at the Museum of Polish Military Heritage in America
By Mike Dobrzelecki
The
Opening of the Gabreski Exhibit
at the Museum of Polish Military Heritage in America
By Mike Dobrzelecki
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Sunday April 14,
2002, dawned a little brighter than the previous days. The rain had abated
and the sun began poking through the clouds. On my drive into Manhattan I
thought about all the work done on the exhibit, my time spent with Gabby,
the phone calls, the research, the numerous edits, the models, the
follow-ups, the disasters and impediments along the way and the ultimate
triumph in getting it done, finally. This museum project was perhaps the
most difficult one I worked on in the last 21 years. The panels were in
dual English and Polish languages. The circle of people wishing to have
input on the exhibit was wider than normal and progress was, thus, slower.
The first graphics artist quit the project. The project was supposed to
originally open on September 16 2001, but had to be postponed due the the
terrorist attack on the World Trade Center - the museum is on 15th St and
Irving Place, near Union Square, which formed the northern border of the
"exclusion zone" set up by the authorities. Then, another
heart-breaking setback; Gabreski passed away on January 31, 2002 before he
saw the finished exhibit. During Gabby's funeral cortege, my tiny Celica
was rear-ended by Gabby's grandnephew driving a 1999 Ford F-150 pick-up
truck. Lots of bad breaks along the way, but now's not the time to dwell
on the them. The opening on Sunday was to be the culmination of almost a
year and half worth of work by a dozen or more people. Today's the payoff.
The opening was everything one could have hoped for. From the Gabreski family, four daughters ( Francie, Patsy, Linda Kay and Debbie) and one son, Jim, and two granddaughters were in attendance. The presentation consisted of speeches by three people - Steve Rasiej - Executive Director of the Polish Veterans Association in America, Dr.Jan Koniarek - Curator of the Museum of Polish Military Heritage ( new name ) and myself, the creator of the exhibit. Mr. Rasiej welcomed everyone to the museum for the opening celebration and asked for a minute of silence in memory of Colonel Gabreski. During my speech, I gave a brief overview of the exhibit, detailing Gabby's connection to his ancestral country and how his unique contribution assured him pride of place there in the museum. I finished the part on Gabby by telling a funny story about how he grilled me about my politics and morals before anointing me as an acceptable "go-to" guy for the project. I related how I was somewhat annoyed by Gabreski's tactic, because Gabby knew of my 20 year track record in successful museum exhibits, since he attended some of the openings at the Intrepid. After I returned from that day at his house I started re-reading his autobiography for the second time and realized that he used to do this to his new pilots to make sure they knew he meant business and how I smiled over being possibly the last "new lieutenant" under his command. It was an example of his leadership skills. I mentioned that I related this story to members of the Gabreski family who got a chuckle over this, because he used to do this to everyone, especially anyone, man or woman, who married one married on of his kids. Once you passed, though, you were "in". |
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I wrapped up my speech by drawing attention
to the other NJIPMS members who worked on the exhibit, especially Ed Minto,
who stepped in at the end by completing the graphics for the panels ( the
Polish fonts being the most difficult ), arranging for the production of
the panels ( that's another saga ) and rendering his expertise in setting
up the exhibit the week before - once again, great job Ed. I also
mentioned the contribution of my brother, Ron, and Gary Boyd who built the
F-86 Sabre Jet and the Spitfire Mk.Vb, respectively, drawing a parallel
between Gabby's service with the air force between 1940 and 1967 and the
fact that both Ron and Gary are current members in the 21st U.S.Century
Air Force. I asked Ron to come in full dress uniform, appropriate for such
an occasion, and made mention that, although Gary desperately wanted to be
there, he was on active service somewhere in the middle east desert
helping with the fight against terrorism. I had Ron and Ed stand up, so
the assembly gathered for the opening knew who they were and acknowledge
them, accordingly. Jim Gabreski and Steve Rasiej cut the
ceremonial ribbon officially opening the exhibit.
