Antonin Fajkus, a longtime Chicago resident, celebrated his recent 101st birthday at the Veterans’ Home in Manteno with a surprise guest: Jiří Klůc, a Prague tour guide.
Fajkus is the last living Czech World War II fighter pilot. Klůc was there Saturday to hand-deliver hundreds of birthday cards from the Czech Republic and other well-wishers.
Letter-writters included school children, admirers and even the mayor of Lipov, the village where Fajkus was born. They celebrated Fajkus’ remarkable military career, including more than 190 operational flights and over 500 combat hours during World War II. Klůc said there were also messages from people in America and other European countries among the 923 cards.
“Wow, I’ll never be able to get through these,” quipped Fajkus as he was presented with the bounty of notes surrounded by more than a dozen of his family members, including his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. “Thank you. … That’s nice of them to get so many birthday cards from my homeland.”
Some cards included sketches and drawings of a dashing Fajkus in his flying helmet and goggles by Czech schoolchildren. Klůc also presented Fajkus with various gifts, including soil and dried leaves from Lipov.
“Oh wow that’s precious, then,” said Fajkus as he admired the small circular container of soil in his palm.
Klůc read some of the messages to Fajkus in Czech. They all sang Happy Birthday as Fajkus played the role of conductor, bouncing his arms up and down to the melody. The family cut into a cake decorated in red, white and blue. On a table lay black and white photographs of a young Fajkus enjoying a swim, practicing gymnastics and proudly wearing his military uniform.
“I’m very thankful for Jiří, he’s done a ton of work and its amazing to see,” said his son Glenn Faikus, adding that his father is thrilled and surprised at the outpouring of messages. “It’s amazing to him that his hometown would be doing something for him.”
For months, Klůc had been secretly working with Fajkus’ family to coordinate the surprise visit. Fajkus’ name was first floated to Klůc in June, who then began researching Fajkus’ storied military career.
Despite the 73-year age difference, conversation flowed easily between Klůc and the centenarian in their native Czech.
“It is seriously crazy that he has kept his mother tongue after all these years,” Klůc said.
A Czech in Chicago
When he was about 2-years-old, Fajkus’ family immigrated to Little Village in Chicago, joining scores of recent immigrants looking for work opportunities. While living in the city, he attended a Czech school and was active in the Sokol movement, gymnastic societies which served as community gathering places for Czechs far from home.
Although he has been a Chicagoan for the majority of his life, Fajkus never lost his sense of identity, loving traditional dishes like svíčková and buchty. Lorraine, his wife of more than 70 years, is also of Czech heritage.
Czechs have long had a footprint in Chicago, especially in enclaves like Pilsen. At the turn of the 20th century, Chicago had the third-largest Czech population in the world, the most sizable outside of Europe, according to the Encyclopedia of Chicago.
A storied military career
Everything changed for Fajkus with the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941, just a few days after his 18th birthday. A few months later, he volunteered for the Army, successfully completing his fighter pilot training in 1943.
Later that year, Fajkus became a member of the famous 40th Fighter Squadron, also known as “The Red Devils.” As the turbulent months pressed on, he flew P-39 fighters and later P-47 Thunderbolts, primarily working in patrol missions, bomber escorts, and eventually, ground-attack operations.
In 1945, Fajkus was promoted to the rank of captain and became a flight leader. In April of that year, he shot down a Japanese Zero fighter over Taiwan. For his bravery, he was awarded the Air Medal six times.
Interviewing as an act of service
Klůc’s twenties have looked very different from that of his military heroes. Instead of participating in combat, he has dedicated himself to preserving stories like that of Fajkus.
“It hit me during COVID,” he said, “that we are losing all of these stories, and some of them were never even recorded.”
On a slim budget, the young guide travels across the globe, interviewing veterans and Holocaust survivors with connections to the Czech Republic. In 2024, he spoke with 253 people, and has logged more than 500 interviews since embarking on this mission.
Klůc crowdfunds his own work, and supplements his travels from his tips as a tour guide.
“You have to keep their stories alive,” he said. “We should learn from the past … especially right now in the world, you can see that history is repeating.”
When asked why he insists on making these visits in-person, Klůc was resolute.
“ I am really honored to shake the hand of these people … thank him for his service. It just hits different.”
Klůc collected Fajkus’ story into a book he gave to the vet.
As Fajkus reflected on his life, he was thankful for the support from his homeland, and was also grateful that he grew up in America.
“America is the greatest place in the world, and will remain so if we want it like that,” Fajkus said. ” I want to thank you all for thinking of me on this auspicious day.”
Allison Gordon is a freelance reporter. Emmanuel Camarillo is a Sun-Times reporter.
