EDWARD
BUNISKI
Middle Island
Army
Edward
Buniski was born in Warren Run, Pennsylvania on March 27, 1918. He
entered the Army on August 13, 1941. He trained at Fort Knox, Ky., as a
tank driver, and went overseas with the First Armored division in June
1942. In North Africa on February 14th, 1943, Edward was
captured in one of a number of battles fought around Kasserine Pass in
Tunisia. He was taken back to Germany where he was a prisoner of war and
put in the German POW camp Stalag 3B, Furstenberg Brandenburg, Prussia.
He was freed from the camp on April 22, 1945 when the camp was liberated
by advancing Russian troops. Returning to the United States he was sent
to Lake Placid, New York for R&R. For his service Corporal Buniski was
awarded the American Defense Medal, the European – African – Middle
Eastern Service Medal, A Good Conduct Medal and a Prisoner of War
Medal. He was discharged from the service on September 13, 1946 at Fort
Dix, New Jersey.
Buniski
Missing
In North Africa
Patchogue Advance
March 17, 1943
War Dept. Wire Reaches Home Before Letter
Middle Island Man Unaccounted for
Since Action February 14-Joined
Army in August, 1941
On Saturday, 24 hours after his parents in Middle Island
had received a telegram from the War department,
reporting that Cpl. Edward J. Buniski, aged 24, has been
missing in North Africa since February 14, they received
a letter from him, written on February 10.
He is believed to be the first Middle
Island man reported missing in action in any war in 80
years since Edward and Albert Bayles uncles of Albert and
Thomas Bayles who lived there, were reported missing in
Civil war action.
The parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Buniski, who live on Rocky Point road, have heard nothing
further from the War department since receiving the
telegram, which gave no details.
Corporal Buniski, third oldest of the six
children in the family, was inducted into the Army in
August 1941, arid was last home on May 24, 1942. He has a
brother in the Army, Pvt. Charles Buniski, aged 31, at
Indiantown Gap, Pa.
Born in Warrior Run, Pa., Corporal
Buniski came to Suffolk County in 1922, when his family
moved to Wading River. Since 1926, the family has been
living in Middle Island, where the father operates a
farm. Corporal Buniski helped on the farm until he
entered the Army. He was, graduated from the Middle
Island school and attended Port Jefferson High school for
two years.
He was shipped overseas last spring,
arriving in Northern Ireland on June 18. He also spent
some time in England before being transferred to North
Africa a few months ago.
Besides the two brothers in the Army, the
other members of the Buniski family are Mrs. Emily
Oldfield of New York, whose husband, Ernest Oldfield, is
in the merchant marine, Leo Buniski, Henry Buniski and
Miss Florence Buniski, all of Middle Island.
Corporal Buniski used to play sandlot
baseball in Brookhaven town having covered third base for
the Middle Island team for several seasons.
Buniski Is Home
In Middle Island
Patchogue Advance
July 5, 1945
Cpl. Edward Buniski, aged 26, who
achieved some fame early in 1943 in being the first,
Middle Island man reported missing in action in any war
in 80 years, is home again after 26 months in a German
prison camp.
Corporal Buniski, third oldest of five
children of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Buniski of Rocky Point
road, worked with his father on the farm before entering,
the Army in August, 1941. He trained at Fort Knox, Ky.,
as a tank driver, and went overseas with the First
Armored division in June 1942.
After his capture by the Germans -on
February 14, 1943, in Africa, he was reported missing,
and later a prisoner of war. He was liberated on April
22.
Before Corporal Buniski was reported
missing in action, the last such report to have reached
Middle Island was one concerning Edward and Albert
Bayles, who were reported missing in Civil war action.
They were the uncles of Albert and Thomas Bayles of
Middle Island.
Corporal Buniski was graduated from the
Middle Island school and attended Port Jefferson High
school for two years. A familiar figure on local
sandlots, he used to play third base for the Middle
Island team. A brother, Charles Buniski, is also with the
Army, in Europe.
Information
supplied by the,
Brookhaven Town Historians office