First Lieutenant Ivan J. Miklich served in the 331st Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division. He grew up in the Collinwood section of Cleveland, OH, the son of Slovenian immigrants. Five of the six Miklich boys served in World War II and they were hardly teenagers at the time: Edward, the youngest, was 27 years old, while Frank, the oldest, was 37. Before the war, Ivan was the only son to attend college, enrolling at Bowling Green State University to study law, where he met his wife, Norma. On July 19, 1944, while trying to cross a causeway over a swamp in Normandy, Ivan was captured and taken prisoner by the Germany army. According to his sister Rose, he was then put on a troop train headed back to Germany. American aircraft assumed the train was filled with retreating German troops so they bombed it, killing Ivan and several other American POWs. Ivan is buried today at the Netherlands American Cemetery, side by side with his brother Lou Miklich, who served in the 102nd Division. Thanks to Rose Miklich for sharing her stories and memories of her brothers with Kevin M Callahan. From his book, "Brothers in Arms: Remembering Brothers Buried Side by Side in American World War II Cemeteries."
Bill Cass is working on a book about a company commander/S-3 in the 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division. First Lt. Ivan J. Miklich was a platoon leader in K Company when it was led by the subject of the biography he is working on. Bill provided me with a picture out of the 100th Infantry Division 1944 yearbook. Miklich was one of many junior officers transferred out of the 100th to other divisions as part of the D-Day build-up. |
