Zenon Lukosius

Veteran is famous, yet unknown

Resident helped capture U-505

 

Zenon Lukosius views a model of the U-505 submarine which he helped capture.

            World War II Veteran Zenon Lukosius is known to millions of people for his valor, but unfamiliar to them all the same. The native Chicagoan is known for his heroic venture as one of six surviving members of the U.S. Navy crew that captured the U-505 submarine from the Germans in 1944. The Museum of Science and Industry hosted a reenactment with surviving members of the crew for eight years and recently reopened the popular exhibit this spring. The museum  reports that approximately 24 million visitors have come from around the world to view the exhibit since it opened in 1954. Lukosius, a Silver Star recipient, is less known for the life he lived before and since that time.

            He grew up in a very close knit family on Chicago ’s far south side, with two brothers and one sister.

            His younger brother joined the navy in the 1930s to support the family.

            Lukosius wanted to join the navy as well and his mother only agreed to let him join once his younger brother came back home. “My mother couldn’t stand the thought of having two of her sons away at the same time. I did what she wanted and waited,” he said.

             Lukosius enlisted for 6 years as soon as his brother came home.

            While a Second Class Motor Machinist Mate aboard the U.S.S. Pillsbury, Lukosius was part of a team that captured the enemy submarine. He saved the U-505 from sinking by rushing into the sinking submarine and closing the sea strainer to prevent more water from rushing in.

            “I was the third one down,” he said. “The engines were still running. The gunners mate was the first one to jump onto the sub.” They acted quickly and efficiently in the narrow space typical within a submarine, with only seconds left before the sub would be completely flooded. “I went to shut the engine off when I looked around the periscope tower and saw water coming in.” Hans Goebler, the German submariner who served in the control room of the U-505, laid the top of the sea strainer right next to it. “We were warned to be aware of possible booby traps down there – bombs.” He quickly felt around carefully to make sure there were none. As a result, the navy gained valuable knowledge from the German maps and were able to crack some of the German codes that were found in code books they had discovered. This was the first time the U.S. Navy had boarded and captured a foreign enemy man-of-war in battle on the high seas since 1815.

            Lukosius and Goebler, who eventually became a U.S. citizen, would see each other for a member’s night each year for many years at the museum, along with other surviving service members of the U.S.S. Pillsbury. They enjoyed each other’s company and considered those fleeting moments on the U-505 long behind them. “Hans did what he had to do, and we did what we had to do. It was our jobs,” he said.

            The wisdom Lukosius likes to share for all who will listen is, “We like to believe we’re all so different, but we’re not.”

            Following the capture of the U-505, he became chief motor machinist on the LSM 293 in the Pacific fighting the Japanese. He was within eyesight of the aftermath of the devastation of the bombing of Hiroshima . He uses only one word to describe what he saw: “unimaginable.” He was then made an assistant port director and served in the Philippines until the war ended. Following his enlistment, he left the navy and joined the reserves. After living in an apartment near Wrigley Field he and his wife bought a house on Chicago ’s south side. “In 1959 I had a friend who owned a lot of land in a place I had heard some things about. Good things. So we had our home built on part of that lot, which was part of farmland at the time, and we’ve been here ever since,” he said. That place was South Holland . “I don’t think there is a better city in the country.”

            Following his service to the country, he worked in construction for 37 years, taking him as far away as Saudi Arabia . The 87-year old retiree now volunteers for Thornton Township ’s senior luncheon program and also talks to children in District 150 about the U-505 capture. He keeps in great physical shape by walking 4 miles three days a week and walking to go shopping.

        “I like to stay active,” he said. “Keeps me young.”