I (Bob Meli) received a letter from Harry Lenzing, a 1952 Hackensack High School Graduate, on
May 28, 2011 who said this about Joseph Rutkowski: “Joseph Rutkowski is spelled incorrectly.
It is RUTKOWSKI.  Joe was our neighbor on Worth Street. 
He (Joseph Rutkowski) was a Marine killed on Saipan.”

Joseph Rutkowski’s name is on the 1946 Hackensack High school yearbook dedication page, where it is spelled incorrectly: RUTHOWSKI. 

We cannot change the yearbook dedication page spelling because it is an original document. But
Joseph Rutkowski’s name, on our list, and on the World War II Plaque at the City Hall in Hackensack, is spelled correctly. We do not know at this present time (May 28, 2011) when or if Joseph Rutkowski graduated Hackensack High School. 

What we have learned from this brief comment in the letter from his neighbor,
Harry Lenzing, is that Joseph Rutkowski was Killed in Action (K.I.A) on the Island of Saipan.

Let us never forget the Marine’s sacrifice.

Written by:
Bob Meli
August 7, 2011