Boroski, John Francis
Marine Reserves Private 1st class
John Francis Boroski, age 19, from Bureau County Spring Valley, Illinois . Their last known residence was in John Boroski.
Parents: John Boroski
Service era: World War II
Schools: Hall Township High (1943)
Date of death: Tuesday, January 22, 1946
Death details: In September 1944, American forces launched Operation STALEMATE II, the invasion on Peleliu, an island in Palau. On Sept. 15, the 1st Marine Division came ashore under enemy fire. The following day, Marines secured the island’s airfield despite taking heavy casualties. The battle for Peleliu lasted another two months, as Marines were forced to clear heavily fortified pockets of Japanese resistance across the island. The 1st Marine Division, reinforced by the 81st Infantry Division, slowly advanced north under nearly constant mortar and artillery fire. The invasion of Peleliu had the highest casualty rate of all the amphibious Pacific Island invasions of World War II. Private First Class John Francis Boroski, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Illinois, served with Company B, 1st Marine Battalion, 1st Marine Division. On September 20, 1944, he was killed in during Operation STALEMATE II, as his unit attempted to capture a hill from Japanese forces on Peleliu. He was not seen following the action, and the specific cause of his death is unknown. Battle conditions at the time made recovering his body impossible, and attempts following the war to locate his remains were unsuccessful. Today, Private First Class Boroski is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Cemetery: Manila American Cemetery
Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Bureau County Democrat (1944)