WOLNIEWICZ, JOHN J., 79, of Belleair Bluffs, died Friday (May 3, 2002) VA Medical Center at Bay Pines. He came here in 1977 from his native Chicago. He was a retired draftsman and was Catholic. He served in the 82nd Airborne Division of the 508th Parachute Infantry during World War II. He was wounded in France in 1944 and was awarded the Purple Heart. He was a member of Bay Pines/Holiday Isles Chapter 13 DAV, St. Pete Beach. Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Adeline; a son, John S., Las Vegas; a daughter, Sandra Kight, St. Petersburg; two brothers, Richard Longmont, Colorado, and James, Chula Vista, Calif; and four sisters, Veronica Stachowiak, Rita Bannach and Diane Wolniewicz, all of Chicago, and Helen Hnetynka, Cicero, Ill.; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Hubbell Funeral Home and Crematory, Belleair Bluffs.

(St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, FL, 5 May 2002, Page 7 - courtesy of Tedd Cocker)
 

Grave markers for John J. Wolniewicz and his wife Adeline in Sec: 67, Site: 1749 of the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington (Arlington County), Virginia.

John enlisted at Chicago, IL on November 28, 1942 jumped into Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944,  He was a member of Sgt Zelinsky's jump stick in a C-47 (tail number 43-15345 and) designated as Chalk 54) for that mission.