February 10, 1944: A Bad Day at Anzio for East Brunswick

The World War II Memorial,

at the Jean Walling Civic Center

February 10, 1944: The Battle of Anzio, part of the Italian campaign of World War II, takes a bad turn for the Township of East Brunswick, New Jersey, which would one day become my hometown.

Over 7,000 Allied personnel were killed to achieve victory at Anzio. Three of those men were from East Brunswick, serving in the U.S. Army, were killed in the battle on that day: Private Constantine J. Haranski, Private 1st Class Henry Jensen, and Staff Sergeant William Kossman.

Five days later, on February 15, Staff Sergeant Joseph Mihalichko, U.S. Army Air Force, was killed in the battle. Two days after that, on February 17, Sergeant Adam Albrecht, U.S. Army Air Force, was killed there. And 4 months later, on June 19, Technician Alex Volgyi, U.S. Army, was killed.

On March 29, 1943, Private Alfred Wolff, U.S. Army, was killed outside Carthage, Tunisia. On October 22, 1944, Sergeant Edward Modzelewski, U.S. Army, was killed at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. On November 29, 1944, Technician Michael Lonczak, U.S. Army, was killed at Aachen, Germany. On December 16, 1944, the 2nd day of the Battle of the Bulge, Private Milton Finklestein, U.S. Army, was killed at Bastogne, France. On December 30, 1944, Seaman Lawrence C. Kossman, U.S. Navy, brother of William Kossman, was killed at Leyte Gulf.

On May 18, 1945, Private 1st Class Edward Biernacki, U.S. Army, was killed in the Battle of Manila in the Philippines. Two days later, on May 20, Private 1st Class Casper Fetyko, U.S. Army, was killed in the Battle of Okinawa. Total East Brunswick military deaths in World War II: 13.

Oddly, the official World War II Memorial at the municipal complex, the Jean Walling Civic Center (named for the town's 1st female Mayor, who died in office in 1975), lists 12 names, the missing name being that of Lonczak. Nevertheless, all 13 men have streets in town named for them.

No permanent residents of East Brunswick are known to have died in military service prior to World War I, but that's understandable, since the town was incorporated in 1860, just before the start of the American Civil War, and had as few as 4,000 people before World War II began.

The town lost 4 men in World War I: Joseph Crandall, who died in combat; and Harold Rusher, James Sylvester and Alfred Hillyer, who died from the Spanish Flu epidemic while serving. There were no East Brunswick deaths in the Korean War. There were 4 in the Vietnam War: Michael Bosko, Jan Elkins, Frederick Bonner and Kenneth Gonder. And there was 1 who was killed in action in Afghanistan: Steven Koch.

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February 10, 1944 was a Thursday. Australian entertainer Peter Allen and former Governor Frank Keating of Oklahoma were born.

Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. There were 2 games in the NHL. The New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 8-3 at the old Madison Square Garden. And the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-4 at the Chicago Stadium. The Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs were not scheduled.