Faces of War - Salem County Clerk

Table of Contents
Prior to World War I…………………………………………………………… ….
World War I up to 1940……………………………………………………………..
2
7
World War II and the 1940’s…………………………………………………….…
10
Tuskegee Airmen…………………………………………………………………. 11
Comments by Ed Beardsley…..…………………………………………………..
19
27th Infantry Division…………………………………………………………... 29
The Hawaiian Defenses After The Bombing of Pearl Harbor…………………….. 35
Getting Ready to Go……………………………………………………………... 59
Honoring Those Who Were Killed in Action…………………………………….
60
World War II Christmas Menu…………………………………………………… 64
My World War II Journal by Lester Emery……………………………………….. 66
Vincent England’s World War II Experiences……………………………………. 73
Comments- Albert Fenton (KIA)………………………………………………… 90
Comments by Albert Foster……………………………………………………… 94
Glide Bombs……………………………………………………………………... 102
The Carrier Franklin’s Valliant Fight for Life……………………………..……… 114
Edward Jones Comments………………………………………………………… 132
John Keeler Comments…………………………………………………………..
Raymond Pew “D-Day Remembered.”…………………………………………..
Comments by Eugene Ranck……………………………………………………..
Memoires by John Romansky…………………………………………………..…
137
169
177
179
Comments by David Earl Simkins……………………………………………….. 201
Frederick Snowden—First KIA from Elmer during WWII………………………. 205
Comments by Geraldine Suchocki……………………………………………….. 214
Comments by Walter Zarin………………………………………………………. 227
749th Tank Battalion……………………………………………………….……… 228
Instrument of Surrender………………………………………………………….
Salem County WWII Veteran’s 20th Reunion……………………………………
Salem County WWII Veteran’s 2013 Luncheon…………………………………
Korean War and the 1950’s…………………………………………………………
Korean War Veteran’s Luncheon 9/15/14…………………………………………...
Comments by Ken Buden……………………………………………………………
Comments by Albert Fisher………………………………………………………….
229
232
233
234
235
242
266
2
Korean War and the 1950’s (Con’t)
Comments by Ed Hassler…………………………………………………………….
A Message “To My Thunderbirds” from Brigadier General P.D. Ginder…………….
Comments by Craig Light……………………………………………………………
Comments by Thomas Romansky……………………………………………………
Comments by Harold Smith………………………………………………………….
Charles (Sandy) Wentzell—Citation from Republic of Korea………………………..
279
284
291
316
325
338
The War in Vietnam……………………………………..…………………………
Comments by David Berry…………………………………………………..…
Memoirs by Ken Dennis…………………………………………………….…
Comments by Joe Hannagan…………………………………………………...
Comments by George Louis…………………………………………………...
Comments by John Lowery…………………………………………………....
1st Vietnam Casualty from Salem County, Claude McBride……………………
Naval Air Training Command Choir (Pensacola, FL)…………………………..
344
352
372
390
401
402
405
414
Post Vietnam………………………………………………………………….…… 447
Comments by Charles Fisher……………………………………………………….. 452
Comments by Stacy Turner…………………………………………………………. 469
SALEM COUNTY’S FALLEN HEROS………………………………………… 472
INDEX…………………………………………………………………………….. 483
2
3
THE EARLY YEARS
HONORING THOSE WHO SERVED
PRIOR TO WORLD WAR I
“THE GREAT WAR”
3
4
WILLIAM MYERS
NJ MILITIA
1812 THRU 1815
SERVED
1812 thru 1815
NJ Militia, 2nd Regiment
(Sewards)
. During the War of 1812, New
Jersey supplied 5,668 infantry men,
135 cavalry men, and 209 artillery
men for a total of 6,012 men.
DEPLOYED
New Jersey Coastal Picket Duty
DISCHARGE RANK
PVT.
WAR OF 1812
The War of 1812 was a 32-month military conflict between the United States
and the British Empire and their Indian
allies which resulted in no territorial
change between the Empire and the US,
but a resolution of many issues which
remained from the American War of Independence. The United States declared war in 1812 for several reasons,
including trade restrictions brought about
by Britain's continuing war with France,
the impressments of American merchant
sailors into the Royal Navy, British support of American Indian tribes against
American expansion, outrage over insults to national honor after humiliations
on the high seas, and possible American
interest in annexing Canada. The War of
1812 between Britain and the United
States also confirmed the separate existence of the United States and the future
Canada.
4
The war was fought in three principal theatres. Firstly, at sea, warships and privateers of both sides
attacked each other's merchant
ships, while the British blockaded
the Atlantic coast of the U.S. and
mounted large-scale raids in the
later stages of the war
Secondly, both land and naval battles were fought on the American–
Canadian frontier, which ran along
the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence River and the northern end of
Lake Champlain.
Thirdly, the American South and
Gulf Coast also saw major land battles in which the American forces
defeated Britain's Indian allies and
repulsed a British invasion force at
New Orleans. Both sides invaded
each other's territory, but these invasions were unsuccessful or made
temporary by the Treaty of Ghent,
which restored all occupied territory
to its pre-war owner.
5
ANDREW HILL
UNION ARMY – 1ST NJ CALVARY
REGIMENT
1861 THRU 1864
CIVIL WAR
Organized at Trenton, N. J, under authority of
the War Department August 14, 1861, as
Halsted's Cavalry. Left State for Washington,
D.C.; four Companies August 24 and six
Companies August 31, 1861. Attached to
Heintzelman's Division, Army of the Potomac, to March, 1862. Wadsworth's Command, Military District of Washington, to May,
1862. Bayard's Cavalry Brigade, Dept. of the
Rappahannock, to June, 1862. Bayard's
Cavalry Brigade, 3rd Corps, Pope's Army of
Virginia, to September, 1862. Bayard's Cavalry Brigade, Army of the Potomac, to October, 1862. 1st Brigade, Cavalry Division. Army of the Potomac, to February, 1863. 2nd
Brigade, 3rd Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of
the Potomac, to June, 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd
Division, Cavalry Corps, to May, 1865. 1st
Brigade, 1st Division, Cavalry Corps, Dept. of
Washington, to July, 1865.
5
SERVED
1861 thru 1864
Union Army, Company “E”, 1st
New Jersey Calvary Regiment
DEPLOYED
Shenandoah Valley
Ft. Delaware, Pea Patch Island
DISCHARGE RANK
PVT.
