Pvt John "Sparky" Jarosik - 507th PIR
John “Sparky” Jarosik of Washington County, Pittsburgh was a successful amateur heavyweight boxer pre-war. He enlisted on 27th June 1943. He continued his boxing in the airborne boxing team, winning medals at the famous Red Cross Rainbow Corner Club in London and also Belfast.
He was a member of 1st Battalion, HQ Co. 507th PIR. He participated in pathfinder training whilst in the UK.
Jarosik flew into Normandy aboard C-47 no.42-92413 of the 442nd Troop Carrier Group. He was number 7 out the door and he landed near drop zone T at 2:44am.
Jarosik was injured on the 7th June around the La Fiere/ Amfreville area.
He returned to the unit and also jumped into Holland, before moving like most 507th guys to the 17th AB.
One interesting part of this grouping are the 2× 506th PIR DUI badges, which can be clearly see on his uniform in the picture of him with a 101st buddy. I can only assume that he was friends with a 506th trooper who was also a boxer.
The sad end to this story is John Jarosik was murdered on 29th April 1955 in Canonsburg, PA. He answered the door of his apartment at about 6:15am where he was shot in the forehead at point blank range by estranged an woman, who later was charged with his murder.