Giving His All For His Country

Note: On this Memorial Day 2020 weekend, we remember a White Deer native who made the ultimate sacrifice for his nation 50 years ago this weekend. The Polish Heritage Center of Panna Maria Foundation is honoring the Polish-American immigrants and their descendants who have died while serving in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard.

According to officials of the Polish Heritage Center, if the lineage of those who died facing hostile fire can be traced to the immigrant families that are honored, they will be honored in the Panna Maria Heritage Center Donor Gallery 2 in an interactive display that will permit visitors to locate family members or loved ones who died in combat.

 White Deer—As the United States notes Memorial Day this year, parishioners at Sacred Heart Church are recalling the sacrifice of one parishioner who died while serving in the U.S. Army.
 
Sgt. Larry May - U.S. Army, Company B, 20 Battalion 327 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, was killed in action south of Phu Bai Combat Base on May 23, 1970, in Vietnam.

Larry May was born June 4, 1947 and baptized at Sacred Heart Church in White Deer. He was the son of Roland and Lillian Warminski May. He was a grandson of Edward and Helen Kalka Warminski of White Deer; a great-grandson of Charles and Julia Gordzelik Kalka of White Deer; and great-great grandson of Frank and Frances Lycek Kalka of Bandera. Sgt. May graduated from White Deer High School and attended West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M University). He joined the U.S. Army in 1969.
 
Sgt. May was sent overseas in April, 1970. His platoon was on a reconnaissance mission in a mountainous area south of Phu Bai Combat Base at 5:30pm. Sgt. May, a platoon leader of his company, was fatally wounded by a booby trap while digging a foxhole in preparation of a platoon’s night defensive position surrounding a landing zone on May 23, 1970.

The May family was presented the posthumous award citation and medals for their son, including the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. Other medals presented were the combat Infantry Badge, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Expert Badge Automatic Rifle Bar and the Marksmanship Badge Machine Gun and Rifle Bars.

On May 12, 1973, the family gathered at the campus of West Texas State University, in Canyon where they witnessed the dedication of “Sgt. Larry May” Street in his honor. A certificate was presented which read, West Texas State University, in loving memory of your son, Sgt. Larry A. May, has dedicated a street to his brave effort to keep our country free.