6
WILLIAM N. HANCOCK
UNION ARMY
1862 - 1864
William N. Hancock
SERVED
Union Army
1862 thru 1864
24th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteer Infantry
Organized at Camp Cadwallader, Beverly, N.J., and mustered
in September 16, 1862. Left State for Washington, D.C., September 30, 1862. Attached to District of Washington October,
1862. Provisional Brigade, Casey's Division, Defenses of
Washington, to December, 1862. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division,
2nd Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to June, 1863.
SERVICE
· At Camp Ingham on East Capital Hill till October 14.
· At Camp Nixon near Chain Bridge till October 18.
· Picketing Leesburg Road and fatigue duty at Forts Ethan
Allen and Marcy till October 25.
· At Camp Cumberland till December 1.
· March to Falmouth, Va., December 1-9.
· Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 12-15.
· At Camp Knight till January, 1863.
· At Camp Robertson till April 27.
· Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6.
· Battle of Chancellorsville May 1-5.
· Mustered out at Beverly, N.J., June 29, 1863.
Regiment lost during service 3 Officers and 46 Enlisted men
killed and mortally wounded and 53 Enlisted men by disease.
Total 102.
37th Regiment New Jersey Voluntary Infantry
RANK
2nd Lt. Col A. 24th Regiment
NJ Voluntary Infantry 1862-63
Capt. Company F, 37th Regiment
NJ Voluntary Infantry 1864
Organized at Camp Delaware in Trenton, New Jersey, and
mustered into service on June 23, 1864, for a term of one
hundred days. The regiment was commanded by a veteran of
the Army of the Potomac, Col. E. Burd Grubb. The ranks
contained more than 700 men, many of whom had previous
military experience. Before leaving camp on June 28, the new
soldiers were issued one hundred smoothbore muskets altered
to percussion caps and five-hundred and thirty-eight Enfield
rifles. Once the 37th New Jersey arrived in City Point, Virginia,
they were put to work at depots near the Appomattox River
unloading supply trains, relieving the veterans who had been
doing this routine work. The 37th was assigned to the X Corps
of the Army of the James, serving under Maj. Gen. David B.
Birney.
On August 27, with more manpower needed in the front-lines,
the regiment was ordered to man the trenches in front of
Petersburg, and the next day, they arrived to support the Hare
House Battery. During the Siege of Petersburg, the 37th suffered 34 men killed and wounded. On September 26, they
were relieved by another regiment and transported back to
Trenton.
The 37th New Jersey was mustered out of the army on October 1, 1864.
6
7
World War I
U.S. Involvement
1917 thru 1918
7
8
JOHN WADE DEHART
U.S. ARMY
1917 - 1919
John Wade DeHart
SERVED
U.S. Army
October 22, 1917 To July 26, 1919
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC
DEPLOYED & POSITION
Europe
AWARDS
WW1 Victory Medal
Bronze Victory Button
St. Mihiel Offensive Silver Star
8
9
WILLIAM F. DILKS, SR.
U.S. ARMY
1918-1921
William F. Dilks, Sr.
Served: U.S. ARMY
February 23, 1957 – November 8, 1921
DEPLOYMENT
France & Germany
SPECIALTY
Medical Detachment
DISCHARGE RANK
Private
World War 1 Ambulance
9
10
World War II
U.S. Involvement
1941 thru 1945
And Post War 1940’s
10
11
WILLIAM H. ACCOO
U.S. ARMY AIR FORCE
1942 – 1945
William H. Accoo
SERVED
U.S. Army Air-Force
“Tuskegee Airman”
February 23, 1942 – August 25, 1945
DISCHARGE RANK
Staff Sergeant
Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of
a group of African-American military pilots who
fought in World War II. Formally, they formed the
332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment
Group of the United States Army Air Forces.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first
African-American military aviators in the United
States armed forces. During World War II, Black
Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to
the Jim Crow laws and the American military was
racially segregated, as was much of the federal
government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subjected to racial discrimination, both within and outside
the army. All black military pilots who trained in the
United States trained at Moton Field and Tuskegee Army Air Field, located near Tuskegee, Alabama, which included five Haitians from the Haitian Air Force (Alix Pasquet, Raymond Cassagnol,
Pelissier Nicolas, Ludovic Audant, and Eberle
Guilbaud). Although the 477th Bombardment
Group trained with North American B-25 Mitchell
bombers, they never served in combat. The 99th
Pursuit Squadron (later, 99th Fighter Squadron)
DEPLOYED
ATO – Atlantic Theater of Operations,
MTO – Mediterranean Theater of Operations
AWARDS
European-African-Middle Eastern Service
Medal;
Good Conduct Metal
Gold Medal of Honor (2007)
Italy). The 332nd Fighter Group, which originally included
the 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons, was the
first black flying group. The group deployed to Italy in early
1944. In June 1944, the 332nd Fighter Group began flying
heavy bomber escort missions, and in July 1944, the 99th
Fighter Squadron was assigned to the 332nd Fighter
Group, which then had four fighter squadrons. (See Next
Page)
11
12
WILLIAM H. ACCOO
TUSKEGEE AIRMEN
Tuskegee Airmen (Cont.)
During training, Tuskegee Army Air Field was commanded first
by Major James Ellison. Ellison made great progress in organizing
the construction of the facilities needed for the military program at
Tuskegee. However, he was transferred on 12 January 1942,
reputedly because of his insistence that his African-American
sentries and Military Police had police authority over local Caucasian civilians.
The 99th Fighter Squadron was initially equipped with
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter-bomber aircraft. The 332nd
Fighter Group and its 100th, 301st and 302nd Fighter
Squadrons were equipped for initial combat missions with
Bell P-39 Airacobras (March 1944), later with Republic P47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944), and finally with the
aircraft with which they became most commonly associated, the North American P-51 Mustang (July 1944). When
the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of
their P-47s and later, P-51s, red, the nickname "Red Tails"
was coined. Bomber crews applied a more effusive "RedTail Angels" sobriquet.
His successor, Colonel 12, then oversaw operations at the
Tuskegee airfield. Contrary to new Army regulations, Kimble maintained segregation on the field in deference to local customs in the
state of Alabama, a policy that was resented by the airmen. Later
that year, the Air Corps replaced Kimble. His replacement had been
the director of instruction at Tuskegee Army Airfield, Major does
not exist)"Noel F. Parrish. Counter to the prevalent racism of
the day, Parrish was fair and open-minded and petitioned Washington to allow the Tuskegee Airmen to serve in combat.
On 19 March 1941, the 99th Pursuit Squadron was
activated at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois. A cadre of
271 enlisted men was trained in aircraft ground support
trades at Chanute, beginning in July 1941; the skills being
taught were so technical that setting up segregated classes was deemed impossible. This small number of enlisted men became the core of other black squadrons forming
at Tuskegee and Maxwell Fields in Alabama.
