James Francis Sosnowski was born on February 29, 1940 to Mr. And Mrs. Frank Sosnowski. He lived in Bayonne and attended Saint Peter’s College. On June 4, 1961, he graduated from Saint Peter's College with a Bachelor of Science in Pre-Med. He continued his education at the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery in Des Moines, Iowa, where he was the president of his class. “Our service to mankind must be the all-important guide in our lives,” he wrote in his senior class farewell, unaware that he would soon be called to duty halfway around the world. For two years, he resided at Columbus General Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, before entering the United States Army in September 1967.

In Vietnam, Captain Sosnowski served as an Army doctor. His unit was the 45th Surgical Hospital, 44th Medical Brigade.

On February 16, 1968, while attending a patient at the 45th Surgical Field Hospital, 15 miles Northwest of Saigon, Captain Sosnowski and his patient were killed by a mortar shell in a Viet Cong raid. The official casualty report shows "Killed in Action" by battle - fragments, hostile mortar round.  He was 28 years old and the only osteopathic physician killed in the Vietnam War.

Dr. Sosnowski was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the National Defense Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. He also received the Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device and General Order 212 on March 3, 1968.