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Pvt Joseph R. Knack graduated from Perry high School and was a student at Rochester Institute of Technology when he enlisted in Rochester, New York on 10 December 1943.

After enlisting (3rd try with bad eyesight if he lost glasses, but they finally accepted him), he trained at the US Army Signal Corps Replacement Training Center at Camp Crowder, Missouri. Since he volunteered, he got to choose his specialty. He trained for Messenger duty for non-combat deployment, due to his eyesight limitation. That job was as close to being a journalist (what he wanted to do after the war) as the Army list of specialties came.

When he was shipped overseas in August 1944, he reported to Tidworth Camp, England, to the 12th Replacement Depot.

He was assigned to L Company of the 334th Infantry Regiment on 31 October 1944. His duty code shows as 675 (messenger).

On 31 October 1944, he was ordered to join 334th Infantry, L Company that would be shipping out that evening on the Cheshire, sailing out of Southampton, crossing to Omaha Beach in France.

L Company quickly converted him to Rifleman, training him as they moved across France, since they were short of those, as was all the infantry regiments in Europe.

The report for 30 November indicates that Knack suffered a laceration wound to his head that was the result of enemy artillery fire, His duty code shows as 745 (rifleman). He was transferred to the 111th evacuation hospital but he died of his wounds the following day at the 111th evacuation Hospital.

According to a letter from the Adjudant General's Office to his mother, dated 16 August 1946, Pvt Knack was reported wounded in action on 30 November 1944 near Apweiler, Germany, suffering severe shell fragment wounds to the head. He was evacuated immediately to the Division Clearing Station where he received medical treatment and was transferred to a hospital the same day. He died a day later as a result of these wounds.