PFC Hoskey entered the service from Santa Fe, New Mexico and was assigned to company C, 185th Infantry regiment, part of the 40th Infantry Division and participated in the Philippine Island campaign of 1944-45. He was killed in action, probably during the battles to secure bridges on the Island of Negros, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. The following is a description of the action in which Private Hoseky was killed:
Sacrificing a naval bombardment in the interest of surprise, the first element of the 185th RCT slipped ashore to secure the bridge about 0500 the morning of 29 March, several hours ahead of the main landing. Led by Lt. Aaron H. Hanson, the reinforced platoon from Company F, 185th Infantry, surprised the Japanese guards and seized the span, holding on for several hours until reinforcements arrived.
The main body of the 185th Infantry landed at 0900 without opposition. Eichelberger thought the Japanese decision not to contest the landing beach had been a mistake, judging that, properly deployed, the Japanese could have decimated the first two American battalions to land. Perhaps more significantly, defense of the beach would have gained the Japanese sufficient time to destroy the Bago River bridge. Because eight more bridges, each prepared for destruction, lay along the division's route from the landing site to Bacolod, Hanson's capture of the first bridge enabled the Americans to advance so rapidly thereafter that they were able to seize each bridge in turn. Bacolod itself was taken the following day, 30 March.
The 160th Infantry came ashore two days after the 185th, and the 503d Regimental Combat Team (Parachute), originally on call for a possible airborne assault, followed by sea. Off-balance and with their defenses ruptured, the Japanese tried to delay the American advance, but the soldiers of the 40th Division simply overwhelmed the delaying forces and continued their attack. By early April the 40th Division had captured most of the coastal plain of northwestern Negros. The Americans then consolidated their forces before moving inland.
Sacrificing a naval bombardment in the interest of surprise, the first element of the 185th RCT slipped ashore to secure the bridge about 0500 the morning of 29 March, several hours ahead of the main landing. Led by Lt. Aaron H. Hanson, the reinforced platoon from Company F, 185th Infantry, surprised the Japanese guards and seized the span, holding on for several hours until reinforcements arrived.
The main body of the 185th Infantry landed at 0900 without opposition. Eichelberger thought the Japanese decision not to contest the landing beach had been a mistake, judging that, properly deployed, the Japanese could have decimated the first two American battalions to land. Perhaps more significantly, defense of the beach would have gained the Japanese sufficient time to destroy the Bago River bridge. Because eight more bridges, each prepared for destruction, lay along the division's route from the landing site to Bacolod, Hanson's capture of the first bridge enabled the Americans to advance so rapidly thereafter that they were able to seize each bridge in turn. Bacolod itself was taken the following day, 30 March.
The 160th Infantry came ashore two days after the 185th, and the 503d Regimental Combat Team (Parachute), originally on call for a possible airborne assault, followed by sea. Off-balance and with their defenses ruptured, the Japanese tried to delay the American advance, but the soldiers of the 40th Division simply overwhelmed the delaying forces and continued their attack. By early April the 40th Division had captured most of the coastal plain of northwestern Negros. The Americans then consolidated their forces before moving inland.
PFC Hoskey entered the service from Santa Fe, New Mexico and was assigned to company C, 185th Infantry regiment, part of the 40th Infantry Division and participated in the Philippine Island campaign of 1944-45. He was killed in action, probably during the battles to secure bridges on the Island of Negros, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. The following is a description of the action in which Private Hoseky was killed:
Sacrificing a naval bombardment in the interest of surprise, the first element of the 185th RCT slipped ashore to secure the bridge about 0500 the morning of 29 March, several hours ahead of the main landing. Led by Lt. Aaron H. Hanson, the reinforced platoon from Company F, 185th Infantry, surprised the Japanese guards and seized the span, holding on for several hours until reinforcements arrived.
The main body of the 185th Infantry landed at 0900 without opposition. Eichelberger thought the Japanese decision not to contest the landing beach had been a mistake, judging that, properly deployed, the Japanese could have decimated the first two American battalions to land. Perhaps more significantly, defense of the beach would have gained the Japanese sufficient time to destroy the Bago River bridge. Because eight more bridges, each prepared for destruction, lay along the division's route from the landing site to Bacolod, Hanson's capture of the first bridge enabled the Americans to advance so rapidly thereafter that they were able to seize each bridge in turn. Bacolod itself was taken the following day, 30 March.
The 160th Infantry came ashore two days after the 185th, and the 503d Regimental Combat Team (Parachute), originally on call for a possible airborne assault, followed by sea. Off-balance and with their defenses ruptured, the Japanese tried to delay the American advance, but the soldiers of the 40th Division simply overwhelmed the delaying forces and continued their attack. By early April the 40th Division had captured most of the coastal plain of northwestern Negros. The Americans then consolidated their forces before moving inland.
Sacrificing a naval bombardment in the interest of surprise, the first element of the 185th RCT slipped ashore to secure the bridge about 0500 the morning of 29 March, several hours ahead of the main landing. Led by Lt. Aaron H. Hanson, the reinforced platoon from Company F, 185th Infantry, surprised the Japanese guards and seized the span, holding on for several hours until reinforcements arrived.
The main body of the 185th Infantry landed at 0900 without opposition. Eichelberger thought the Japanese decision not to contest the landing beach had been a mistake, judging that, properly deployed, the Japanese could have decimated the first two American battalions to land. Perhaps more significantly, defense of the beach would have gained the Japanese sufficient time to destroy the Bago River bridge. Because eight more bridges, each prepared for destruction, lay along the division's route from the landing site to Bacolod, Hanson's capture of the first bridge enabled the Americans to advance so rapidly thereafter that they were able to seize each bridge in turn. Bacolod itself was taken the following day, 30 March.
The 160th Infantry came ashore two days after the 185th, and the 503d Regimental Combat Team (Parachute), originally on call for a possible airborne assault, followed by sea. Off-balance and with their defenses ruptured, the Japanese tried to delay the American advance, but the soldiers of the 40th Division simply overwhelmed the delaying forces and continued their attack. By early April the 40th Division had captured most of the coastal plain of northwestern Negros. The Americans then consolidated their forces before moving inland.
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