The strict racial segregation the U.S. Army required gave way in
the face of the requirements for complex training in technical vocations. Typical of the process was the development of separate
African-American flight surgeons to support the operations and
training of the Tuskegee Airmen.[27] Before the development of this
unit, no U.S. Army flight surgeons had been black. Training of
African-American men as aviation medical examiners was conducted through correspondence courses until 1943, when two black
physicians were admitted to the U.S. Army School of Aviation
Medicine at Randolph Field, Texas. This was one of the earliest
racially integrated courses in the U.S. Army. Seventeen flight
surgeons served with the Tuskegee Airmen from 1941 through
1949. At that time, the typical tour of duty for a U.S. Army flight
surgeon was four years. Six of these physicians lived under field
conditions during operations in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. The
chief flight surgeon to the Tuskegee Airmen was 12, M.D., who
was a childhood friend of Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
The Tuskegee program began officially in June 1941
with the 99th Pursuit Squadron at the Tuskegee Institute.[15][16][N 5] The unit consisted of 47 officers and 429
enlisted men,[18] and was backed by an entire service arm.
After primary training at Moton Field, they were moved to
the nearby Tuskegee Army Air Field, about 10 miles (16
km) to the west for conversion training onto operational
types. Consequently, Tuskegee Army Air Field became
the only Army installation performing three phases of pilot
training (basic, advanced, and transition) at a single location. Initial planning called for 500 personnel in residence
at a time.[19] By mid-1942, over six times that many were
stationed at Tuskegee, even though only two squadrons
were training there. War poster featuring a Tuskegee
Airman. Tuskegee Army Airfield was similar to alreadyexisting airfields reserved for training white pilots, such as
Maxwell Field, only 40 miles (64 km) distant.[21] AfricanAmerican contractor McKissack and McKissack, Inc. was
in charge of the contract. The company's 2,000 workmen,
the Alabama Works Progress Administration, and the U.S.
Army built the airfield in only six months. Booker Conley, a
student at Tuskegee, drafted the architectural plans for the
hangars where aircraft would be housed. The construction
was budgeted at $1,663,057. The airmen were placed
under the command of Captain Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.,
one of only two black line officers then serving.
The accumulation of washed-out cadets at Tuskegee and the
propensity of other commands to "dump" African-American personnel on the post exacerbated the difficulties of administering Tuskegee. A shortage of jobs for them made these enlisted men a drag on
Tuskegee's housing and culinary departments. Trained officers
were also left idle, as the plan to shift African-American officers into
command slots stalled, and white officers not only continued to hold
command, but were joined by additional white officers assigned to
the post. One rationale behind the non-assignment of trained
African-American officers was stated by the commanding officer of
the Army Air Forces, General does not exist)"Henry "Hap" Arnold:
"Negro pilots cannot be used in our present Air Corps units since
this would result in Negro officers serving over white enlisted
men creating an impossible social situation
12
13
Thomas Agnew
U.S. Navy
1943-1946
Served: U.S. Navy
July 1943 – 1946
Deployment:
France, Italy, North Africa
AWARDS
D-DAY
Good Conduct, American Theater
Medal, Victory Medal, European The-
13
14
WILLIAM W. AVIS
U.S. ARMY
1942 - 1946
William W. Avis
SERVED
U.S. Army
September 12, 1942 To January 26, 1946
DISCHARGE RANK
Staff Sergeant
DEPLOYED & POSITION
Pacific Theater
Supply Clerk
AWARDS
Marksman Rifle
WWII Victory Medal
American Service Medal
Asiatic Pacific Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
14
15
Arthur D. Ayars (Ty)
U. S. Navy
1944 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1944 – 1946
DEPLOYED
European Theater & Pacific
Theater
AWARDS
European Theater, Pacific
Theater, Victory Medal, 3Battle Combat Stars &
American Theater
15
16
SHERMAN E. AYARS
U. S. ARMY
1941 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
May 9, 1941 to October 7, 1945
DEPLOYED
North Africa; Central Europe; Naples;
Foggia; Romo Arno; Southern France;
Rhineland
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC
AWARDS
American Defense Service Medal; European-African-Middle Eastern Service
Medal; Good Conduct Medal
16
17
Pierson Bailey
U. S. Navy
1944 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1944 – 1946
DEPLOYED
Pacific Theater
STATIONS
Boot Camp – Bain Bridge, MD
Newport, RI – Miami, FL – Boarded Ship
in New York – Shake Down in Miami, FL
– Bottom Painted in Key West – Traveled
through Panama Canal on our way to San
Diego, CA, Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Ea
Shima, Sa Sedo & Japan. Headed Home
to San Francisco and was discharged at
Lido Beach, Long Island, NY.
Traveling through The Panama Canal
17
18
Edward Beardsley
U. S. Army
1941 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
June 11, 1941 – December 4, 1945
DEPLOYED
Monmouth, NJ, Panama, San Francisco,
Brownwood TX, Okinawa, Philippines
& Hawaii
AWARDS
Several
COMMENTS
Life changed drastically on October 16, 1940
when I registered for the draft. Inducted
into the Army on June 11, 1941 at Ft. Dix,
NJ and one week later reported to Camp
Davis, North Carolina where I received basic
training and instructions for Barrage Balloons. On December 7, 1941 news was
received that Pearl Harbor was attacked by
the Japanese and war was declared. On
December 21, 1941, I boarded The USS
Yarmouth at Norfolk, VA which left the area
on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day we
were caught in a Northeast Storm off of
Cape Hatteras, which made me seasick. My
Christmas Dinner consisted of a cup of coffee. While on that trip a German Sub entered into our convoy and was sunk.
(Continued on Next Page)
18
19
Edward Beardsley
U. S. Army
1941 - 1945
COMMENTS
New Years day we arrived in Panama, went through the locks, Gatun Lake and then
into the Pacific Ocean. I was part of the 301st Coast Artillery Battalion at Fort Clayton in
the Canal Zone. I spent most of my time at one of the sites to take care of and operate a
Barrage Balloon. Each site was operated by five men. There were many balloons placed
around the locks in strategic locations. Site No. 634 was where I spent most of my time.
The Barrage Balloons operated at an altitude of 5000 ft. so an enemy bomber would not
be able to fly at a lower altitude for more accurate bombing. Later on high altitude
bombing was perfected so the balloons became obsolete. I was stationed in the Panama
Canal Zone for two years.
