Antanas Stapulionis (December 6, 1893 – July 3, 1978) was a

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and chief of the Panevėžys Staff of the

June Uprising in Lithuania The June Uprising ( lt, Birželio sukilimas) was a brief period in the history of Lithuania between the first Soviet occupation and the Nazi occupation in late June 1941. Approximately one year earlier, on June 15, 1940, the Red Army occupied Li ...

.Jasulaitis, Vytautas. ''Antanas Stapulionis''. '' Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija, T. IV (Chakasija-Diržių kapinynas).'' Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 2003. p. 654.

Early life

Stapulionis was born on December 6, 1893 in , Joniškėlis County, he studied at Joniškėlis Agricultural School and Kaunas Teachers' Seminary '.

World War I

Lieutenant colonel Antanas Stapulionis with his wife during the interwar period

Stapulionis was mobilized to the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

at the outbreak of World War I and studied at the , which he graduated in December 1915. Stapulionis fought on the Eastern front, especially the

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

and Austrian sectors.

Lithuanian Wars of Independence and the Interwar

Following World War I, Stapulionis returned to

and on 23 November 1918 he joined the secret organization of Lithuanian partisans in Joniškėlis in which he on 5 April 1919 became the Chief of Staff and on 14 May 1919 he became the Commander of Joniškėlis Battalion. The battalion together with the Panevėžys group units fought with the Bolsheviks near

Vabalninkas Vabalninkas () ( pl, Wobolniki) is a city in the Biržai district municipality, Lithuania. It is located south of Biržai. History Vabalninkas village was mentioned in 1554, Vabalninkas estate in 1555. In 1593, Vabalninkas was assigned to Ann ...

Pušalotas Pušalotas ( pl, Puszołaty) is a small town in Panevėžys County, in northeastern Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 692 people. History Pušalotas first mentioned in 1643. In 1639 the church was built. In 1 ...

Saločiai Saločiai is a small town in Panevėžys County, in northeastern Lithuania next to the border with Latvia. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 720 people. References

Towns in Lithuania Towns in Panevėžys Count ...

, Daugava. Antanas Stapulionis during the interwar period

Afterwards the battalion joined the Lithuanian Armed Forces and became the Joniškėlis Battalion, Stapulionis was transferred to the

3rd Infantry Regiment The 3rd United States Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army. It currently has three active battalions, and is readily identified by its nickname, The Old Guard, as well as Escort to the President. The regimental motto is ' ...

as assistant commander, later also serving as assistant commander in the

6th 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

and 7th Infantry Regiments. Stapulionis was the military commandant in Tauragė (1927) and since 1930 in

Ukmergė Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmergė''; pl, Wiłkomierz) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located northwest of Vilnius, with a population of about 20,000. Etymology and variant names The city took its original name ''Vilkmergė'' from th ...

and Panevėžys. Stapulionis served in the Lithuanian Armed Forces until 1940 and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the

Order of the Cross of Vytis The Order of the Cross of Vytis ( lt, Vyčio Kryžiaus ordinas) is a Lithuanian presidential award conferred for heroic defence of Lithuania's freedom and independence. November 23 is a holiday in honour of the Order of the Cross of Vytis. His ...

(1920), Commander's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (1929), Order of Star of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union (1938), Officer's Cross of the

Order of Vytautas the Great The Order of Vytautas the Great is the Lithuanian Presidential Award.''Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija. 84 straipsnis''. Priimta 1992 It may be conferred on the heads of Lithuania and foreign states, as well as their citizens, for distinguished ...

(1938).

World War II

June Uprising

On 23 June 1941, the June Uprising began in

Panevėžys County Panevėžys County ( lt, Panevėžio apskritis) is one of ten counties of Lithuania, counties in Lithuania. It is in the north-east of the country, and its Capital (political), capital is Panevėžys. On 1 July 2010, the county administration ...

. On 25 June 1941, the Panevėžys Staff of the June Uprising was established in the city which was headed by Antanas Stapulionis. One of the staff's tasks was to ensure order in the city, hence Antanas Stapulionis issued orders stating that robbers be shot on the spot, and that all signs of Soviet rule were to be removed. Moreover, scouts were sent to all roads leading from the city and on 25 June, due to the rebel initiative, Piniavos Bridge and food factory ' were

demined Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

. Already on 27 June, Panevėžys was full of Lithuanian Tricolor flags and there were no serious clashes with the retreating Red Army in the city or its surroundings. However, on 27 June, the '' Wehrmacht'' entered Panevėžys and the Germans liquidated the staff of the rebels by the end of June. In 1944, Stapulionis departed from Lithuania.

After World War II

In 1949 Stapulionis arrived to the United States. He died on 3 July 1978 in Florida, United States. Stapulionis was reburied in Joniškėlis on 27 May 1995. The author of his tombstone is architect Vytautas Brėdikis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapulionis, Antanas 1893 births 1978 deaths People from Gustoniai Lithuanian emigrants to the United States Lithuanian anti-communists Lithuanian people of World War I Lithuanian people of World War II Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Vytis Recipients of the Order of Vytautas the Great Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas