Sergeant Kowalski

Sergeant Kowalski was a U.S. Army soldier who served during the Vietnam War as a member of the Green Berets Special Forces.

History
Sergeant Kowalski was a man of few words in the film. He was unquestionably a powerhouse in Colonel's Kirby's A-Teams and served to provide extra muscle in certain situations in and outside of missions. Kowalski was actually a communications specialist and held the rank of Sergeant First Class (E-7). He was first introduced during the demonstration held at Fort Bragg where Sergeant Muldoon asked him to "break out the gear" when the civilian visitors were divided into tour sections to be led on different trails on site.

Kowalski was later seen with Colonel Kirby, Sergeant McGee and Sergeant Muldoon along with another Sergeant, to apprehend the army base's regular "con man" Sergeant Petersen who was scrounging for supplies from other units, mostly from Kirby's team supply depot.

While still at Fort Bragg, Kowalski was next seen in the company barracks when Sergeants Muldoon and McGee were waking up the company to prepare for deployment.

Action
Sgt. Kowalski first joined the mission to be stationed at Camp 2-9er Savoy, replacing a previous unit that was due to return home soon. Kowalski quickly assumed the leading role of communications officer in the camp, assisted by another soldier. He was also present during the interrogation of a captured Viet Cong spy discovered in camp some days after the night harassment by VC mortars that killed Captain Coleman in his sleep. Kowalski was called to join Col. Kirby and Sgt. Muldoon outside while Capt. Nim proceeded to brutalize the VC prisoner. Kowalski stood in wait for Col. Kirby, holding his M16 while Kirby argued with reporter George Beckworth about the justification for brutality against the enemy.

Kowalski was next seen taking part in a mission to retrieve and escort Vietnamese villagers seeking protection and refuge from the Viet Cong. During this morning time operation, Kowalski served as one of the point men scouting ahead. He revealed to Col. Kirby, several pit traps containing Punji sticks. Shortly after making a detour to the intended village destination, Kowalski and other point men stormed the village grounds upon discovering it had been destroyed. He and others checked for any survivors, only finding a few men who had survived brutal torture.

Some time later, possibly a day or more, there was a battle expected to occur at Camp 2-9er Savoy. Kowalski was seen that night exchanging radio chatter with Col. Kirby who was flying back in to the camp after having left to meet with Colonel Cai and Colonel Morgan. He stressed the severity of the attack that exceeded any routine harassment before the communication tower suffered a mortar hit, knocking out its generators.

During the battle, Sgt. McGee called for help from Kowalski while trying to protect fleeing civilians in the camp. Kowalski and his assistant from the commo bunker, quickly acted and helped repel Viet Cong soldiers who had breached a perimeter wall. Kowalski tackled one VC, crashing over the wall with him while his partner hurled another VC to the ground, beating him with heavy fists. Kowalski reemerged from the other side of the wall, apparently having subdued the VC he took down, and returned to the commo bunker.

Nearing the end of the battle when Col. Kirby ordered all personnel and civilians to retreat from the camp as it was now overrun by the enemy, Kowalski had informed Kirby that there were explosive charges set inside the commo bunker to prevent the enemy from using to their advantage.

Kowalski was last seen in Camp 2-9er Savoy rejoining the Colonel after the camp had been successfully cleared out by a flying US gunship ordered to decimate the Viet Cong occupants. Kowalski and others were ordered by the injured (yet still capable) Captain MacDaniel to set up guard outposts while the camp personnel worked to salvage equipment and properly policing bodies of enemy and ally soldiers as well as any civilian casualties.

Sgt. Kowalski next served in a mission to capture General Phan Son Ti a notorious Viet Cong commander who was previously captured by Colonel Kirby until forced by political pressure to release him. Upon landing in the suspected valley where the General was reported to be in, Kowalski took point lead per the orders of Kirby and Sgt. Muldoon who confirmed the team would utilize Alternate Plan Bravo. According to Muldoon, Kowalski had a five-minute head start as the team was busy burying their parachutes, packs and helmets.

Meanwhile, Kowalski was busy scouting ahead and was set to report back as "all clear" when he was suddenly attacked by four Viet Cong militiamen. Alone, Kowalski fought them off hand-to-hand, smashing his radio into the chest of his first attacker before fatally kicking him in the face and head. His second attacker advanced with a knife that Kowalski evaded before lifting the VC off his feet, carrying him towards a nearby tree and impaled him on a stake-shaped branch. While he still had his hands full with the impaled VC, another came from behind and stabbed Kowalski in the lower back and kidney region. Still standing, Kowalski took out one of his own combat knives and cut the VC's throat. While in pain, Kowalski noticed a fourth Viet Cong soldier reaching for his M16 that he had laid on the ground prior to trying to radio his team. Quickly, Kowalski hurled his knife, fatally striking the last VC in the chest before he himself collapsed on the ground.

Kowalski struggled to relay a message to Col. Kirby, only able to say "Bulldog!...Bulldog!!" before he succumbed to his wound. Col. Kirby soon realized there was "trouble" and signaled the rest of the team to move. The team found the carnage left by Kowalski who Sgt. McGee confirmed was dead before they arrived. As Sgt. Petersen and Muldoon looked at the nearby bodies, including Muldoon swatting off the impaled VC body from the tree, Kirby picked up Kowalski's M16 rifle that McGee glumly remarked that Kowalski "won't be needing that anymore". However, a visibly-emotional Colonel replied of Kowalski "No. But he took 'em all with him, or they wouldn't have left this!" and broke the rifle over a tree trunk. Mournful, Col. Kirby walked away, ordering Sgt. McGee to form a burial detail for Kowalski.

Trivia

 * Sgt. Kowalski was portrayed by former NFL star Mike Henry.


 * Sgt. Kowalski was the only known soldier in the team to be buried in Vietnamese soil instead of being returned home for burial. Because his death occurred during an extremely time-sensitive mission (and the fact the team had not yet completed its objective), Sgt. Kowalski had to instead be buried.


 * Sgt. Kowalski was one of two known sergeants to be killed during Mission #2 and not be returned home for burial. The other was Sgt. Petersen who was left impaled on a bed of Punji sticks while the team was on the move to their intended extraction point.


 * Among the numerous production stills, there is a scene (likely deleted) where Sgt. Kowalski and other members of the A-Team apprehend Spc. Petersen scrounging for supplies from Col. Kirby's supply depot. Likely this was an extra few minutes editors felt were not needed to introduce Petersen into the team.