Alexander Vukovich
Biography: Alexander Vukovich, “Al”, was born on April 22, 1915, in Butte, Montana. He was the son of John M. Vukovich and Anita Vidakovich. He attended Washington School and Butte High School and worked as a station tender at the Anselmo Mine, in Butte, before entering the military.
Service Time: Al entered the Army on October 15, 1941, at Missoula, MT. On the 26th, he was assigned to Company A, 82nd Infantry Training Battalion, for his Basic Training. On December 15, he was assigned to Company C of the 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He trained with them at a number of military facilities, including Fort Lewis, Hunter Liggett Military Reservation, California, and Camp Hood, Texas, during 1942. At some point, he was promoted to a Gun Commander position.
The 899th shipped out from the New York port on January 13, 1943, and arrived at Casablanca on January 26, 1943. While they were in North Africa, they were issued new M10 tank destroyers. They were deployed to the Gafsa-El Guettar sector, Tunisia, on March 16, 1943, where they established the first American contact with the British Eighth Army on April 7th. The unit arrived in the Naples, Italy, area on November 10th, but were immediately sent to England. Liaison personnel from the unit accompanied the second glider lift of the 82nd Airborne Division during the invasion of Normandy, France. The main section of the battalion landed at Utah Beach on D-Day and helped capture Cherbourg in late June.
On July 15th, during a heavy German artillery barrage, Al’s tank destroyer overturned and caught fire. He was able to escape the vehicle, but he then crawled back inside and was able to rescue all of his crew members. He was awarded a Silver Star Medal for his heroic actions and was promoted to Staff Sergeant around this time also. He spent 72 days in various hospitals in England, recovering from burns received during the rescue. Following his release, he was assigned as 1st Sergeant with the 1605th Labor Supervision Service Company and was in charge of a Prisoner of War (POW) camp until he returned to the U.S. He was also awarded a Purple Heart Medal for his wounds, the EAME medal with credit for the campaigns of Tunisia, Rome-Arno, Normandy, Northern France and Central Europe along with the American Defense Service, Good Conduct and the Occupation of Germany medals. He left the military at the rank of Staff Sergeant on August 1, 1945.
Al returned to Butte and went to work driving a truck for the Montana State Highway Department and was a member of the Teamsters Union. On February 17, 1946, he married the former Sophie “Cokey” Murja who was also from Butte. She was the daughter of Eli Murja and Annie Uzelac. They had three children, Al Jr, John and Joe.
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n January 12, 1948, Al joined the Army Reserves, Operational Response Command (ORC), serving with various units including HQ & HQ Company, 3rd Battalion, 381st Infantry Regiment, Montana ORC Control Group, 651st QM Base Depot Company and the 796th Ordnance Maintenance Company. He left military service on January 11, 1952 at the rank of Master Sergeant.
Al was very active in Veterans affairs, both locally and statewide and was commander of both the Disabled Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. At one time, he was commander of the local DAV and senior vice commander of the state DAV. He had been a trustee, and judge advocate of the Military Order of the Cooties and Pup Tent No. 10. He was also a past president and secretary of the local Serbian Orthodox congregation.
Al passed away on November 15, 1965, and was buried in the Mountain View Cemetery, VFW Plot, Butte, MT. Thank you to Al’s son, Joe, and nephew, David, for providing much of the information and photos in this tribute. Thank you also to Find a Grave contributor Brenda for use of the grave marker photo.
