John Gojmerac was 18 years old and working at the Heinz factory in Pittsburgh when he got drafted in 1943 to serve as an Army infantry soldier during World War II.
He and his family had moved to the U.S. four years earlier from Yugoslavia to escape the Nazis.
Gojmerac barely spoke English as he prepared to go off to war.
“I was not surprised, because so many guys in the area were getting drafted,” he said. “It wasn’t anything unusual for me.”
One night, while aboard a massive transport ship from Italy to France in the wake of the invasion of Provence, he realized it was his 20th birthday.
He doubted he would make it to 21.
On Friday, at age 99, he received the French Legion of Honor medal for his service in the 3rd Infantry Division, which fought in Italy, Germany and France during the last two years of the war.
Gojmerac began as a private, served as a telephone installer, scout and infantryman, and was injured at battles in Anzio and Strasbourg before leaving the Armed Forces after the end of the war as a corporal.
French President Emmanuel Macron signed the accompanying paperwork for his latest honor, the highest that nation bestows for military service in France.
French Consul General Jeremie Robert came from New York City to lead a private, related ceremony at Frontiersmen VFW Post 7545 in the Town of Tonawanda.
Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division, could not attend but sent along his thanks.
”John Gojmerac served our nation with honor and distinction and we are in awe of his courage, warrior ethos and true grit displayed on the battlefield,” Norrie said….
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