World War II Honoree

John Anthony Gegetski

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Portage, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Rob Koenigsberg

Relationship

Great Nephew

Private First Class, Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. Killed in Action. On the morning of October 25, 1944, he and his comrades came down from their observation point over looking the town of Laval, France, where their company had set up its headquarters. As the troops stood in the town's main street, German artillery rounds began crashing into the town. As everyone ran for cover, he followed a group into a store. As he started down the stairs to the building's cellar, a shell exploded just outside the store window causing him to collapse when he reached the bottom of the stairs. It was later discovered that a small shell fragment had hit him and killed him instantly. Although initially buried in the American Cemetery in Epinal, France, his remains were subsequently returned to his home town of Portage, Pennsylvania.