DOB/DOD: January 7, 1924 (Bridgeport, CT) – March 18, 1945; 21 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 1597 Park Avenue, Bridgeport
ENLISTMENT: April 6, 1943
SERVICE NUMBER: 8074854
NAVY RATE AND UNIT ASSIGNED TO: Corpsman assigned to the 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
FAMILY: Born to Joseph H. (1891-1970) and Laura E. Gagner Krosky (1897-1969). Second youngest of six children. Siblings are Leroy (1915-1982), Laura Krosky Gallagher (1917-1980), George (1919-1966), Evelyn (1922-2011), Donald (1926-1976), Dorothy Krosky Provenzano (1930-2001), and Joseph (1934-1992). 1, 2 Worked at General Electric Co. in Bridgeport prior to the service. 3 Leroy served in the Navy from April 1944 – December 1945. George served in the Navy from April 1943 – November 1945.
Photo below courtesy of the Krosky family. Next photo from the Connecticut Military Portrait Collection, Connecticut State Library, Identifier: PG570. Used with permission.
Recipient of the Bronze Star Medal. No record of it was found. Recipient of the Purple Heart Medal. His entry in the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor reads:
Robert Edward Krosky
1924 – 1945
Bob was from Trumbull, Connecticut, the son of Joe and Laura Krosky and one of four sons who served this country in the US Navy during WWII. He landed on Iwo Jima on February 25, 1945, with the 3rd Marine Division as a Corpsman. He was a PhM3c and proud of the fact.
He died at the hands of a Japanese sniper as he attended to a wounded Marine on March 18, 1945, three weeks after his arrival and two days after an end to organized resistance had been declared. A Marine had been targeted and wounded, as was the Japanese strategy to draw Corpsmen into the open. He was shot in the head and died instantly after exposing himself with no concern for his personal safety in order to render aid to a wounded comrade.
He is missed.
Bassick High School Honor Roll in the 1946 yearbook.
Photos below courtesy of the Krosky family.
From “The Ninth Marines: A Brief History of the Ninth Marine Regiment” page 97
Main streets, drives, lanes, and athletic fields within the Regiment’s area also carry the following names of Ninth heroes: the regimental parade and athletic field was designated as Crawford Field for Captain William K. Crawford of Calvin, South Dakota, and a similar area in the 3d Battalion zone was named Krosky Field for Pharmacist Mate Second Class Robert E. Krosky of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Remains were repatriated in 1948 and buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, 2205 Stratford Avenue, Stratford, Connecticut; Veteran’s Circle Section. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
1 – 1930 census https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/
2 – 1940 census https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
3 – https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238/