John Klinchok was born on 8 November 1914 in West Virginia.  His parents were Paul Klinchok and Mary Birman, who had immigrated to the US from the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.  Not long after, the family moved to Lynch, Kentucky.  He was the eldest child in the family and he had eight sisters.  After graduating from High School, he went to work in the coal mines. John was initially drafted in 1941, but was rejected due to an injury he had received in football.  However, his patriotic spirit led him to drive to Maryland in 1942 and volunteer for the Army Air Corps.  This time he was accepted despite the injury.

Klinchok became a waist gunner on a B-24 bomber nicknamed Gregory the Great that was piloted by 1LT Henry Bolick.  On 26 November 1943, the Bolik crew was on a mission to Bremen, Germany in bad weather, and the bomber crashed for reasons that were never determined.  All of the crew members were killed.  Another member of the crew, Dalton Harris, is also buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery.

On 26 November 1943, his bomber was on a mission to Bremen, Germany in bad weather, and it crashed for reasons that were never determined.  All of the crew members were killed.

The information above is courtesy of Philippe Vanderdonckt (http://bolick-crew.16mb.com/klinchokstory.htm)