I'm not a Szczepanik, just found this board by accident. I'm just posting this in case this "rings a bell" for anyone.
I was in a squadron in the USAF ... there was a (Major) Russell Szczepanik, SR-71 Reconnaissance Systems Officer, who I believe was from Connecticut. Here's a link to a page:
http://www.stripes.com/photoday/012004photoday.html