Sponsored by:

Navy Federal Credit Union
Paul
H.
Kozikowski
1911-10-09

–

1976-04-16

Born:

Springfield

, 

Massachusetts

Home:

Chicopee

, 

Massachusetts

Buried: 

Chicopee

, 

Massachusetts

Cemetery:

Saint Stanislaus Cemetery

After attending Catholic elementary and high schools in Athol Springs, New York, Paul Kozikowski entered the Conventual Franciscans at Saint Joseph Cupertino Novitiate in Ellicott City, Maryland, and professed his vows in August 1932. He attended Saint Hyacinth Seminary, Granby, Massachusetts, and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1938, performing his First Mass at Saint Stanislaus Church, Chicopee, Massachusetts, which was attended by his three brothers, Henry, Julius, and Stanley, all of them priests. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor he sought permission to enter military service, and in 1942 was commissioned as a U.S. Army chaplain. After the war he returned to parochial ministry, first at Saint Joseph Parish in Peabody, Massachusetts, as assistant and then as pastor after the death of the senior priest, serving there from 1968 to 1976.

Awards Received

  • Silver Star

    Service:

    United States Army

    Rank:

    Captain (Chaplain’s Corps), [then First Lieutenant]

    Regiment:

    16th Infantry Regiment

    Division:

    1st Infantry Division

    Action Date:

    March 31, 1943
    Headquarters, 1st Infantry Division, General Orders No. 62 (March 26, 1945)

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain (Chaplain’s Corps), [then First Lieutenant] Paul H. Kozikowski (ASN: 0-435115), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving as a Chaplain with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, in action against the enemy in the vicinity of El Guettar, Tunisia, on 31 March 1943. The gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty demonstrated by, Chaplain Kozikowski without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.