John Jarosz was born in Massachusetts in 1912, the son of Joseph and Caroline Jarosz. The 1930 census shows the family living in Litchfield Connecticut. John Jarosz enlisted in the army May 20, 1942 in Hartford, Connecticut. He was in the 977th Field Artillery Battalion which saw service in Italy and then was in the invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944. As is noted below, he was killed before exiting his LST on the beach. His body was not recovered.
From Armyhistory.org, comes the following: "On 15 August 1944, the 977th landed on the beaches of Southern France as a part of the Operation Dragoon invasion force. Again, as at Anzio, the battalion disembarked onto a beachhead under attack by the enemy. The LST carrying the men and equipment of A Battery had just started unloading when it was hit by a radio controlled bomb. The tremendous explosion and resulting fire killed twenty-one men and wounded seventy-one others. The battery's equipment, including its 155 mm guns, was also destroyed. In spite of the terrible loss, the men of B and C Batteries quickly moved to their firing positions, and by that afternoon, their guns were answering urgent calls for fire from troops in the front lines." Earlier in the European campaign, the 977th landed at Anzio where they fired almost 50000 shells from their 155mm "Long Toms".
Corporal Jarosz's group includes his posthumous officially engraved slot brooch Purple Heart edge numbered 458294 with its presentation box; official Purple Heart Award document with its mailing tube as sent to Mrs. Constance Jarosz in Naugatuck, Connecticut, the official Roosevelt Accolde; and an official document from the AG's office describing the Purple Heart award.
SOLD to a collector 04-2021
