Michael Peter Pavlocak was born on September 8, 1947. He graduated from Edison High School in 1965. He spent one semester at the Academy of Aeronautics in New York. He loved baseball, football and was a New York Giants fanatic.
Pavlocak entered the US Army from Edison, NJ, and attained the rank of Private First Class (PFC).
Pavlocak was killed in action on April 15, 1968.
Pavlocak was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster.
Guys in his company used to refer to him as “Sarge” because he resembled Vic Morrow from the TV show. I think it was called “Combat”. He trained at Fort Hood, TX, after being drafted at Fort Dix. He was shipped over to Vietnam with his whole division in late September 1967. His best friend in the service was Bruce Yacuk.
Michael was on a search and clear operation on Easter Sunday (Easter Monday in Vietnam). E Company was a recon company. About 5:20 PM while on patrol in which he was the point man, he spotted some VC ahead. He then told his CO to take cover while he went out and engaged the sniper that he had spotted. When he engaged the enemy, his position was continually raked by machine gun fire as he was surrounded by VC snipers. His actions prevented his company from walking into an ambush and probably saved all of their lives. For this action, he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster.
Written by James Pavlocak, Brother
December 28, 2001
Sources: James Pavlocak (brother) and NJVVMF.
12/17/2024
