During World War II, First Lieutenant Chet Pietrzak was a bombardier on B-17 Flying Fortress, Jamaica Ginger, for the 388th Bomber Group as part of the Eighth Air Force in England. His 35 missions over Nazi-occupied Europe, included heavily defended targets in Germany. One mission included a shuttle-bombing mission to the Soviet Union in which he suffered lung damage while trying to rescue a crewman in a burning bomber. His unit also flew support for the D-Day landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944

In an interview several years ago regarding his D-Day experience Chet noted the following: "Around 5 a.m. men of the 388th Group filed in for the briefing on the day's mission. There were a few hundred of them and they all had their eyes on the curtain in front of the room. Would it be railways in France? Berlin? Submarine pens? The colonel strode onto the stage and pulled the curtain back to reveal the map and the target. A big roar went up. It was going to be a short mission, way shorter than almost any they had ever flown. They would fly across the English Channel, drop the bombs right along the French coast, fly a big circle over France and the Atlantic, and head back to England. The colonel told us, Yeah, for you guys this will be short, but for thousands of men, this is D-Day. I'll never forget this as long as I live; the whole group got off their chairs and knelt down as one person. No one said a thing. They just did it. And they prayed. There was a whole different atmosphere right then, and to this day, I still feel it. It was like nothing else I ever felt. Now, we had something to fight for - those guys who would be underneath us. A couple hours later, the planes took off. The plan was to hit the German fortifications just five minutes before the first wave of troops were to hit the beaches."

Credited with shooting down German fighters from his nose gunner position, Chet was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with five clusters, and three battle stars. His unit received the Presidential Unit Citation.

Chet never knew it but the B-17; Jamaica Ginger went on to fly 100 missions during World War II. Chet passed away on October 28, 1997 after a short illness leaving a wife, three children and eight grandchildren. On his gravestone was carved a picture of a B-17 Flying Fortress with the words "Take Me Home" inscribed above.

The names of the Crew members shown in the photo on Page 98 of the "The 388th at War" - Prendergast Crew based on First Lieutenant Chester L. "Chet" Pietrzak notes, are as follows:

From Left to Right, Richard Thompson - Ball-Turret. Gunner; Gordon Porterfield - Tail Gunner; Von Bottenfield, Co-Pilot; Frank Prendergast - Pilot; Joe Spataro - Navigator; Elden Marlarney - Gunner; Chester Pietrzak - Bombardier; James Daugherty - Engineer; Vincent Parker - Gunner; Donald Stickles - Gunner; and Ivan Amarnick - Radio Operator

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