Courtesy photo
Honoring Those Currently Serving
Lance Corporal Jack T. Balwierczak
Submitted by Michael T. Naya, Jr.
Kenilworth resident Lance Corporal Jack T. Balwierczak, David Brearley Class of 2021 is currently serving in G Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, U.S. Marine Corps. Growing up Jack attended Harding Elementary School and David Brearley Middle/High School. While attending David Brearley he played defensive line and full back for the football team. Three of the four years he played were on the varsity team. In addition to this he threw javelin, and jumped hurdles for track varsity his junior and senior year.
Jack enlisted in the U.S. Marine in February 2021. When asked why he stated, “I wanted to join the Marine Corps my entire life. Another thing that inspired me to join was Marine Lance Corporal William Wold who stated in an interview that while engaging with insurgents in Fallujha that, ‘I’d rather kill them in their backyard then have them come to our backyard.’ That quote reminded me people want what our families work hard to have. I love my family and friends and be damned if someone wasn’t there to protect them.
Another thing that inspired me to join was pictures of marines taking care of the locals they were surrounded by in foreign countries. People forget just as much as we are trained to kill the enemy, we are trained to protect the women and children we come across. The final reason I joined was to meet people from all walks of life. In my platoon I have brothers from the northern states, the southern states, Nigeria, Brazil, Portugal, Italy, Albania, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and a few other countries. They grew up in good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods. It doesn’t matter where you are from, a marine is a marine no matter where you come from.
I left for boot camp in October, 2021, a few months after graduating. I attended boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina for three months. There we weren’t allowed to have a phone until our graduation. My only contact home was by letter the entire time I was there. Upon graduation I went to infantry school for a four-month course. There we learned how to survive and defend ourselves against the enemies we have today. We learned how to survive in the water, make shelters in the woods, become experts on our weapon systems such as rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, mortars and so much more. Upon completion I was sent to Camp LeJeune, North Carolina with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines.”
So far Jack has been stationed on the border of the U.S. and Mexico where he conducted training operations in the deserts of New Mexico for a month. From there he received Arctic Training in the mountains of California where they learned how to survive constant negative degree temperatures for two months. From there he was sent to the desert once again where he received additional training.
Currently, Balwierczak is a fire team leader/assistant patrol leader and occasionally fills in as squad leader. After his discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps, he hopes to become a firefighter or police officer following in the footsteps of his father Joe Balwierczak who is a member of the Kenilworth Police Department. In closing he commented,
“We (Marines) share stories and make memories together only we will tell each other about. We workout together, go on field operations together, freeze together, sweat together, go to church together, and when we have our off time, we go to the bar together. It is like we have known each other our entire lives. After a while it seems like we only understand each other and only get each other. The family I have made in the Marines is something I will miss when it is time to put down my rifle and hang up my body armor.”
This is part IV of an ongoing series honoring those currently serving in the U.S. military from Kenilworth.
