embassy events 2008 

Polish Man Given Burial at Arlington National Ceremony

3 July 2008

Private First Class Dawid Pietrek, originally from Police, Poland, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, on July 1.  PFC Pietrek was killed in Afghanistan on June 14 while serving as an infantryman with the Golf Company 2nd Battalion Marines out of 29 Palms, California.  Three other marines were killed by the same roadside bomb.  He joined the Marines in June, 2007, and was awarded posthumously the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, and U.S. Citizenship.  His mother, Dorota Pietrek, was presented with her son's certificate of posthumous citizenship by the an official from the Department of Homeland Security shortly before the funeral service began.  Also attending the Arlington service were Pietrek's fiancee, Magdalena Bartoszewicz, and his sister, Emilia Pietrek, along with 90 other people.