Around December 1, 1943 we shipped out of Panama for San Francisco, CA. The
transport ship was called the “Sea Devil” and it was the only time we made a trip on a
lone ship. It was fast and not heavily loaded since there were no enemy subs spotted. The
other ships that I traveled on were grouped with convoys. Following our arrival in San
Francisco, we were shipped to Camp Cook near Lompoc, CA. The base later became
Vandenberg Air Force Base. After a short time there, we were sent to Ft. Ord, CA.,
spent a short time there and our original outfit was split up. I was assigned to the 82 nd
Signal Corp. Then came the next base camp, Camp Bowie in Brownwood, Texas. There
we received training for communications with the Army Signal Corps.
The following January, we shipped out for Hawaii. A few weeks later we were issued
the necessary equipment for wartime communications. We stopped at the small islands
of Enewetok & Ulithi in the West Pacific. They were large natural harbors where hundreds of ships gathered for the invasion of Okinawa. Tokyo Rose* told us where we
were going and when to invade Okinawa on April 1st. We had no idea where we were
going , but Tokyo Rose knew. Okinawa was secured in June and we were shipped off to
Leyte in the Philippines. We were being prepared for the invasion of Japan. In August of
1945, the Japanese sued for peace. We were sent to Japan the last of September on the
northern most island of Hokkaido in the town of Sapporo. We stayed in the dormitory
of the University of Hokkaido. The first part of November those of us who were eligible
for discharge were sent by train to Yokohama near Tokyo. About a week later we boarded a ship for Seattle. My accumulated seat time was 105 days at sea on seven different
ships. We came cross country by train to Ft. Monmouth, NJ where I was discharged on
December 4, 1945. The war experience was something I wouldn’t go through again for a
million dollars but was glad that I did it.
*Tokyo Rose was a generic name given by Allied forces in the South Pacific during World War II to
any of approximately a dozen English-speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The intent
of these broadcasts was to disrupt the morale of Allied forces listening to the broadcast.[1] American servicemen in the Pacific often listened to the propaganda broadcasts to get a sense, by reading between the
lines, of the effect of their military actions.
19
20
Mabel Belinfanti
U. S. Army
1943 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Army
August 19, 1943 – January 9, 1946
DEPLOYED
Ft. Des Moines, Iowa
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, WAAC Service Medal
20
21
Melvin Bennett
U. S. Army
1944 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
June 6, 1944 – 1945
DEPLOYED
Ft. Dix
AWARDS
2-Purple Hearts, EfficiencyHonor-Fidelity, American
Campaign, European Middle
Eastern Campaign, Army of
Occupation, Invasions, 2Stars, 2-Arrowheads
All allied Generals & Admirals
constantly met at The Pacific
Fleet Headquarters
21
22
FLOYD C. BIDDLE
U.S. ARMY
1942 – 1945
Floyd C. Biddle
SERVED
U.S. Army
1942 – 1945
DISCHARGE RANK
Sergeant
DEPLOYED
England, France, Germany, Norway &
Switzerland
AWARDS
European African Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Med-
Served with the 293 Combat
Engineering Battalion
22
23
WALTER BISHOP
U. S. ARMY
1941 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
February 3, 1941 – October 18,
1945
DEPLOYED
27th Infantry Division (See Next
Page) Pacific
RANK
Staff Sergeant
AWARDS
American Defense Ribbon w/3 Battle Stars; Bronze Arrowhead; Good
23
24
ARTHUR B. BOSTON
U. S. NAVY
1943 - 1945
Arthur B. Boston
Served: U.S. Navy
February 10, 1943
To
December 11, 1945
DEPLOYMENT
Pacific & Europe
USS Earl K. Olsen DE 765 & Tank
Landing Ship USS LST 125
DISCHARGE RANK
Motor Machinist Mate 2nd Class
AWARDS
American Theater Ribbon, WWII Victory Bar, Asiatic Pacific Ribbon, European Theater Ribbon, Philippine Liberation Ribbon
USS Earl K. Olsen DE765
Tank Landing Ship USS LST 125
24
25
NORMAN S. BROWN
U.S. ARMY
1944 TO 1945
Norman S. Brown
SERVED
U.S. Army
1944 thru 1945
DISCHARGE RANK
Private First Class
DEPLOYED
Little Rock, AK
POSITION
Truck Driver
25
26
RUSSELL D. BROWN, JR.
U.S. ARMY AIR NATIONAL GUARD
1943 – 1945
Russell D. Brown, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Army
1943 – 1945
DISCHARGE RANK
Private First Class
DEPLOYED
Rome, Arno, No Appennies, Po Valley Campaigns in Italy
Served with the 351st Infantry Battalion, 88th
Division
AWARDS
European African Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal,
The 88th Infantry Division was a unit of the
United States Army in World War I and World
War II. It was unique in that it was the first Army of the United States division to be created
"from scratch" after the implementation of the
draft in 1940. Previous divisions were regular
army, reserve or National Guard. Much of the
experience in creating it was used in the subsequent expansion of the Army of the United
States.
WWII Victory Medal
26
27
ALFRED C. BURDEN
U. S. NAVY
1944 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1944 to 1946
DEPLOYED
Pacific; Europe
DISCHARGE RANK
Gunners Mate 3rd Class
AWARDS
Victory Medal; American Theater Medal; Asiatic-Pacific & European Theater Metal
27
28
CALVIN F. BURDEN
U. S. ARMY
1942 - 1945
Calvin F. Burden
SERVED
U.S. Army
December 23, 1942 thru October 25, 1945
DEPLOYED
Central Europe, Naples-Foggia, Rhineland, RomeArne, Southern France
DISCHARGE RANK
TEC-5
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal, European-African-Middle
Eastern Service Medal w/Bronze Arrowhead & National Defense Medal
WWII Memorial - Washington, D.C.
28
29
27th Infantry Division
World War II Service
The 27th Infantry Division was federalized for service October 15th , 1940 and initially commanded by Major General William
Haskell. At this time it still remained its WWI organization of two brigades and four regiments. The 53rd Brigade consisted of the
105th and 106th infantry regiments while the 54th Brigade contained the 108th & 165th infantry regiments. Following a lengthy
period of maneuvers and training, the 27th was ordered to California in December following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
While in California, the 27th awaited orders to ship out and concentrated on bringing itself up to the authorized field strength of
1,012 officers and 21,314 enlisted men. The divisions strength had been reduced by discharges to around 14,000 men. The first
elements of the division’s boarded ships bound for Hawaii on February 27th 1942, the first Infantry Division to leave the states
following The Pearl Harbor surprise attack..
