St. Louisan Carl Fronckewicz (1924-2016) served in the US Army during WWII in the European and Pacific Theaters. He was inducted into the Army at Jefferson Barracks in February 1943 and served until discharged at Jefferson Barracks in January 1946. Because of his prior training at Hadley Technical High School in St. Louis, Missouri in machining, Fronckewicz was assigned to Company C, 801st Engineer Aviation Battalion, one of 86 Engineer Aviation Battalions formed during WWII to build and maintain the complex infrastructure necessary to support combat and transportation aircraft during the war.

The 801st was formed at Davis Monthon Field near Tucson, Arizona and trained in Idaho before shipping out to the Azores where they were employed to build an airbase to reduce the southern transport route for aircraft heading to Europe and North Africa; Lagens field became one of the busiest airports in the world by its completion at the end of 1944. The 801st was then transferred to the Pacific Theater where it would serve until the end of the war. Following a brief respite and stint at Geiger Field in Spokane, Washington for training and reequipping, the battalion was shipped to the Pacific, arriving in Okinawa in September 1945 following the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945.

The 801st took up work building barracks and other support buildings through the end of 1945 and into 1946. During his service with the 801st Engineer Aviation Battalion, Carl Fronckewicz worked as an engineer and later as an Anti-Aircraft Crewman. For his service in the Azores, all members of the 801st were awarded the Bronze Star. After the war, Fronckewicz worked as an aerospace machinist working on Tomahawk Missile box launchers, among other things.

Fronckewicz, a Polish American Catholic, married fellow St. Louisan Rose Fonte, an Italian American Catholic.