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by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
CAPTAIN BUJALSKI ARRIVES AT FORT HUACHUCA
In June 1966, Capt. David Bujalski arrived at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, as commander of C Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Combat Support Training Brigade (CSTB), at the Combat Surveillance School. He went on to serve as a tactical intelligence officer in Vietnam, where he made the ultimate sacrifice in August 1967.
Born on 18 August 1940 in Valley City, North Dakota, David Allan Bujalski was the youngest of six children. He attended St. John’s High School in Collegeville, Minnesota, where he initially planned to enter the priesthood after graduation. He instead chose to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1960. Tall, athletic, and well-liked, Bujalski was described by friends and classmates as a friendly giant. He graduated the academy on 3 June 1964 in the top third of his class and, three days later, married Barbara DePretoro. His honeymoon was cut short when Bujalski left to attend Ranger training in August 1964. He was assigned as an artillery officer after Ranger Airborne School and stationed in Munich, Germany. His first child, Elizabeth, was born there in 1965.
In June 1966, the Bujalskis returned from Germany and moved to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where Captain Bujalski took command of C Company, 1st Battalion, 1st CSTB. According to his first sergeant, Bujalski “was revered by his cadre, loved by his students, and respected by his superiors.” One year later, he had transferred to the Corps of Engineers and was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division. Having been trained as a Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) 9301, Tactical Intelligence Staff Officer, Captain Bujalski served as the unit’s S-2 when it departed for Vietnam in August 1967.
On 15 August 1967, eight days after arriving in Vietnam and three days short of his twenty-seventh birthday, Captain Bujalski was performing a helicopter-borne road reconnaissance mission over Hau Nghia Province when he was struck by an enemy sniper’s bullet and killed. His second daughter, Kathleen, was born one month later. Captain Bujalski was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart Medal for his short time in Vietnam. His was the first Vietnam death of a soldier who had been assigned at the Combat Surveillance School.
The following remembrance was written by one of Captain Bujalski’s friends, and exemplifies the type of man he was: "David’s life was too short for him to have reached his full potential. We can only conjecture as to what he would have achieved, but we do know that he influenced the lives of those who knew him. David was a man for all seasons and was big not only in size, but mentally, morally, and spiritually as well. The strength which his outer form so forcefully displayed was only a picture of his inner strength of character."
Captain Bujalski’s body was recovered and buried at the U.S. Military Academy Post Cemetery in New York. On 27 March 1968, the sports field at Fort Huachuca was renamed Bujalski Field in honor of his sacrifice. His former company erected a stone monument and plaque in remembrance of his excellence as a company commander and instructor.
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| Date Taken: | 06.14.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.14.2024 17:53 |
| Story ID: | 474072 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 79 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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