Walter William Ratinski

Submitted by: Theresa Cobb, Research Volunteer, Polish American Congress

Walter William Ratinski born around 1888. Walter Ratinski served in World War 1 with the United States Marine Corps. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1918.

Story of Service

Walter William Ratinski served in World War I With the United States Marine Corps. His tour of duty with the U. S. Marine Corps lasted from his enlistment on December 15, 1917 in Rochester, New York, to his death in the trenches of France on June 6, 1918.

Walter Ratinski was born in Rochester, Monroe County, New York on June 7, 1888. He was one of thirteen children of Anthony and Josephine Borowiecka Ratinski. His parents emigrated from Posen Province, a partition of Poland, specifically from the area around Wagrowicz and Margonin, probably in the late1870’s. They settled in the city of Rochester, New York, and from records available, baptized most of their children in either St. Michael’s or St. Stanislaus Kostka Parishes.

At the age of 13, Wladyslaw - as he may have been called by friends and family - was working alongside his father and older brother as coat tailors. When Walter registered for the draft in 1917, his father, Anthony was deceased (1911) and Walter was living at 164 Herald Street, with his widowed mother and several siblings. He was a wage earner employed as a shoemaker at the Sherwood Shoe Company on Goodman Street. By the time Walter enlisted on December 15, 1917, he and his siblings had moved to 93 Jackson Street, and Walter was employed as a shoemaker at Joy, Clark & Nier, 175 N. Water Street, Rochester, NY.

Walter trained briefly at Parris Island, South Carolina, and more intensively at Quantico, VA. On March 27, 1918, he joined his company - the 45th, 5th Marine Regiment engaged in action at Toulon Sector, Aisne Defensive, Chateau-Thierry Sector, France. His local newspaper reported that his family received their last letter from him on Mother’s Day. That letter was apparently written under difficult conditions because it is filled with puncture holes as if he used his knee for a stand. He told his mother how well he liked the life and how good the officers were to him.

Pvt. Ratinski was killed in action on June 6, 1918, at Chateau-Thierry. He was one day shy of his 30th birthday. Private Ratinski was one of the first two reported casualties of war in Monroe County. He was initially buried in France, but in 1922 his remains were transported to America aboard the USS Cantigny. On February 28, 1922, Pvt. Walter Ratinski was laid to rest in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Soldiers and Sailors Plot, Grave 12, Rochester, New York.