The division remained on Hawaii for a number of months, during which time it was triangularized, with the 108th Infantry
regiment being reassigned to the 40th Division. A division that has been Triangularized has been given three infantry regiments instead of the four of a square division. This final reorganization dismantled the brigade structure and again dropped the division’s
strength to 14,000 men. Following the reorganization, the 27th Division was shifted to Oahu, where it would relieve the 25th Infantry Division, which was slated to join the U.S. forces fighting in Guadalcanal. For most of its time in Hawaii, the 27th was under the
command of Brigadier General Ralph Pennel.
On November 20, 1942, the 27th Infantry Division embarked on its first combat assignment, the capture of the coral atoll of
Makin. The 27th also had a new division commander, Major General Ralph Smith. Units from the 27th Division also occupied the
Majuro atoll on February1st, 1944 and successfully assaulted Eniwetok Island on February 19th of the same year. In June of 1944,
the Division landed on Saipan, where its regiments fought together for the first time as a full division. Following Saipan the division
was rested and reinforced at Espirto Santo for seven months before any further operations. Durking this time the 27th received its
final division commander, Major General George Griner, Jr. On April 12th, 1945 the division landed on Okinawa, where it would
remain until September when it was sent to Japan briefly for garrison duty. The division was mustered out in late December of the
same year. Since its arrival in the Pacific, the 27th Infantry Division has suffered 1,512 killed in action, 4,980 wounded in action and
332 who later succumbed to their wounds.
General Smith had been removed from command following a dispute with the aggressive and eccentric Marine Commander,
General Holland “Howling Mad” Smith who had been in overall command of the Saipan invasion. Holland Smith claimed that
Ralph Smith had disregarded orders and mishandled the 27th Division, prompting the relief order. Later court of inquiry showed
that the charges were for the most part unsubstantiated and General Ralph Smith was quickly given a new command. The 27th
returned to the states for deactivation in December 1945, the longest serving National Guard Unit.
FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II
In late 1967 or early 1968, the 27th Armored Division was deactivated and reorganized as a Brigade of the 50th Armored Division.
Prior to this time the Combat Commands had been replaced by Brigades in the Armored Divisions. Many units were deactivated,
and others were re-assigned to the command of the 42nd Infantry Division, also assigned to the New York National Guard.
The 27th Brigade was reconstituted as a Separate Infantry Brigade (Light) in the 1980s and was originally established as a "roundout" Brigade to the Army’s 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Fort Drum.
In the 1990s, the Army National Guard nationwide was reorganized and the 27th was established as one of 15 separate “Enhanced”
brigades, subject to priority call up in the event of a federal mobilization.
In 1998, the 27th Brigade was committed to disaster recovery operations in the New York’s North Country following a devastating
ice storm which struck in January. The 27th was called again for state emergency response in the wake of a destructive wind storm
which struck Syracuse on Labor Day that year forcing an early close to the New York State Fair.
In the summer of 2001, the 27th Brigade deployed for an intense three-week training period at the U.S. Army’s Joint Readiness
Training Center at Fort Polk, LA. Nearly 4,000 Soldier for the New York Army National Guard participated, making it the largest
single exercise for the New York National Guard since World War II. The terrorist attacks of 9-11, 2001 struck within weeks of the
units return home.
Following extensive state and federal active duty for Home Land Defense in response to the terrorist attacks of 9-11, 2001 subordinate units of the 27th underwent individual call ups for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. In 2006, following the return of most New
York National guard units from federal Active Duty in Iraq, the New York Army National Guard was “re-set” and the 27th was
reorganized as an Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
29
30
Elton Cannon
U. S. Army
1943 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Army
1943 - 1946
DEPLOYED
POW
AWARDS
Purple Heart
30
31
WILLIAM C. CARROW
U. S. NAVY
1942 - 1945
AWARDS
Asiatic-Pacific Service Ribbon
During the invasion of Okinawa,
Wm. C. Carrow’s ship, The USS Hopping, was torpedoed. Seaman Carrow &
another shipmate volunteered to go below and make repairs, knowing that if
unsuccessful they would be shut in.
William declined to apply for a medal
when he was sent a letter by the Secretary of the Navy. He said, “Someone
had to do it!”
William C. Carrow
SERVED
U.S. Navy
October 3, 1942 – November 1945
DEPLOYED
North Atlantic (Fast Convoy)
Asiatic-Pacific Fleet (Invasion of
Okinawa)
DISCHARGE RANK
Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class
U.S.S. Hopping
31
32
James T. Cheney
U. S. Army
1941 - 1946
Served: U.S. Army
July 1941 – 1946
DEPLOYMENT
Hawaii, European Theater Ardennes
Central Europe Rhineland
AWARDS
Bronze Star, Combat Infantryman
Badge, European African Middle
Eastern Theater Campaign, American
Defense Service Medal, American
Theater Ribbbon, WWII Victory
Medal.
POSITIONS
Armored Assault Gun Unit Commander 1207
Infantry G Company 328th Infantry
Regiment 26th Division European
Theater
32
33
Robert Chevreuil
U.S. Army Signal
Corps
Served: U.S. Army Signal
Corps
DEPLOYED
1946 to 1949 Europe
1950 to 1951 Korea
AWARDS
WWII Victory Medal
National Defense Medal
Korean Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal
Salem County Service Medal
Salem County Service Medal
33
34
PETER J. CHRUSTOWSKI
U.S. ARMY
1940-1945
Served: U.S. Army
September 14, 1940 –
September 21, 1945
DEPLOYMENT
European Theater, Normandy, Ardennes Northern France, Rhineland
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC
AWARDS
American Defense Service Medal,
American Service Medal, Distinguished Unit Badge, EuropeanAfrican-Middle Eastern Service Medal w/Bronze Arrowhead, Good Conduct Medal, (2) Purple Hearts,
Bronze & Silver Star, Presidential Citation & 101st Screaming Eagles Paratrooper Wings.
AWARDS
CAMPAIGNS
“Battered Bastard of Bastogne” Battle
of the Bulge, Germany & Holland.
D-Day - Peter was on the eighth
plane to take off for the Pre-Dawn
invasion of D-Day
34
35
James F. Clark, Jr.
U.S. Navy
1942 - 1945
James F. Clark, Jr.
