Memorial

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S/Sgt Alexander J. Krajnik attended Peckham Vocational High School. He was employed at Curtiss-Wright.
He enlisted on 18 December 1942 in Buffalo, New York.

The plane of S/Sgt Krajnik and his crewmembers crashed on 2 April 1944 near Windischgarsten, 80 kilometers South West of Steyr, Austria. 3 crew menbers were taken POW directly, 4 wounded men were first brought to a Hospital in Linz on the Danube, Austria, and 3 other crew members, including S/Sgt Krajnik, were killed in action.

Crewmember and Flight Officer, Co-Pilot Alfred Shepard stated that the Germans told him that S/Sgt Krajnik was found in the Nose Turret after the plane had crashed into the ground. It is also believed that S/SgtKrajnik was already wounded or even killed by enemy machine gun bullets after the attack by enemy fighters.

Statement: Joseph J. Degnan,
Technical Sergeant, Air Corps, Tail Gunner

I certify that I personally observed Lieutenant Follender's Plane as the plane that went down on the Steyr Mission. Lieutenant Follender was directly behind my tail. Two ME 109 had just got finished straffing our plane and went directly over his plane. The plane went into a flat spin. After dropping approximately 5000 feet, it looked as if he might pull out. He went back into the spin and stayed that way until he hit the ground. The plane did not catch fire.

S/Sgt Alexander J. Krajnik was first buried at the Cemetery of Windischgarsten, Austria.

A crew member of S/Sgt Krajnik who was wounded and survived and became a POW, Staff Sergeant Gerald A. Duval wrote a book about his experiences including the crash named: "Wings and Barbed Wire."