D-Day

80th Anniversary. 

 

Sgt. Joseph Gorenc, assistant S3 of HQ/3, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division, climbing aboard C-47 Dakota 8Y-S “Stoy Hora” of the 440th Troop Carrier Group at RAF Exeter, Southwest England, for the D-Day airborne assault on Normandy - June 5, 1944.

 

Joseph F. Gorenc Jr. was born on April 24, 1923 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. 

 

Two days after D-Day, Sgt. Gorenc was taken prisoner near St. Côme-du-Mont and reported as MIA. He later escaped from a prison train, joined the French Resistance blowing up bridges and other sabotage, then made it back to the UK in time to rejoin the 101st Airborne for 'Operation Market Garden'.

 

Gorenc returned home after the war, married, had two daughters, and was involved in a new startup manufacturing firm. 

 

In October 1957, Gorenc was severely injured in an industrial accident when an oil tank exploded. He passed away from his injuries two weeks later at the age of 34 on October 30, 1957. 

 

Gorenc is buried at Greendale Cemetery, Kohler, Wisconsin.