Joseph J. Tonsic had a soldier's story like no other.

After discovering that his own government had mistakenly declared him dead, he volunteered for World War II, then received three Bronze Stars for valor in combat.

Mr. Tonsic died Saturday, more than 65 years after proving he was alive and talking his way into the Army Air Corps. He was 87 and lived in Penn Hills, though he spent the last year of his life at the VA's H. John Heinz III Progressive Care Center in O'Hara, where he was treated for emphysema and heart congestion.

A staff sergeant and gunner in the 379th Bombardment Group, Mr. Tonsic flew 16 missions over Europe. The last one nearly cost him his life. Antiaircraft fire hit his B-17 and forced it to crash-land in Poland on March 17, 1945.

Army records say Russian allies found and cared for Mr. Tonsic and the other seven members of the crew. "The group received a royal reception from the Russians," an intelligence officer wrote in his report about the aftermath of the crash.

Mr. Tonsic rarely spoke about the war or the destruction he lived through. Still, he became known in small circles of veterans as the man who could have avoided military service with no repercussions, but instead volunteered for dangerous duty.

Raised in Homewood, Mr. Tonsic dropped out of Westinghouse High School in 1936, when he was 15, according to Army records. He looked for work in the Great Depression, finally landing a steady job in 1940 as a route salesman for National Biscuit Co. in East Liberty.

America entered World War II in 1941, and Mr. Tonsic watched as most of his buddies received draft notices. He waited, but no such call to duty came for him.

He finally presented himself at an Army induction center in March 1943, curious as to why he had not been called. It was then that Mr. Tonsic, who carried the same name as his late father, learned that the government thought he was a dead man.

Once this error was cleared up, he enlisted and was deployed to Europe in the fall of 1944. Military records show that he fought in the battles of Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe.

After his discharge from the Army in November 1945, Mr. Tonsic returned to the Pittsburgh area, eventually resuming his job at National Biscuit Co. He worked at the plant for 20 years in all, and was active in helping unionize it, said his daughter, Teri Tonsic-Perry, of Austin, Texas.

He later went into business for himself, selling real estate and operating the Penn Pines Lounge with his late wife, Eleanor.

He is survived by his daughter. A Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today in St. Bartholomew Church, Penn Hills.