World War II vet Leon Struzinski, who served on the Navy’s USS Attu aircraft carrier, with his wife Gladys at his 100th birthday celebration.
It was a beautiful, Indian summer Saturday when family, friends, American Legion members and his late grandson’s string band wished World War II veteran Leon Struzinski a happy 100th birthday at his Williamstown home.
“I feel the same as I did when I turned 99,” Struzinski acknowledged as he surveyed all the guests honorng him. “What is a 100-year old person supposed to feel like?”
Struzinski was born in 1925 and grew up on Melrose Street in the Bridesburg neighborhood of Philadelphia. One of nine children, he attended Frankford High School but left in 10th grade, “because I had to get a job and help my family.”
Several years later, America entered World War II.
“I was 17 years old and not old enough to enlist” Struzinski recalled. “I hated the Germans and I wanted to make them pay.”
He joined the Navy at 18 and was assigned to the USS Attu aircraft carrier. A machinist’s mate, he serviced the ship’s diesel engines.
“The Attu was older,” Struzinski noted. “It was one of the first ones we had.”
The Attu was known as a Kaiser’s “90 Day Wonder aircraft carrier,” with basically a landing deck on top of an ocean liner, he explained. It was one of the 50 Casablanca-class escort carriers built at Henry J. Kaiser’s shipyard in Vancouver, Washington, along the Pacific Ocean coast.
When a pilot asked him if he wanted to go for a spin, Struzinski quipped, “You want me to go for a ride and then land and get stopped by a giant hook? I don’t think so.”
Named after an island that was recaptured from Japan by U.S. soldiers during the war, the USS Attu’s main job was to supply replacement aircraft and pilots to fast-carrier task forces.
“We repaired everything,” remembered Struzinski, including amphibious landing craft, planes and ships attacked by torpedoes. “When the Japanese surrendered, I was on the Attu and we were sending planes off every five minutes (to protect the USS Missouri, where the treaty ending the war in the Pacific was signed by Japan.)”
After being honorably discharged from the Navy, Struzinski went back home to Bridesburg.
“My only regret is that I didn’t go back to school and take advantage of the GI Bill,” he shared, referring to the post-war program for vets that would have paid his tuition.
Instead, Struzinski became a boilermaker, and in 1947, he moved to Williamstown.
“I love it here,” he reflected. “All my family and friends are here.”
He married Gladys Struzinski in 1994. They met a few years after their respective spouses had died.
“I told him if we make it for five years, it will be worth it,” Gladys said. “So far we have been married for 31 years.”
Her husband had major heart surgery 30 years ago. They both were looking forward to their next visit to his cardiologist, who told them to bring a cake and beer. Last week, Struzinski enjoyed lunch at Legion Post 252.
Staying as active as possible has helped Struzinski live so long. In 2022, he served as grand marshal of the Monroe Memorial Day parade. And he truly enjoyed his 100th birthday party, including the visit by the Durning String Band based in Gloucester City.
Struzinski noted how his late grandson, Christopher Leaf, was a member of the band. So it was fitting that they honored Christopher at his grandfather’s milestone birthday.