The Polish Veterans Association then sprung a surprise on me by awarding me a medal in honor of my two decades of service working on museum exhibits, especially those promoting Polish history and culture. It was like being in the French Foreign Legion with them pinning the medal on me, kissing both cheeks in the process - the whole nine yards. I'm still on a high from it. The medal is accompanied by a certificate in Polish, the translation for which reads, "The Executive Committee of the Polish Veterans Association in America Awards Mr. Michael J.Dobrzelecki a Medal of the 75th Anniversary of the Polish Veterans Association in America, signed by H.Wyszynski - National Commander, Eugene Witt - Adjudant General and Anton Chroscielewski - Treasurer." The medal is a stylized version of the medal awarded to all American volunteers that fought in the Polish-Russo War of 1920. Not familiar with that war ? Not surprising. Even most historians know little of this important conflict, which could be considered the last event of WWI in many respects. By that time, all the great armies had virtually disbanded, France and England were exhausted, as a result of their tremendous losses in manpower and Germany was in chaos. The Bolshevik Army had consolidated their power and gained enough of an upper hand against the counter-revolutionary Russian White Army and their allies to turn their attention westward to export their revolution, as Trotsky so desperately wanted. The only thing that stood between the Soviets and Europe was the infant Polish nation and the newly formed Polish Army made up of Polish military units, which served in the various armies of their previous occupying powers: Germany, Austria and Imperial Russia. These forces were bolstered by Haller's Blue Army, a fully equipped Polish Army formed in France during WWI complete with its own armor units and air force. This diverse collection of forces equipped with a polyglot collection of weapons used by every power during WWI had one unifying purpose - to ensure that the reborn Polish nation was not strangled in its crib by the rapacious specter of world communism. Unlike WWI, which was characterized by static trench warfare, the Polish-Russo War was fought in a highly mobile fashion with great horse-borne armies ranging over wide swaths of the steppes in Eastern Europe. A group of American pilots, led by Major Cedric Fauntleroy and Merian C.Cooper ( who later became famous as a Hollywood film producer responsible for the classic 1933 version of King Kong and the John Ford/John Wayne westerns ), formed the 7th Koscuiszko Squadron, one of the squadrons providing air cover for the Polish Army. Americans and Polish-Americans fought in other units. The war was a desperate affair, with the Poles gaining initial success, then being thrown back in disarray all the back to the gates of Warsaw. The heroic defense of Warsaw by the Poles became known as "The Miracle on the Vistula", when General Sikorski first defeated the Soviet forces and, subsequently, routed their army, which retreated back to the Soviet border. One historian, rating all of the battles fought down through history, ranked the "Miracle on the Vistula" as the 17th most important of all time, because, had the Poles not triumphed, the Soviets had a pretty good chance of taking over all of Europe. The Americans and Polish-Americans who participated in this short war were awarded a special "Ameryki" cross, also known as the Polish Soldiers from America Cross. The cruciform section of the officers' version was rendered in white enamel with the balance in brass and the enlisted men's in overall plain brass. I have an original enlisted man's "Ameryki" cross in my militaria collection. Being awarded a medal incorporating the heraldry of this high point in 20th Century Polish history means more to me than I could possibly describe in words. Even to be remotely associated with the legacy they established is an honor I will cherish to my dying days. The ceremonies ended with a viewing of the documentary on Colonel Gabreski's from the Legends of Airpower series. Surprisingly, none of the Gabreski family was aware of this documentary and I provided them with the info to obtain the video. Formalities over, the assemblage relaxed with some great Polish food and the requisite amount of alcohol, which nicely lubricated the creative conversation one usually finds amongst the crowd at a museum exhibit opening. The Gabreski family was very appreciative of the efforts of both the museum and the team from NJIPMS who worked for almost a year and half to make it happen. What a great day for all involved. |
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The Gabreski Exhibit Described The exhibit consists of three 30" x 40" panels covering Gabby's life in dual English and Polish languages. The first panel describes Gabby's overall combat career as the "Polish-American Ace of Aces" and makes mention of his service during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The second panel draws his connection to the Poles with his attached service in Polish 315 Debilnski Squadron and, later, the reciprocal service of the Polish pilots in Gabby's 61st F.S.in the USAAF. The last panel covers the latter part of WWII, his subsequent service in Korea, retirement from the USAF and postwar service in the aviation industry and with the Long Island Railroad. The panels have 13 photographs supporting the story. The photographs are all from Gabby's collection, as chosen by Mike Dobrzelecki during a visit to Gabby's house in Dix Hills on Long Island back in January 2001. All photographic reproduction is courtesy of Dr.Jan Koniarek - Curator of the Museum and author of the Squadron Signal book on the Polish Air Force 1939-1945, just to name one. The three panels are seamlessly butted up against each other forming a whole and are bordered on the top by a red ribbon panel with Gabreski's name and rank on it in white letters. The choice of the colors blends both Polish and American heraldry, red and white of the former and red, white and blue for the latter, all of which enhances the connection of the theme of the exhibit and the mission statement of the museum - namely the American connection to Poland. The sky/cloud background represents the arena, in which, Gabby fought. Members of the Polish Veterans Association in America, in particular, Steve Rasiej, helped with the Polish language portion. A display case to the right of the panels contains models of the three principal aircraft Gabby flew in combat, a Spitfire Mk.Vb in Polish 315 Deblinski Squadron markings, a P-47D-25RE Thunderbolt in 61st F.S., 56th F.G., colors and his F-86 Sabre Jet he flew in Korea. The models, built by Gary Boyd, Mike Dobrzelecki and Ron Dobrzelecki, respectively were painstakingly researched, using, amongst other sources, excerpts from Gabby's flight log books. Below the models are copies of Gabby's autobiography, as told to Carl Molesworth, in both English and Polish, a pair of Gabby's A6-A USAAF flight boots made by the Bristolite Company and on loan from Kevin Gabreski - Gabby's nephew, an 8th Air Force insignia medallion and examples of British 20mm and .303 caliber rounds and a U.S. .50 caliber round, the principle ammunition Gabby used in combat. To the right of the panels, mounted on a mannequin is Gabby's original USAF flight suit with his nametag on the breast and his colonels eagles on the shoulder from his service in 1960-1962 at Kadena AFB on Okinawa. The latter artifact is on loan from Don Gabreski, Gabby's oldest son. More artifacts may be added as they become available. May 2002 |
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