September 1942 thru 1945
DEPLOYED
Pearl Harbor
DISCHARGE RANK
.Bostswain’s Mate 1st Class
The Hawaiian Defenses After Pearl Harbor
When General Marshall and his principal subordinates met in Washington on the morning of 8
December 1941, their greatest immediate concern was to discover ways and means of putting the
Hawaiian garrison back on its feet. They agreed that the Hawaiian Air Force must be reconstituted as soon as possible, and General Marshall directed the Army Air Forces to give highest priority
to the movement of enough planes to Hawaii to build up Army air strength there to one full
group of heavy bombardment and two full groups of pursuit. Hawaii's own most urgent plea was
for "all possible heavy bombardment fully equipped," and fortunately this was the easiest of its
requirements to meet quickly. War had interrupted the prepared flow of heavy bombers to the
Philippines, and it was a simple matter for the Army Air Forces to continue it to Hawaii. By 21
December enough B-17's had been flown out from California to bring the heavy bomber force
on Oahu to a full-group strength of forty-three planes. To get other army reinforcements to Hawaii in similar quick order was a much more vexing problem.
The Navy, which at once ordered the transfer of three battleships and an aircraft carrier from the
Atlantic Fleet to the Pacific, was insistent that the Army send everything it could to bolster the
defenses of Hawaii. On the other hand, the Navy did not want any ships to leave the west coast
without escort, and Army reinforcements for Hawaii that had sailed just before the Japanese at35
36
The
Hawaiian Defenses After Pearl Harbor
tacked were turned back to San Francisco. As of 9 December, the Army and Navy were agreed
on a move that would have reinforced Hawaii from another direction, by the return of a sizable
Philippine-bound convoy to Honolulu. But President Roosevelt overruled the services, and the
convoy was therefore ordered to proceed to Australia. Help for Hawaii would have to come from
the mainland.
For the first few days after Pearl Harbor both the War and the Navy Departments thought that
the Japanese might have strong naval forces including carriers between Hawaii and the west coast,
and the Navy objected to any ship movements from- California until the situation east of Hawaii
was clarified. The general underestimation of Japanese strength in the Pearl Harbor attack underlay this thinking, the Navy assuming that the Japanese had other carriers free for an attack on the
Pacific coast. In turn, apprehensions of attacks on the American continent helped to modify the
Army's initial position of giving first priority to Hawaii. More vital still than Pearl Harbor, from
the Army's point of view, were the west coast bomber factories and the Panama Canal; and by 12
December the Army position was "to take all possible steps short of jeopardizing the security of
the Continental United States and the Panama Canal to reinforce the defenses of Oahu."
Another reason for the Army's more cautious stand may be found in doubts expressed by Secretary Stimson and others about the reliability of Pearl Harbor as the major Pacific naval base. Naval officers on the spot shared these doubts. They took their ships out of Pearl Harbor as fast as
they could after the attack, and kept them at sea. As late as 20 January 1942 Secretary Stimson
noted his agreement with Mr. Justice Roberts (just back from Hawaii) that Pearl Harbor was "no
longer a safe advance base for the Navy under the conditions of modern air and sea warfare."
But three weeks earlier Admiral William S. Pye, the acting fleet commander, had struck a more
realistic chord when he testified before the Roberts Commission: "I do not believe that there is
any other base in this area, and if we intend to conduct war in this area this base must be held and
used."
By the time of Admiral Pye's testimony the Navy knew that President Roosevelt was determined
to push limited offensive operations against Japan, and such operations could only be pushed
from Hawaii. During December the Navy of necessity recast its Pacific war plans, making the
sure control of the Oahu-Midway line the task of first priority for the Pacific Fleet, and giving
second priority to that of holding the line from Hawaii to Samoa. The necessary corollary of the
new strategy outlined for the Pacific Fleet was a much surer defense of Oahu by the United States
Army.
The Impact of War
In Hawaii, under the impetus of attack and the ensuing excitement, the Army had moved quickly
on 7 December 1941 to control almost every facet of public and private life. One of its first steps
was to round up all still and motion pictures made of the attack itself, except those taken by the
Navy. By 10:30 a.m., in co-operation with the Navy, the Army G-2 organization had begun to
apply a tight censorship to prevent the transmission from Hawaii of any unauthorized information about the attack or about the condition of Oahu's defense forces after it was over. A few
36
37
The
Hawaiian Defenses After Pearl Harbor
minutes later, as Governor Joseph B. Poindexter was announcing over the radio that he had ordered Hawaii's emergency M-day act in effect, the Army shut him off because it thought Japanese
attackers were using radio beams to guide their navigation. During the morning General Short
also undertook to evacuate all civilian dependents from Hickam, Fort Kamehameha, and other
damaged military installations, and his G-2 staff began a quick roundup of "enemy agents and
suspicious characters." By 10 December the Army had interned 482 Japanese, Germans, and Italians, 43 of them American citizens.
The establishment of full martial law under the Army commander as military governor made this
internment and the other actions taken not only possible but unchallengeable. Since the summer
of 1940 the Army had planned for military rule of the Territory of Hawaii if it was seriously
threatened by invasion, and in March 1941 General Short had earnestly advocated a legal foundation that would empower the President to authorize martial law in an emergency. The Hawaiian
legislature sought to forestall Congressional action in Washington by passing its own M-day act
on 3 October 1941. The Governor's action in declaring this act in force at 10:00 a.m. on 7 December did not satisfy General Short, who was more than ever concerned about the dangers of
sabotage and espionage among the large population of Japanese descent on Oahu, particularly if
Japanese forces followed up the air attack with an invasion as the general thought they might do
on the following morning. Therefore, he called on Governor Poindexter and discussed with him
the need for martial law. After the general left the Governor telephoned President Roosevelt,
who approved its establishment. During the afternoon the Governor signed proclamations
(prepared by the Army's Judge Advocate months before) authorizing the commanding general of
the Hawaiian Department to exercise all of the Governor's normal powers, suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus until further notice, and conferring full judicial as well as executive power on the Army in the person of its commanding general. The President formally approved these actions on 9 December. General Short announced them in effect at 3:45 p.m. on
the 7th, and gave actual charge of government under martial law to the Hawaiian Department's
Judge Advocate General, Lt. Col. Thomas H. Green.
Under its new authority the Army ordered a complete blackout beginning at 6:00 p.m. On 7 December and continuing every night until further notice, and for the first few weeks it barred all
private cars from the highways and maintained a strict curfew after the same hour. At 6:04 p.m.
on 7 December the police radio broadcast: "From now on nobody allowed out of their homes."
Before the day was over the Army had issued orders closing all saloons and prohibiting the sale of
liquor; suspending civil courts and instituting provost courts in their place; closing all schools for
an indefinite period; suspending all food sales to permit a complete inventory of island food
stocks; and rationing gasoline. By and large, at the outset, civilians accepted these and other
measures with understanding and good spirit. Later, both Hawaiians and agencies of the federal
government other than the War and Navy Departments registered a good many complaints about
the continuation of martial law; but the Army kept a tight control of civilians and civilian affairs
until after the Battle of Midway in June 1942 erased any threat of invasion. Beginning in July
1942 the powers of government were gradually restored to civilian authority, but the suspension
of habeas corpus and some degree of martial law continued in effect until 24 October 1944.
