam natives still refer to the area as "Camp Witek".