Anthony Dombrowski

After High school In 1946, he was going to be drafted into the Army. So in June, he chose to enlist in the Navy and became a yeoman serving his time stateside at Naval Air station Lakehurst, New Jersey until he was honorably discharged in 1948. While serving at Lakehurst he played basketball. His team won the 49th Naval District basketball championship.

He then went on to college on the GI bill and completed two years at the University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee extension). He played football, basketball, and track. He worked his summers driving a taxi for yellow cab and worked in the Blatz and Schlitz beer breweries.

In 1947, he left Milwaukee when a close friend encouraged him to head west. He drove his 37 Chrysler with only 90 dollars in his pocket across the country to the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. He joined the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and played in team sports including football. He earned his BS degree in education. Graduating as a distinguished military student under the ROTC college program, he accepted a regular active army commission as a 2nd lieutenant in June of 1953. He served his first two years in infantry units including one year overseas in Korea. After that, he changed his path taking assignment with the Adjutant General Corps.

His military career also included duty assignments to Germany, and two tours to Vietnam. He always considered the highlight of his military career was to activate and intensively train, and then deploy the 520th Personnel Services Company based at Fort Lee, Virginia to Vietnam in April of 1967. He held the rank of Major and was commanding officer for 18 months stationed at the Bien Hoa airbase. He then commanded the US Army Saigon Personnel Service Center which consisted of the 520th PSC and the 537th PSC at Bien Hoa Airbase until May 1968. He credits setting up the only mini golf putt putt course in Vietnam for front line troops on R&R. He returned to the US as a Lt. Colonel and was assigned to Adjutant General at US Army Combat Development Command, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

He finished his military career at the Pentagon in Washington DC where he was in charge of the Pentagon Postal System and was the Army representative for State funerals, and assisted in the funerals for Presidents Truman and Johnson. He retired in May 1974 as a Lt Colonel with 23 years of service. In 1973 while still on active duty, he swore in his oldest son into the US Coast Guard at the USCG Arlington recruiting station. It was a memorable moment for both. Anthony passed away in 2020.

Written by his son, John Dombrowski