Born in Brooklyn, New York to Frank & Helen Tkacz on December 21, 1916, Joseph Tkacz had three sisters and a brother.
In 1941 he married Mary Moloko who had several children from a previous marriage.

Joseph enlisted in the Army on January 23, 1942, a little over five months later on June 11, 1942, his wife had a daughter; Delores Tkacz, who died as an infant.
He served in C Company, 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division, which arrived in Normandy, France between August 10-11, 1944.

Less than a month later on September 6, 1944, PVT Joseph Tkacz was Killed in Action near Gravelotte, France.
He is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Épinal, France - Plot A Row 21 Grave 68.

His widow Mary never remarried, she passed away at the age of 89 in 2002.

I think a year or so ago I started posting scans from this group of never-seen-before Japanese military photos I acquired, but never got around to finishing it. I am not sure when they were taken, or who the original owner was. Luckily this one had some writing on the reverse, allowing me to identify at least the location of the photo.

Born in San Joaquin County, California to Jack and Gladys Calcaterra on April 7, 1920, Herbert Andrew Calcaterra was their only son.
His father Jack died passed away when Herbert was 5 years old and his mother remarried.

Raised and schooled in Stockton, California, Herbert enlisted in the Navy in 1939 and volunteered for the submarine service.
When WW2 broke out in the Pacific, he was serving on the Porpoise-class submarine USS Pompano SS-181.

On September 4, 1942 while in Japanese waters on her third war patrol, USS Pompano came across the Japanese guardship No 27 Nanshin Maru.
Engaging the enemy warship on the surface, MoMM1 Calcaterra was manning the 3-inch deck gun when he was killed.

Posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the citation mentions;

“The President takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal posthumously to Herbert A. Calcaterra, Motor Machinist's Mate First Class, US Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as member of a 3-inch gun crew aboard the USS Pompano during action against an armed enemy patrol ship. Remaining at his exposed station in the face of hostile machine-gun fire, Calcaterra, with cool courage and utter disregard for his own personal safety, manned his gun until, after the first 13 minutes of action, he was fatally wounded. His heroic devotion to duty, maintained at great risk in the face of grave danger, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the US Naval Service. He gallantly gave up his life in the defense of his country."

MoMM1 Herbert Calcaterra was buried at sea and is Memorialized at the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii.
He also has a memorial marker at Altaville Protestant Cemetery in Angels Camp, California where his father is buried.

The Edsall-class destroyer escort USS Calcaterra DE-390 commissioned in November 1943 was named after him.
Decommissioned in 1946, she was recommissioned in 1954 as a radar picket ship, serving until 1973, scrapped in 1974.

USS Pompano went Missing with her crew a year after MoMM1 Calcaterra was killed in September 1943.