Kiska Joseph John

Name:

Joseph John Kiska

Rank:

Technical Sergeant

Serial Number:

33278772

Unit:

602nd Bomber Squadron, 398th Bomb Group

Date of Death:

1944-12-30

State:

Pennsylvania

Cemetery:

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England

Plot:

Tablets of the Missing

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart

Comments:

Joseph John Kiska was born on September 15, 1921, in Duquesne, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Steve Kiska and Anna M. Hornyak Kiska. He worked as an office clerk before enlisting in the service on July 14, 1942. He served in the 602nd Bomber Squadron, 398th Bomb Group, as a Technical Sergeant and Top Turret Gunner of B-17 #42-102610 nicknamed ''Boomerang'' during World War II.

On December 30, 1944, during a mission targeting Bischoffsheim, Germany, Boomerang failed to make the assembly and was seen trailing smoke before crashing into the English Channel off Beachy Head, UK. All nine crew members aboard were killed in action.

TSgt Kiska was declared Missing in Action and officially declared dead on December 30, 1944. His name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England. Joseph J. Kiska's name is inscribed on the Anstey Window Memorial in Panel 2 (center), on Butterfly 9, in the bottom left wing (section C).

Source of information: www.americanairmuseum.com, www.398th.org