M/Sgt. Frank J. Horvath

Biography and Wartime Service

Frank James Horvath was born in Palmerton, Pennsylvania on April 22, 1922, to Mary Slebics and Stephen Horvath, Austria-Hungary imigrants. Frank was a 1939 graduate of the Palmerton High School

Frank 'Tiny' J. Horvath enlisted on October 22, 1942 in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. On April 6, 1944 he was shipped overseas and was among the landing forces post D-Day in Europe. Frank J. Horvath was assigned to the 83rd Infantry Division as a replacement. He joined Company K of the 331st Infantry Regiment. He was Wounded in Action in St. Malo, France in August, 1944 (listed in the MR of August 11, 1944) and shipped back to England for recovery of a bullet wound to his leg. He received the Purple Heart Medal for his wounds in France (St. Malo, Brittany) and the Bronze Star Medal for heroism while in Europe.

Just after the war, on February 1, 1947, Frank Horvath married Jacqueline Seres, who was born in Hungary and lived in France. She arrived in te US on January 13, 1945. They raised tree daughters, Carolyn M. (Horvath) Arnold, Giselle M. (Horvath) Knoblauch and Patricia M. Horvath (1948-1969) who predeceased her parents. Frank was employed as an assistant post master of the Palmerton Post Office for 23 years until retiring. Previously, he worked for the former NJ Zinc Company, Palmerton. Frank was a musician for over 75 years, performing with a number of orchestras as a guitarist, bassist, and banjo player, and he volunteered numerous hours at the SEVC entertaining his fellow veterans.

Frank "Tiny" J. Horvath, 97, died January 12, 2020, at Southeastern Veterans Center, Spring City, PA. He was the husband of the late Jacqueline Seres Horvath who passed in 1991. After his wife passed away, Frank Horvath remarried and moved to the Penn Forest area, expanding his beloved family with his wife Florence Smith and here children. He was predeceased by his second wife Florence Rex-Smith Horvath.

The following testimony is a transcription of an interview conducted by myself
on August 1, 2015 during the 69th Annual Reunion of the 83rd Infantry Division Association in Louisville, Kentucky
click on the images to read the intervieuw

Gallery

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