Biographical Notes
Edwin Mark Trawczynski was born May 18, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Edwin Trawczynski and Lorraine Jaffke. In 1968, he was drafted into the United States Army, and served on active duty from March 8, 1968, until February 28, 1970. Trawczynski trained at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and at the U.S. Army Medical Training Center, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He served as a medical corpsman in the 13th Field Hospital, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, before deploying to Vietnam in May 1969. He was assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, and completed combat and pacification missions in Hue, Boc Hoa, the A Shau Valley, Fire Base Roy, Camp Ra, Bien Hoa, Camp Eagle, and Fire Base Rifle. Upon his return to the United States, Trawczynski was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve, and served for an additional 4 years, before being honorably discharged on March 1, 1974. Following his service in Vietnam, Trawczynski married Mary Anne Wake, and the couple had one daughter, Romana. Trawczynski died on September 4, 2007.