John W. Behrens was born on July 31, 1912. He was the son of John and Alwine S. Solms Behrens. He served in the United States Navy as a Lieutenant during World War II. LT Behrens was aboard the USS LST 531 and 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 was declared Missing in Action on April 29, 1945 and is commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing, Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France. He also has cenotaphs located at Grand Island Cemetery, Grand Island, Hall County, Nebraska and Vista Memorial Gardens, Miami Lakes, Miami-Dade County, Florida.