Frank Daniel Janik was born August 2, 1914 (I'm guessing his draft registration card has the wrong year for his birthday) in Buffalo, NY to John Janik and Pauline Janik nee Strzelezyk. He was the second of their five children which included an older brother Walter and younger siblings Florence, Violet, Dorothy and Donald. His parents were from Poland and his dad worked in an automobile factory in the Buffalo area. Frank played baseball as a kid and later played for an amateur team in the Buffalo area. In 1936 he organized a semi-pro baseball team in Cheektowaga that he managed and played for. In 1938 he transferred and played for the Rome, NY Colonels in the Canadian-American baseball league. In the off season he worked for Revere Copper and Brass in Rome. The 1935 Rome City Directory recorded Frank living at 900 North George Street.

In September 1940 the Selective Training and Service Act was signed into law and Frank immediately registered for the draft on October 16, 1940 in Rome, NY. He was drafted into the service a few months later on February 26, 1941 through Syracuse, NY with service number 32031779. He was 5'-9" tall and weighed 164 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was engaged to be married to Miss Peggy Smith who lived at 525 W. Bloomfield St. in Rome, NY. He did his basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama and later was sent to Camp Hahn and Fort Ord in California. In March 1942, three months after the attack on Pearl Harbor he was sent to Hawaii with the 27th. During his more than 33 months of service he was awarded the American Defense and Asiatic-Pacific campaign ribbons, the Good Conduct ribbon a combat infantryman's badge and the sharpshooter's medal. An August 9, 1944 Army General Order recorded him receiving a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in connection with military operations against the enemy at Saipan, Mariana Islands during the period 16 June – 12 July 1944.

After Saipan his unit was sent for rest and he was able to get a furlough home in January 1945. He then reported back to his unit in the Pacific in time for the invasion of Okinawa which began on April 1, 1945. The 27th Infantry Division landed on Okinawa on April 9 to reinforce troops already there. On April 29 the 106th met heavy resistance while fighting on the western part of the island. T/Sgt. Janik was killed in action on Okinawa on April 29, 1945. Home town newspapers reported his death in early June that year. In July 1945 a plaque to three Rome Colonels was dedicated at an exhibition baseball game in Rome, NY. Sgt. Janik, along with two others, Lt. Col. William B. Southworth Jr. and George E. Gamble were remembered.

He was initially buried in the Ryukyu Retto Cemetery on Okinawa and later in February 1949, during the government's body recovery program, his remains were returned home aboard the SS Dalton Victory and buried in the Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmira, NY. Plot C, Grave 3278. For many years a trophy in Sgt. Janik's name was awarded to the winning team in the Rome Federal League. An article in the July 28, 1955 Rome Daily Sentinel honored Janik, closing by describing his character.

"Modest though he was, Frank Janik would have reveled in the thought that such an honor would come to him in the city which he had adopted as his home and from where he went forth in the uniform of his country to give his life in World War II...

It was more than his baseball ability, outstanding as that was, that endeared Janik to hundreds of Rome fans. He was first and foremost a gentleman, on and off the field. He accepted reverses in the form of injuries and other setbacks ... in the spirit that won the admiration of all who knew him...

He was temperate in his actions and in his language. He had a burning desire to win but he took the bad breaks as part of the game and he was never known to whimper or squeal. A hustler, he played the game hard and clean and he possessed in a marked degree those high qualities which the Little League program aims to install in the youth of every community where the game is played."

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

Interment Control Forms, 1928–1962. Interment Control Forms, A1 2110-B. NAID: 5833879. Record Group 92, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985. The National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis, MO.

"Janik is Killed in Island Battle", Daily Sentinel, Rome, NY, June 5, 1945, pg. 2.

"Janik Trophy Named For World War Hero", Daily Sentinel, July 28, 1955, pg. 22.

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147

National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 04573; Reel: 179

"Rome Soldier Wins U.S. Bronze Star", Daily Sentinel, Rome, NY, February 21, 1945, pg. 10.

"Sgt. Frank Janik Visiting Rome", Daily Sentinel, Rome, NY, Jan. 12, 1945, pg. 8.

U.S. Navy - All Hands magazine (November 1960); http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/13/130256.htm

"T/Sgt. Frank Janik Wins Bronze Star on Saipan", Daily Sentinel, Rome, NY, September 23, 1944, pg. 6.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Cheektowaga, Erie, New York; Page: 19B; Enumeration District: 0377; FHL microfilm: 2341169

Year: 1940; Census Place: Cheektowaga, Erie, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02527; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 15-39

Supporting Documents