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Remember...John Kalausich
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John Kalausich was both on April 27, 1925, in Crystal Block, Logan County, West Virginia, to parents Eli and Mary Rukrich Kalausich. John was the third child of six siblings. His sisters were Eva Ann Kalausich Pruett, Matilda Kalausich, Martha Kalausich Kolb, and Helen Kalausich Hemetek. His only brother was George Kalausich. By 1935, the family was living in Slab Fork, Wyoming County, according to the inferred residence provided by the U.S. Federal Census. His father died in 1937, at which time John would have been about 12 years old. He did, however, complete four years of secondary schooling, graduating from East Bank High School in 1942. The family apparently moved to Richard Street, on Charleston's East End, shortly after his graduation.
Helen Hemetek last saw her brother when he was 18 years old and living in Charleston. "There were six children in our family," she said. The parents were Czechoslovakian immigrants. "I'm the youngest and the last of the siblings," she continued. "John was the greatest brother ever. He would stick up for you with a second's notice. He was a great person." (Rick Steelhammer, "Soldier Missing since WWII Brought Back to Charleston," Charleston Gazette-Mail, 23 February 2019.)
At the time of his enlistment in the U.S. Army on October 14, 1943, John was recorded as being a tinsmith, coppersmith, or sheet metal worker employed at Fairchild Aircraft Corporation. Exactly where he was employed by Fairchild is debatable, as sources indicate he may have worked at a Fairchild facility in Charleston (traveling occasionally to a factory in Ohio) or in Hagerstown, Maryland. (Rick Steelhammer, "Remains of Missing Kanawha Airman Returning Home 75 Years after WWII," Charleston Gazette-Mail, 18 January 2019.)
U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, indicate he enlisted in the Army Air Corps at Greensboro, North Carolina, so it's possible he was living there at the time as Fairchild had a manufacturing facility at Burlington.
As was the case with many World War II servicemen, John Kalausich was quickly trained and quickly deployed; he soon found himself in the midst of the air war over Europe. He was assigned to an A-26B Invader bomber as a member of the 642nd Bombardment Squadron of the 9th Air Force and attained the rank of sergeant. A machine gunner on the bomber, he had completed nine missions when his aircraft left Couvron, France, on March 21, 1945, on its final bombing run to Dulmen, Germany. His 642nd Bombardment Squadron had been ordered to disrupt German troop movements in preparation for the Allied crossing of the Rhine River, which took place three days later. (John Kalausich obituary, Charleston Gazette-Mail, 17 February 2019.)
In a poignant letter to his family. John Kalausich wrote of meeting some Polish soldiers and being able to communicate with them, most likely because their region of Poland was in close proximity to Czechoslovakia and there were some commonalities in their spoken languages. Also in his letter, like many soldiers at the time, he requested that his family send him some candy.
| According to Steelhammer ("Soldier Missing"), "During the flight to the target area, Kalausich's bomber was struck by anti-aircraft artillery and was seen rolling out of formation and slowly rolling onto its back. No parachutes were seen emerging from the crippled aircraft." John Kalausich was considered to be missing, and his name was inscribed on the Wall of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Holland. Again, according to Steelhammer ("Remains of Missing"), "After the war, personnel from the American Graves Registration Command searched for the site where the aircraft was believed to have crashed, but no wreckage matched Kalausich's bomber." |  Wall of the Missing, Netherlands American Cemetery. A rosette will be placed beside Sgt. John Kalausich's name to indicate his remains have been found. Courtesy American Battle Monuments Commission |
Kalausich's remaining family members note that his mother kept a photo of him on her bureau, and she always held out the hope that he would return.
Fast forward more than 70 years. Two things happened that would finally bring the desired closure to Kalausich's family. The first was discovery of the wreckage of a bomber in 2016 in an area that had been searched extensively but unsuccessfully five years earlier for crashes that had been reported there. The second fortuitous occurrence was that, by this time, it was possible to identify remains by using the DNA of a family member. According to John's obituary,
In June 2016, a German researcher, Adolph Hagedorn, who had previously collaborated with Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, JPAC (a predecessor to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, DPAA), contacted DPAA historians regarding a crash site he had found in Hulsten-Reken, Germany, that could possibly be linked to John's aircraft.In November and December 2016, under a partnership with History Flight, Inc., a nongovernmental organization, [the DPAA] excavated the crash site. Positive identification was formally completed by the Armed Forces Medical examiner and DPAA in 2018.
In 2019, Sgt. John Kalausich's remains were returned to Charleston. February 23 was designated a day of remembrance across West Virginia, and flags were flown at half-staff. Family members assembled at Christ Church United Methodist for a funeral, after which he was buried at Tyler Mountain Memory Gardens.
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure
November 2019
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