37
38
The Hawaiian Defenses After Pearl Harbor
The institution and maintenance of martial law in Hawaii clearly had as a major if not central purpose the control of the large minority of the population that was of Japanese descent, American citizens as well as aliens. Immediately after the enemy attack there were a
host of rumors and reports of sabotage and other subversive activity by residents of Oahu.
The most careful investigation by the Army and other federal agencies failed to find any
support for these allegations. Before the attack there had been espionage, that is, an extensive collection of military information, by the Japanese consular staff, and espionage of
sorts by one other person, a German national named Otto Kuehn. On the other hand, it is
highly unlikely that anyone on the consular staff knew of the impending attack. During and
after the Pearl Harbor raid, and for the remainder of the war period, no sabotage, espionage, or any other sort of subversive activity is known to have occurred in Hawaii. But
there were many who credited this record to the close controls that martial law allowed,
and the services were especially anxious to keep it in effect after the early drive for a mass
evacuation of Japanese residents from Oahu petered out.
The inventory of food ordered by the Army on 7 December reflected a long-standing concern with the problem of feeding Oahu's civilian population in an emergency. With the
island's agriculture devoted almost exclusively to pineapples and sugar, most foodstuffs had
to be imported from the mainland. The Army's prewar plans and tentative moves toward
encouraging the production of other foods on an experimental and educational scale, and
toward stocking seed, had been ineffective. Another plan for stocking nonperishable foods
for emergency use received the blessing of the War Department but no appropriations
from Congress. When war came Oahu had about a normal supply of food on hand for its
250,000 civilians, and no means of increasing local production significantly. The inventory
disclosed a 37-day supply of most staples, but serious shortages of potatoes, rice, and onions. To maintain this supply and feed Army forces would require prompt shipment and a
continuing flow of about 32,000 tons of food a month from the mainland. In addition,
General Short asked the War Department to arrange for a six-month emergency reserve of
48,000 tons of food, and he placed orders with the division engineer in San Francisco for
40,000 tons of seed, insecticides, fertilizer, and farm implements in order to boost local
food production.
Filling these orders on the mainland was no problem, but in the first few weeks after the
attack the presence of Japanese submarines and a critical shortage of shipping made the
food outlook an alarming one. Congress hastily approved a revolving fund of $35,000,000
to finance shipments, and the first emergency cargo of food began to load in San Francisco
on 20 December. By mid-February 1942 the food situation was sufficiently in hand to permit the War Department to turn over responsibility for supplying civilian needs to the Department of Agriculture, and by June there was an ample supply of food on hand. The effort to stimulate the production of food crops locally met with indifferent success, partly
because the federal government decided that maximum production of sugar and pineapples
was more important to the war effort.
Immediately after the Japanese attack, the Army requested authority to evacuate the fami38
39
The
Hawaiian Defenses After Pearl Harbor
lies of servicemen to the mainland at government expense, and this evacuation was broadened to
include other civilian women and children who wanted to go as well as tourists stranded in Hawaii when the war started. Although the primary consideration for evacuation was the exposed
position of Oahu, it also alleviated the housing shortage and left fewer mouths to feed. By 1
March 1942 some 10,000 had left, and 20,000 more followed before the end of the year. An incidental but very significant result of this evacuation was that it helped block the proposed mass
evacuation of residents of Japanese descent to the mainland.
Under martial law the Army could and did impose a strict censorship on all information media in
Hawaii and to all civilian letters and messages sent from Hawaii after 7 December. The latter
measure prevented the enemy from finding out about the weaknesses as well as the strengths of
island defenses. On 8 December the War Department authorized censorship of all communications to and from personnel under military control outside the United States, and the Hawaiian
Department was in a position to take full advantage of this authority. In addition to postal censorship, radio stations came under Army control on 8 December, and English language newspapers were censored beginning on 9 December. Three days later the Army suspended the publication of foreign language newspapers and of "weekly labor and communistic papers and other
uncertain publications." Although the Army gave up its direct control of civilian censorship to
the federal Office of Censorship in February 1942, thereafter throughout the war the Army and
Navy continued to exert a much closer indirect control of information than existed on the mainland.
As soon as the air attack was over, the Hawaiian Department plunged into a reconstruction and
new construction effort of unprecedented scale and pace. General Short and his District Engineer, Lt. Col. Theodore Wyman, Jr., took full advantage of a War Department authorization of 9
December to incur obligations for any purpose to meet urgent requirements. On 10 December
the general reported that his engineer officer had "all the contractors in town working" and doing
"marvelous work." The repair and expansion of air fields had top priority, and to get the work
done quickly the district engineer commandeered civilian stocks of construction material and
equipment, absorbed the quartermaster construction organization, ordered building equipment
from the mainland in such quantities that it could not be delivered for many months to come,
and (by 23 December) employed a civilian working force of 20,000 men. Unfortunately for Colonel Wyman, in numerous instances he neglected to maintain the "record of over obligations so
incurred" which the authorization of 9 December had required. However effective he was in getting the repair job done and new construction under way, his failure to keep accounts and his
high-handed tactics led to his relief in March and the consolidation of all Army construction activity under the department engineer.
