Memorial

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John Gugerty at sixteen, was thrown off the running board of a car, rupturing a kidney. The hospital did an exploratory incision from the front of his body and removed the kidney.

He had already been pressing his parents to enlisted. He persisted and enlisted in Los Angeles, California in 1942 at the age of seventeen. He told the doctors that his scar was for a removed appendix. He signed up for the Airborne and did his training at Fort Benning, Georgia.

He shipped out in time to make the seaborne landings at Anzio beach in Italy in January 1943.

His unit stayed with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Italy until 5 June 1944, while the rest of the division went to England to prepare for D-Day.

In September 1944, the 376th jumped into Holland where he was slighly wounded, earning him a Purple Heart Medal a first time. While in Holland he also was awarded the Purple Heart Medal for heroic conduct. The citation reads: Pfc Gugerty was a member of a forward observer party that found it necessary to advance to an alternate observation post to observe enemy troops approaching the 504th PIR's lines. He was observing wire being laid ahead of him by two other members of the party. to get to the new observation post the party was required to move through an area which was then being subjected to intense enemy artillery and mortar fire, apparently being laid down in preparation for an attack. When shell fire broke the line in front of him, he remained in the hazardous area, and with utter disregard for his own personal safety, repaired the break, moving on only after he had established communication for the forward observer. Pvt Gugerty's heroic conduct in this action made it possible for the forward observer to bring artillery fire upon the enemy, thereby destroying numerous enemy personnel and repelling the probably attack. Unfortunately, he received his medal postumously on 17 February 1945.

On 28 January 1945 Jack Gugerty was driving a jeep, delivering his lieutenant to the forward area when airburst artillery hit them, killing them both instantly.

The bottom pictures was taken outside of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in October 1944.