Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
COSTOS, Gust S - Date of
birth
11 August 1910 -
Age
34 -
Place of birth
Greece -
Hometown
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois -
Religion
Greek Orthodox
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
36959625 -
Rank
Private First Class -
Function
unknown -
Unit
K Company,
3rd Battalion,
157th Infantry Regiment,
45th Infantry Division,
Machine Gun Section
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
15 January 1945 - Place of
death
Near Mouterhouse, France
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| D | 26 | 30 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Steve Costos (brother)
Jim Costos (brother)
Elsie Costos (sister)
Marianne Costos (sister)
Julia Costos (wife)
Anna Costos (daughter)
More information
His comrade, Pfc William G. Chambless, remembered what happened: "I witnessed the death of Pfc Gust S. Costos. Gust was in the machine gun section of Company K. We fought day and night in deep snow and zero weather in fox holes. The Germans had cut out our supply line and for three days we had neither food nor water and had run short of ammunition. We had to eat snow. Sixteen of our machine gunners were killed leaving none but myself. The bodies of the dead lay in the open for five days. The Germans came and with American prisoners they buried the dead. He said that before his command went to the battle front and cooked good meals for all the boys."
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Carla Mans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1940 Census / U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, http://www.45thdivision.org, www.newspaper.archive - Sterling Daily Gazette - 13 June 1945
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Denise Kellam, www.newspaper.archive - Sterling Daily Gazette - 13 June 1945