Former Symphony Leader, L. Kucinski, Now Swinging a Mop Instead of Baton
Band, Orchestra Head Is Just Buck Private on K.P.
Stout Field, Indiana – Special: “Hey! You soldier! Get those floors scrubbed, On the double!”
Short, stocky Private Leo Kucinski bent to the task and soon had the kitchen floor scrubbed so well that not even the eagle eye of the K.P. “pusher” could find fault with the job.
The corporal didn’t know –and if he had known, it would have made no difference – that he was “pushing” a well know symphony orchestra conductor and band leader.
Only a few weeks ago Private Kucinski left Sioux City and his jobs of conducting symphony orchestras there and at Lincoln, Nebraska and the Monahan Post band to enlist in the army air corps.
Currently he is assigned to headquarters squadron of the I troop carrier at Stout field. While Private Kucinski’s future is a military secret, it is safe to assume that his presence at Stout field has something to do with organization of an air corps band at the base.
Meanwhile, however, Private Kucinski is acting and being treated exactly like any other buck private. The army plays no favorites. The fact that Private Kucinski has swayed countless audiences with his magic baton means nothing at all to a K.P. pusher.
The kitchen floor must be kept clean. The K.P. pusher is on hand to see that it is. Private Kucinski is there to clean it.
And Private Kucincki says he doesn’t mind – he’s here to work.
Private Kucinski is the only symphony conductor wearing a private’s uniform. That distinguishes him somewhat, but the three jobs he held simultaneously before he enlisted ought to earn him another record.
Private Kucinski is 38. He admits he has his plans for the future, but they are long range plans. There is first a war to be fought and won.
The conductor has a younger brother, Richard, who is an air corps cadet. A sister, Henrietta, is an army nurse.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, November 11, 1942 (photo included)
