Serial Number 33391678

Company G, 330th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division, US Army

John Komlos was born on September 6, 1911, in Monessen, Pennsylvania, to Andrew “Andy” Komlos and Helen Alice Garber. Andy and Helen had married a year earlier. Andy was a laborer at the Page Woven Wire Fence Company in Monessen while Helen managed the Komlos family household.

Andy, born Andras in the village of Jesztreb in Soros, Austria-Hungary, immigrated to the United States in 1906 aboard the SS Bremen. Helen was born in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to parents born in Saros, Hungary, who immigrated to the US in the 1880’s. Their Hungarian surname was Gabor.

John was the first of six children born to Andy and Helen, followed by George (b1913), Andrew Jr (1916), Emil Vincent (1920), Michael (1920), and their sister Olga (1924). In 1920 the family was living in a rented home at 239 Oneida Street, and they would soon buy their own home at 1215 Morgan Avenue in Monessen.

Their mother Helen became gravely ill with Addison’s disease, and she succumbed to her illness in January 1927. Their father Andy passed away between 1930-1932.

In 1932, John had joined the Pennsylvania National Guard where he served as a Private in Company D, Machine Gun Unit, 110th Infantry. He participated in training maneuvers annually.

After their father’s passing, John became head of the Komlos household, and they continued to live in the home on Morgan Avenue. He had left Monessen High School after his second year and went to work as a laborer at the Pittsburgh Steel mill in Monessen. John met and fell in love with Margaret Esther Marsden, and they married in November 1932. But the marriage didn’t last, and they separated in November 1938, with John granted a divorce from Margaret a year later.

In 1940, John was still the head of the household and living at home with his four brothers. John was working at the steel mill as a pipefitter. Their sister Olga, at 15 yrs old, was living at a home for orphans on Oneida Street in Monessen.

On October 16, 1940, John Komlos joined millions of his fellow American men and registered for the US armed forces draft on its first day after the recent passing of the Selective Service Act. His draft card reveals that he was a 5’8” 185 lb 29 yr old man with black hair and brown eyes and working at Pittsburgh Steel. Meanwhile, John met Evelyn “Effie” Smith of North Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, and they began their courtship.

The surprise attack by Japanese armed forces on the US military bases at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941 changed the world for millions of Americans, as it did for John and his brothers. On September 29, 1942, John was drafted into the US Army, but before reporting for duty, John and Effie tied the knot, and married on October 5, 1942, in Oakland, Maryland. John said his goodbyes to Effie, and reported for duty on October 14 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Private John Komlos trained stateside with the 330th Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Infantry Division. He demonstrated key leadership traits and was eventually promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant (S/Sgt).

The 83rd Infantry Division had been ordered into active service in August 1942 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. After extensive training, the Division shipped overseas on April 6, 1944, in confidential preparation for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of continental Europe. They continued their training in Wales.

Operation Overlord began on D-Day, June 6, 1944, with troop landings at Normandy, France. The 83rd Division landed in Normandy on June 18 at the secured Omaha Beach, entering the struggle with German enemy troops in the hedgerows of the Carentan Peninsula.

The 330th Regiment was situated 1.8 miles southeast of Carentan when it made its thrust against the enemy on Independence Day, July 4. According to the Regiment’s After Action Report for that day:

The Regiment…launched an attack at 0500… The attack met stiff resistance, especially mortar and arty {artillery} fire which was zeroed in on hedgerows over which the attack had to pass. At 0800 the 2nd Bn {Battalion} was pinned down by mortar and arty fire and were unable to advance. The attack was halted. 1st Bn resumed the attack at 0855. The 2nd Bn received a counterattack and was forced to withdraw to their original O.P.L. The 3rd Bn was committed at 1907 across the 2nd Bn front and were held up at 1937. Very little progress was made during the day.

On July 4, 1944, S/Sgt John Komlos met his fate in battle. While engaged in combat, John Komlos was killed in action. A month later, the War Department informed his wife Effie that he had died in combat in France.

S/Sgt John Komlos was buried at the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

The name of S/Sgt John Komlos is inscribed on the WWII Veterans Memorial Tablet, located at the intersection of Grand Boulevard and Euclid Drive in Monessen City Park.

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This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org ). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at jjturanin@gmail.com.

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All sources are documented in this Ancestry Public Profile and Family Tree:

John Komlos - Facts (ancestry.com)

Find-A-Grave

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56646506/john-komlos

Monessen WWII Veterans Memorial

Monessen Veterans Memorial, a War Memorial (hmdb.org)

Unit History 83rd Infantry

https://83rdinfdivdocs.org/units/330th-ir/

John Komlos Link

https://83rdinfdivdocs.org/heroes/serial/33391678

After Action Report July 1944 330th Inf 83rd Div:

After Action Report 330th Infantry Regiment, July 1944 (83rdinfdivdocs.org)