RESIDENCE (DURING WWII):
McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
FULL NAME:
John A. Kuziel
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER (ASN):
33030333
- DATE OF BIRTH: Jul 14, 1914
- DATE OF DEATH: Mar 24, 2000
DATE / PLACE OF ENLISTMENT:
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DATE OF ENLISTMENT:Jan 17, 1941
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PLACE OF ENLISTMENT:Allegheny, Pennsylvania
ORGANIZATION:
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MAIN UNIT:23rd Infantry Regiment
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SUBUNIT:Company I, 3rd Battalion
RANK / POSITION IN UNIT (LAST KNOWN):
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RANK:Staff Sergeant (S/Sgt.)
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POSITION IN UNIT:Squad Leader
BATTLES AND CAMPAIGNS:
✭ Normandy Campaign (6 June – 24 July 1944), ✭ Northern France Campaign (25 July – 14 September 1944), ✭ Ardennes-Alsace Campaign (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945), ✭ Rhineland Campaign (15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945), ✭ Central Europe Campaign (22 March – 11 May 1945)
DECORATIONS AND CITATIONS (AWARDS):
🎖Bronze Star Medal, 🎖Good Conduct Medal, 🎖European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, 🎖WWII Victory Medal, 🎖Combat Infantry Badge, 🎖Purple Heart Medal With Three Oak Leaf Clusters
SUMMARY OF HIS SERVICE:
Basic training at Ft. Sam Houston in Texas was followed by winter training at Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin. He successfully completed the Ranger Battle Training Course (April 12, 1943, to June 5, 1943) at Camp McCoy, as evidenced by his receipt of a diploma signed by General Robertson and a skeleton-head patch (not a formal U.S. Army insignia). He departed the U.S. on October 8, 1943, and arrived in Belfast on October 19, 1943. He departed Europe on June 2, 1945, and arrived in the U.S. on June 11, 1945.
S/Sgt. John A. Kuziel's Bronze Star Medal Citation:
On the afternoon of 17 January 1945, Company I, 23rd Infantry, was ordered to attack from a line of departure near Ondenval, Belgium, through the densely-wooded Rohr Busch and seize a road on the other side of the woods. As the attack was made after midnight, observation was practically nil in the pitch blackness of the night and the denseness of the Busch. The deep snow and thicket-like woods made progress very difficult for the foot troops, and there was considerable difficulty in keeping contact between men as they advanced. Soon after jumping off, about 0100, the leading elements of the company approached within 25 yards of an enemy tank before they noticed it in the dark. When a German sentry challenged the company commander, he refrained from answering and began turning the men around to withdraw from the vicinity.
The company commander ordered another squad leader to lead the company out of the woods. The sergeant started off at the head of the column, but had not gone more than 50 yards when he ran into an eight-man enemy patrol concealed in the thicket and darkness. The patrol opened fire on the sergeant, killing him and inflicting several other casualties.
When S/Sgt. John A. Kuziel, another squad leader, saw what had happened and realized that the entire company was in danger of becoming disorganized in the darkness of the woods by the heavy fire coming through the trees from the enemy tanks, the patrol, and several concealed riflemen, he voluntarily assumed command of the men around him and ordered them to follow him. Picking out a new route of withdrawal, S/Sgt. Kuziel led the entire column back to a new and safe position without further loss of personnel.
In assuming command at a time when all other men were in danger of panicking and becoming disorganized, S/Sgt. Kuziel undoubtedly saved many lives and casualties from the intense enemy fire which would have been brought to bear on the men lost in the dark Busch. His coolness and bravery under fire and in a desperate situation, and his utter disregard for his own safety in organizing and leading the company from the danger area, enabled the company to withdraw to a new defensive position with a minimum of delay and casualties."
The citation was presented on March 24, 1945.
