US WW2 veterans with Slovak roots come close to ancestral land.

(From The Slovak Spectator)

Byline: Dave Sutor Special to the Spectator

Nabalek tries to maintain awareness of the efforts of US veterans who fought against Nazis in Europe A BATTLEFIELD is not the place for a young man to consider the lives of people he has never met, or a land he has never seen. More urgent matters obviously take precedence when an individual is facing a life-threatening situation. Concentrating on troop movements, daily battles, life back home, and ultimately survival, takes up most of one's time and energy; the experience of American soldiers during the second world war (WWII) provided no exception. So it was reasonable that many of these soldiers, including many of Slovak descent, did not often consider the significance of unknown relatives in ancestral homelands when fighting in Europe. The appreciation of such factors often only developed after peace existed, or much later in life. Few American servicemen actually even reached their families' homelands, since the country's main involvement took place in only a few nations. However, many American combatants, with roots in countries such as Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, and England helped to liberate the lands of their ancestors from fascist control. Many individuals, such as Slovak American John Karas, a Staff Sergeant with the United States Army's 42nd "Rainbow" Infantry Division, did not give thought to such things at the time. Like other WWII veterans, the current Pennsylvania resident and retired steel mill worker, whose father, Michael, was born in Slovakia, at the time, viewed his involvement in the war as being propelled by two central motivations during the actual stages of combat. There was the objective, which aimed to preserve life and freedom for people threatened by fascism, and there was instinct - trying to survive. "What I thought was that I was trying to make sure I got home safe," said Karas. At the time, the family he wanted to see again included his wife, Helen, and infant son, Joe. Following Karas' return from the war, his family expanded to include another son, John, and a daughter, Theresa (Karas) Giles. Karas also noted, "Let me put it this way, I was glad that I had the experience. ... I figured that I did my duty there and I served my country." Bob Sabol, a 77-year-old friend of Karas who also resides in Pennsylvania, echoed similar sentiments, stating, "I guess my main thing was to get out safely and have the war end." Sabol commented on his motivations at the time: "I wanted to get in because everybody was going in and I thought it was the right thing to do...I never gave [any family in Slovakia during WWII] too much thought because being born over here [in the US]... I never really had an association with them." Yet, prior to the war, Sabol, who also served in the Rainbow, and Karas both wished to visit Slovakia. Before meeting, each draftee considered making his own post-war trip to Slovakia. Circumstances would eventually prevent either one of them from making the journey to their ancestral land. Of the two, Sabol made it the closest, reaching Vienna, Austria, but never crossing the border. "Towards the end of the war, that's when I wanted to go," he said. Sabol's hopes to reach Slovakia were shattered, and he quickly returned home from Vienna, when the Red Cross informed him of his father's death. Karas' plans to see his family's homeland also ended prematurely. Having reached the European Theatre in February 1945 as a replacement soldier, Karas passed through France and reached the area around Schweinfurt, Germany. The war then changed for Karas, on April 8, 1945. On that day, Karas was shot in Arnstein, Germany, with the bullet hitting his left arm. "There was a house across a field and we ran across the field to get them ...