Annandale community invited to honor Polish-American World War II veteran

The community is invited to join a “drive by” display of appreciation and remembrance on Saturday for a Polish World War II veteran who lives in Annandale. 

The event will honor Col. Romuald Lipinski, age 95, on the eve of the 76th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino, of which he played a significant role.

The drive-by will start at 2 p.m. on May 16 at Canterbury Woods Elementary School, 4910 Willet Drive in Annandale. From there, people will clap and wave from their cars as they drive by Lipinski’s house. Participants are asked to bring American and Polish flags and homemade signs. Due to social distancing recommendations, people should stay inside their cars. 

Col. Lipinski served with the 12 Podolski Lancers Regiment, Polish II Corps as part of the Allied Army in Italy during World War II, says Matthew Stefanski, one of the organizers of the event. 

In the early hours of May 18, 1944, a patrol from Lipinski’s regiment made it to the top of Monte Cassino and raised a Polish flag over the ruins of the destroyed abbey, ending a bloody battle that had been waged since January of that year and resulted in 55,000 Allied casualties.

Lipinski was born in 1925 near Brześć, Poland. Following the joint invasion of Poland in September 1939 by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, he was forcefully deported with his family to the Soviet Union in 1941. After Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, he joined the Polish Anders Army, with which he served for the duration of the war. 

Lipinski has lived in the United States since 1953 where he raised a family. He had a distinguished career as a structural engineer and has been an active member of the Polish-American community for many years.

“We wanted to make Col. Lipinski feel appreciated and honored, especially during this time of social isolation, when everyone could use a smile and a wave,” Stefanski says. “With the 76th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino approaching, we figured it was an apt occasion to recognize him with this symbolic drive-by.”