Marine Corps Pfc Robert Simanek was born in 1930 and grew up in Detroit. In 1951, about two years after graduating from High School, he enlisted in service, and after training, he was placed in Korea, just outside of Seoul. When he was just twenty-two, he was injured after jumping on an enemy grenade in his trench to save his compatriots. Exactly one year later, he was informed he would receive the Medal Of Honor, and in 1953, he received it from President Eisenhower.

Student Zack Howey has always been interested in military history. He first met Mr. Simanek at a Medal of Honor unveiling several years ago and right away they began exchanging letters, but an unfortunate event happened when they lost contact for the past two years, but while working on a National History Day project about the Korean War this year, Zack was able to find his contact information again while interviewing a veteran. Mr. Simanek and Zack’s family soon reconnected, and on a short visit, Zack learned that Mr. Simanek’s wife had passed away in July.

This year, when Valentine’s Day 2021 rolled around, Zack had the ingenuitive idea of writing letters to Mr. Simanek to help ease his loneliness, cheer him up, and thank him for his service. With the help of Mrs. Belvedere, his SMART room teacher, was able to spread the project to the school, and it was a roaring success. Zack, his SMART block, and many other blocks, sent numerous letters to Mr. Simanek to thank him for his service.

More about Mr. Simanek from the Department of Defense here:

https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/story/Article/2310346/medal-of-honor-monday-marine-corps-pfc-robert-simanek/