Buck’s story Veteran shares story, receives France’s Medal of Honor decades after military service
Arnold “Buck” Zahratka officially received France’s Medal of Honor at age 96 on Wednesday. The WWII veteran is pictured with the 2nd Battalion, 424th Infantry and members of the Red Cross at Losheim during WWII.
A spelling error led to WWII veteran Arnold “Buck” Zahratka, 96, earning one of the most famous military decorations in the world 78 years after the fact.
Zahratka’s son-in-law, Dale Stadstad said he was searching an online record of Buck’s WWII history with the 106th Infantry Division when he noticed Buck’s last name was misspelled.
“A guy (Jim West) in Indiana keeps a record and registry of the 106th online. Het mentioned a lot of the Americans who had received the Bronze Star went on to receive the (French) Medal of Honor,” Stadstad said. “I contacted the French Consulate in Chicago who sent the paperwork.”
On February 16, 2022, after a ten-month process of verifying Buck’s service in the war and his community service, Buck received a letter on behalf of French President Emmanuel Macron, A French Medal of Honor, and its corresponding diploma.
However, strict protocols allow only Macron or a Consul General of France to pin it on Buck. In a special ceremony on Wednesday, France’s highest distinction was officially bestowed to the local veteran at the American Legion Club Post 79.
Seventy-nine years ago, Buck, the son of Tom and Bessie Zahratka of Montgomery, worked in a factory that canned chicken for U.S. troops. At the age of 18 years old, Buck was drafted and began serving our country with John Holtz, also of Montgomery.
He remembers the day like it was yesterday.
“We left Montgomery on a train; went to Fort Snelling, got our equipment, and went to Camp Blanding in Florida for training,” he said.
The two young men trained for 17 weeks, then went to different camps. Zahrakta continued with more training in North Carolina and Indiana before joining the 106th Infantry Division, also known as the Golden Lions. According to the Army, Buck showed proficiency as an expert rifleman, machine gunner, and using hand grenades.
The 106th was shipped to England for further training before going to France’s Normandy region. With vivid detail, the 96-year-old veteran remembers reaching the French shores in the wintry dark of night.
“We went by a big ship and could only get off in Le Havre, France. The ships couldn’t get close to shore, so they put a rope over the side of the ship, and we climbed down the rope with all of our equipment, everything we owned,” he shared. “It was blacker than the ace of spades - no lights. I kept wondering if I was going to slip off that rope and go down into the water … You’d never come up with all of that equipment on ya. I don’t know if anyone did or not.”
To see more on this story pick up the march 24, 2022 print edtion of the Montgomery Messenger.
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