John George Kruzich was born December 8, 1917 in Dallas County, Iowa to George and Violet Kruzich. Both of his parents were naturalized citizens who immigrated to the US from Yugoslavia. John had one younger brother and two younger sisters. In 1930 the family were living in Douglas, Boone County, Iowa where his father worked as a coal miner and John attended local schools. By 1940 the family had relocated to the town of Madrid in Boone County, where John worked as a butcher.

John was inducted into the US Army Air Forces at some point, likely in 1941 or early 1942, although I could not find his enlistment record. After completing basic training he evidently trained as an aerial gunner and was then assigned to one of the initial crews of the 349th Bomb Squadron of the 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Eighth Air Force, which flew B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers.

The 100th BG was activated 27 October 1942 at Gowen Field, Idaho then moved to Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington. After receiving crews and aircraft, the group relocated again on 30 November 1942 to Wendover Field, Utah, where it added additional personnel, aircraft, and crews, and began operational training. On 1 January 1943, the aircraft and aircrews moved to Sioux City AAB, Iowa where they assisted in training of other groups bound for overseas. In mid-April 1943, the aircrews moved to Kearney Army Air Field, Nebraska and received brand new B-17s. After additional operational training, the group's aircrews departed Kearney on 25 May 1943, flying the North Atlantic route to England, where the group was based at Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk.

On 25 June 1943, the 100th BG flew its first combat mission, bombing the U-boat yards in Bremen, Germany. In foreshadowing of dreadful things to come that would earn it the nickname "The Bloody Hundredth", three of the group’s aircraft and 30 men did not return from the mission. Staff Sergeant Kruzich was the ball turret gunner aboard B-17F #42-3260 (known as "Angel’s Tit") that fateful day, piloted by 1Lt Alonzo Pelton Adams III. On the way to the target, the unescorted formation of B-17s was not properly assembled, likely due to a combination of the inexperienced crews and poor weather, making it especially vulnerable to attack by enemy fighters. As the scattered formation approached the coast of Germany, SSgt Kruzich's aircraft was last seen falling out of formation after a German Bf 109 fighter made a head-on firing pass, raking it with cannon and machine gun fire. Only one crewman, the navigator, was somehow able to escape the B-17, and became a prisoner of war. The other nine crewmen were either killed by the enemy fighters or perished when the aircraft exploded and crashed into the North Sea about 30 km north of Langeoog, Germany.

John George Kruzich is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in Cambridgeshire, England.

Thank you SSgt Kruzich for your service and your sacrifice, you will not be forgotten.

Crew of 42-3260 "Angel's Tit"

Pilot, 1st Lt Alonzo P. Adams III (KIA)
Copilot, F/O George Z. Krech (KIA)
Navigator, 2nd Lt Nicholas Demchak (POW, survived the war)
Bombardier, 2nd Lt Jessie D. Gurley (KIA)
Top Turret Gunner/Engineer, TSgt John K. Sullivan (KIA)
Radio Operator, TSgt James D. Purcell (KIA)
Ball Turret Gunner, SSgt John G. Kruzich (KIA)
Waist Gunner, SSgt Edmonde J. Walker (KIA)
Waist Gunner, SSgt Norman Asbornsen (KIA)
Tail Gunner, SSgt Bryant Hutchinson (KIA)

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 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story. SBTSProject/Iowa/Boone.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at bob.al@storiesbehindthestars.org.

Sources:

1930 United States Federal Census
1940 United States Federal Census
The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, Iowa), 15 Jul 1943
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100th_Air_Refueling_Wing
100th Bomb Group Foundation, https://www.100thbg.com/
Missing Air Crew Reports, #271
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56291515/john-g-kruzich

John C Kruzich