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September 23, 2021 | AppenMedia.com | An Appen Media Group Publication | Ser ving the community since 1976
Sons retrace father’s World War II footsteps By SYDNEY DANGREMOND sydney@appenmedia.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — More often than not, people lose the ability to better understand individuals after they’ve died. This was not the case for Tom Dworschak. Twelve years after his father, PFC Walter Dworschak, passed away, Tom says he now understands him better than ever. A veteran himself and an avid military history buff, Tom and his younger brother Scott had been planning for years to travel to Europe and see for themselves where their father fought in World War II. “It was amazing,” Tom said. “I didn’t think it’d be a mechanical operation … I knew there’d be an emotional part to it, but it was so much more intense than I ever expected.” PFC Dworschak was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in combat. He served as an infantryman in the Army’s 75th Division fighting for the United States in Europe from 19441945, most notably in the Battle of the Bulge. Over the course of 10 days in August, Tom and Scott covered roughly 1,600 miles as they drove from battlefield to battlefield, memorial to memorial, following the footsteps their father took 77 years before. It was not an easy undertaking. Like many other veterans of WW II, Tom’s father rarely spoke of his time in the service. Finding exactly where he served took a lot of heavy lifting in research, but it also provided an opportunity for Tom,
TOM DWORSCHAK/PROVIDED
Scott and Tom Dworschak stand at Lounges sur Mer battery in Normandy, France. In addition to retracing their father’s footsteps across Europe, Tom and Scott also visited other famous battlefields on their trip. Scott and their mother to swap stories they remembered Walter sharing over the years. “One of the most fascinating things about this entire trip was part of our preparation with my brother and I and my mother all independently sharing stories that Dad had told us at one time or another when no one else was around,” Tom said. “For example, my brother tells a story that one day he was driving to school… and Dad looks up and says, ‘This fog is just like the fog in the Battle of the Bulge,’ and that’s all he said, it just came out of nowhere.” In December 1944, then 20-year-old PFC Dworschak’s unit was stationed just outside of Wy, Belgium. On Christmas
Eve, he and the rest of the 75th Division were ordered to take the town back from the Nazis. The town still honors the men who helped them reclaim their independence to this day. Tom and Scott discovered a memorial in Wy dedicated to their father’s division where they left their own tribute. Digging through images at the National Archive and official military photographs led Tom to an image of Walter’s division marching through the Belgian village of Beffe on Jan. 5, 1945. In August, Tom and Scott found the exact spot the photo had been taken and
See WARTIME, Page 3
Stage Door Theatre to reopen with Shakespeare classic DUNWOODY, Ga. — Stage Door Theatre’s first show of the new season puts a spin on the classic “Romeo and Juliet.” Directed by new artistic director Willie E Jones III, the show features bold musical influences and takes place in a 1990s setting. Technical director Lila Chapman, adding dynamic Basquiat influences, the classic is an exciting new journey for Shakespeare veterans and newcomers alike. “At its core, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a story about how the biggest voices on the biggest platforms can cause the most harm,” Jones said. “How the people caught in the middle of two opposing sides of an issue are often the victims. We, as people caught in the middle of so many things from politics to a global pandemic, want the same things at the end of the day: peace, love, and something beautiful around us.” With Stage Door Theatre’s reopening comes a revitalization of their mission statement and an
See CLASSIC, Page 11