Person:Joseph Vidunas (1)

Joseph was killed in an accidental discharge of pistol. during non-combat. He was buried in the Netherlands, Section A. Row 5. Plot 10. Joseph Vidunas 0 1 053 411 & 6 788 877. Claim number xc 3868191. First Leutenent US Army.

1945. War Department letter to Mrs. Lois Vidunas, 211 East Beach Street, Goldsboro, North Carolina.

    Dear Mrs. Vidunas:
    I am referring to my letter of 13 March 1945, which confirmed the death of your husband, First Lieutenent Joseph Vidunas, on 19 February 1945 in Germany.
    The military authorities have conducted an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding your husband's death and the report has now been received in the War Department.  This report reveals that Lieutenent Vidunas died instantly on the afternoon of 19 February 1945 in his camp area near Brachelen, Germany, as the result of injuries sustained when a pistol which e was handling, was accidentally discharged.  Lieutenent Vidunas was on a duty status at the time of the accident.
    The Quartermaster General, Washington, D.C., has jurisdiction over matters pedrtaining to the burial of our military personnel who die overseas and any inquiry, regarding the location of your husband's grave, may be addressed to that official.
    There is very little I can say to mitigate your grief or relieve your sorrow but I cannot refrain from tendering my heartfelt sympathy and expressing the hope that you will find comfort in the knowledge that Lieutenent Vidunas died while serving honorably and faithfully in his country's cause.
    Sincerely yours,
    Robert H. Dunlop, Brigadier General, Acting the Adjutant General of the Army.

1. From information by National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records:

    Buried in Netherlands, Section A.  Row 5.  Plot 10.  Joseph Vidunas 0 1 053 411  &  6 788 877.  Claim number xc 3868191.

St. Mary's Annunciation R. C. Church; 258 Zerbey Avenue; KINGSTON. PA. 18704; Phone: (717) 287-5096; July 1987 "Your grandfather Joseph (Vydunas) Vidunas and grandmother Mary came to this area from Pittsburgh, Pa. when their children Louis (Ludwig), Stella, John Joseph, Anne, Mary, and Joseph were young children. Note: the above information shows that there was not a daughter named Mary . . . but there was one named 'Anne'."

Joseph A. Vidunas

1. ↑ Communication from War Department.
2. ↑ Scott, Norm.FTW.

   Date of Import: Jan 28, 2003