Edward Palcich
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Edward A. Palcich was inducted into the Army on July 18, 1942.
He was a Technical Sergeant and a medical laboratory technician with the 27th Army General Hospital, 19th Medical Lab Unit, in the Philippines and New Guinea.
He says: "I was part of the 21-member team assigned to establish the first United States blood bank in the South Pacific during World War II. The unit was located at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, prior to the invasion of the Philippines (in March 1945).
The blood donors were brought to the 27th General Hospital....only Group ''O'' donors were taken, being the universal donor. The GIs were brought in from the staging areas in the vicinity: We worked 14- to 15-hour shifts, seven days a week, for many months. Blood was stored in special ice-refrigerated containers. T
he whole blood was checked daily. Any blood that was hemolyzed was discarded as unsafe for transfusion. Many times when hemolysis was indicated early the ''plasma'' portion was removed. Plasma could be stored indefinitely and was safe to use in an emergency."
Mr. Palcich received the: Good Conduct Medal, Meritorious Service Unit Citation, Official Letters of Appreciation, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Service Medal with two bronze battle stars, Philippine Liberation Medal, American Campaign Service Medal and three overseas service bars.
He was discharged on Jan. 20, 1946.
Source: Hometown Heroes: The St. Louis County World War II Project. 236.
