John J. Gonshirski was born in Mansfield, February 24, 1921. He was employed by the Westinghouse Electric Corp before he entered service October 1, 1942. He went overseas in November 1943. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a Private in the 557th Quartermaster Raildhead Company. There is a discrepancy with the unit he is in, according to Mansfield News Journal, on Thurs., 29 Jul 1948, pg. 13, he was with 462nd Amphibious Company at the time of his death. He was killed during the Exercise Tiger--one of the large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. This took place in April 1944 in Slapton Sands, Devon in the UK. An Allied naval convoy involved in the exercise was attacked by German submarines, and coordination and communication problems resulted in friendly fire deaths. At least 749 American servicemen were killed. Because of the impending invasion of Normandy, the incident was highly classified and the full story did not come out until years later after the war. He died on April 28, 1944 and is now buried in Mansfield Catholic Cemetery, Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio, USA.