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name
BROZOWSKI, Joseph A - Date of
birth
12 March 1919 -
Age
25 - Place of
birth
Larsville, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania -
Hometown
Buffalo, Erie County, New York
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
33460580 -
Rank
Corporal -
Function
unknown -
Unit
B Battery,
285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
17 December 1944 - Place of
death
The field next to the N62, near the crossroads "Five Points"
Baugnez, Belgiun
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| C | 8 | 38 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Stanley Brozowski Sr. (father)
Catherine Brozowski (mother)
Edward S. Brozowski (brother)
Stanley Brozowski (brother)
Frank Brozowski (brother)
Sophie Brozowski (sister)
Charles Brozowski (brother)
John Brozowski (brother)
More information
Cpl Joseph A. Brozowski worked in a defense plant in Buffalo, New York.He enlisted in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on 12 January 1943 and was sent overseas in September 1944.
He was one of the victims of Malmedy massacre when German SS soldiers of the 1st Panzer Division captured over 100 American soldiers at Baugnez Crossroads outside Malmedy, Belgium, on 17 December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge and, under orders to take no prisoners, placed them in an open field and then machine gunned them. When the machine guns stopped, the SS went through the field where some victims were still alive and systematically finished them off with pistols at short range leaving 84 soldiers dead when they had finished. Fortunately, when the machine guns first started shooting, a number of soldiers ran and some managed to escape and tell the story of how the Germans had treated the others who had not survived.
His name is mentioned on the monument on the opposite side of the road.
Cpl Brozowski was shot in the head and abdomen.
His brother, Pvt Edward S. Brozowski, is also buried at Henri-Chapelle.
His was given his final resting place on 3 August 1948.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.wwiimemorial.com, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/malmedy_massacre.htm, Wilkes-Barre, The Evening News (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), IDPF
Photo source: Lesley Dewelf, www.newspapers.com - Wilkes-Barre, The Evening News