The principal immediate change in Hawaii's defense structure came about on 17 December 1941,
when the top Army and were replaced and all Army forces in the Hawaiian area were put under
command of the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet. President Roosevelt ordered the replacements after he read Secretary Knox's report on what had happened. General Short's successor
was Lt. Gen. Delos C. Emmons, an Air Corps officer, and he reached Hawaii in time to take over
the Army command on 17 December. Admiral Kimmel's replacement was to be Admiral Chester
39
40
The
Hawaiian Defenses After Pearl Harbor
W. Nimitz, but for the two weeks before he took over on 31 December unity of command was
exercised by the acting fleet commander, Admiral Pye. General Emmons and Admiral Pye got
together immediately, and five days after his arrival the general could report to General Marshall:
"Unity of command here is essential, is working well, and will so continue. "
Although subsequently much criticism arose over the lack of a united command and over effective interservice co-operation in Hawaii before Pearl Harbor, the establishment of unity of command there was immediately inspired by similar action directed by the President on 12 December
for the Panama Coastal Frontier. In any event General Marshall had long believed that Hawaii
should be under Navy command, whenever the major portion of the Pacific Fleet was present or
was using Pearl Harbor as its major base; and on 16 December he took the initiative in proposing
to Admiral Stark that all Army forces in the Hawaiian Coastal Frontier be put under naval command, and with no strings attached. In practice, this meant that henceforth during the war the
Army kept responsibility for the administration and discipline of its forces in the Hawaiian area,
but the Navy commanded their operations except (after the first month) those associated with
military government. The organization worked out by the Navy put all defense forces specifically
allocated to the coastal frontier (the major islands and adjacent sea areas within a 20-mile limit)
under Army command, and all defense forces allotted to the Hawaiian Sea Frontier (extending
outward from the islands for 500 miles) under Navy command. Under this arrangement Army
pursuit aviation and the other elements of the interceptor system remained under Army control,
but Army heavy bombardment planes were put under the Navy's sea frontier command. From
the Army's viewpoint, this division of command over Army air units was a step in the wrong direction; but the efforts of the Hawaiian Air Force (Seventh Air Force from March 1942 onward)
to recover operational control of its heavy bombers were unsuccessful. Except for the heavy
bomber units, the actual control of Army forces in Hawaii continued to be exercised by the Hawaiian Department and successor commands, under missions assigned by the Navy. There would
undoubtedly have been a closer- integration of command if the local Army and Navy commanders had complied with a Washington order of 19 December 1941 to establish a joint command
post; but it took them a year to agree on its location, and after another year spent in construction
they agreed that a joint command post was no longer needed. The separate Army and Navy command headquarters continued to coordinate their work through liaison officers, as they had done
before Pearl Harbor, albeit more effectively. Nothing like a unified force evolved in Hawaii, and
indeed for the first few months there was much rivalry and friction between the services. But at
the top General Emmons and Admiral Nimitz worked in close accord from the beginning, and
by May 1942, when the enemy again threatened in force, the Hawaiian defense forces were fairly
joined if not united.
The most obvious joint enterprise of the Army and Navy in the period immediately after the
Pearl Harbor attack was the conduct of long-range reconnaissance. The improvised and unsuccessful attempts of 7 December to locate the Japanese Striking Force were succeeded as rapidly as
possible by an organized daily search under the command of the Navy's Patrol Wing Two using
as many Army and Navy planes as could be made available, to a distance of 700 nautical miles in
all directions. To make this patrol possible the Navy transferred three squadrons of reconnaissance craft from the Atlantic as quickly as it could. The Navy's reconnaissance plan that became
40
41
The
Hawaiian Defenses After Pearl Harbor
effective during December called for a daily search by 46 planes, but in practice only 37 were
normally used-12 B-17's and 25 Navy PBY's. The Army managed to hold back 18 of its heavy
bombers as a striking force ready for action on 30-minute notice. The reconnaissance, though far
superior to anything attempted before Pearl Harbor, was admittedly a good deal less than perfectlow visibility in the patrolled lanes could cut its effectiveness to near zero, and about one-fifth of
the circle surrounding the islands had to be left virtually unpatrolled each day. To make the patrol
fully effective would not only require a good many more planes but also radar to eliminate the
hazards of visual observation. The Japanese were still around during December 1941, but not on
carriers. They kept a group of about nine submarines in the vicinity of Hawaii until mid January,
to do what damage they could. As commerce destroyers Japanese submarines in Hawaiian waters
proved as ineffective as they did on the west coast. Another reason for their remaining was to
find out just how much damage had been done to the American Navy in Pearl Harbor. Fliers
returning to the carriers on 7 December had reported as best they could on what they had seen
and photographed through flame and smoke, but the Japanese wanted a better picture. To get
one, a plane launched from submarine 1-7 flew over Pearl Harbor at dawn on 18 December. The
next day a Japanese Navy communication announced that 8 battleships, 4 cruisers, and 2 destroyers had been sunk or heavily damaged, and lesser damage had been done to another battleship
and 4 more cruisers. The communication also claimed 450 planes destroyed on the ground and 14
shot down-a claim more closely related to enemy prewar overestimates of Hawaiian air strength
than to the damage actually done, bad as it was. Apparently neither the 18 December flight nor a
similar one during the night of 6-7 January was detected.
Before December was over Japanese submarines had brought war home to the outer islands,
though in almost innocuous fashion. Just before dusk on 15 December a submarine lobbed about
ten shells into the harbor area of Kahului on Maui, and three that hit a pineapple cannery caused
about $700 worth of damage. During the night of 30-31 December, submarines engaged in similar and nearly simultaneous shellings of Hilo on Hawaii, Nawiliwili on Kauai, and again on Kahului. At the last-named point Army coast artillery guns returned the fire. Damage at all three
points was slight, and no one was hurt. The principal result of these shellings was to stir up the
war consciousness of all the Hawaiian Islands.
41
William M. Coffey, Jr.
42
U. S. Army Signal Corps
1942 - 1945
Served: U.S. Army Signal
Corps
December 1942 – July
1945
DEPLOYMENT
European Theater
AWARDS
American Campaign Medal,
EAME Campaign Medal,
Good Conduct Medal,
World War II Victory Medal.
Injured in German Air Raid
42
43
WILLIAM (BUD) CONKLIN
U. S. NAVY
1943 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1943 – 1946
DEPLOYED
Atlantic & Pacific
AWARDS
Asiatic, Pacific, European, African,
Middle East, 2-Stars & Navy Unit
Commendation
STATIONED
Served on the U.S.S. Core CVE-13
COMMENTS
We were credited with the sinking of six
German Subs in the North Atlantic. I enlisted at age 17 after my Junior Year at Bridgeton High School and returned after the war
to take my senior year and graduate along
with fourteen other vets with the Class of
1947. It was an honor to serve. We are a
Nation Under God and will remain that way!
U.S.S. Core CVE-13
43
44
WILLIAM A. COOMBS
U.S. ARMY
1944 – 1946
William A. Coombs
SERVED
U.S. Army
May 1944 – April 1946
DISCHARGE RANK
Second Lt.
DEPLOYED
Europe – 87th Infantry Division
44
45
EDMUND J. CRISPIN
U.S. NAVY
1943 - 1946
Edmund J. Crispin
November 8, 1943 thru May 13, 1946
DEPLOYED
“Asiatic-Pacific” Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa,
& Japan
AWARDS
American Campaign Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon
w/2-Battle Stars, WWII Victory Ribbon, Combat Action Ribbon, N.J. Honorable Service Neck Band &
Metal, N.J. Distinguished Service Medal & Ribbon,
Ruptured Duck Lapel Pin, U.S. Navy Reserve Discharge Pin, NJ League of Municipalities Pin, NJ Conference of Mayor’s Pin.
DISCHARGE RANK
Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class
I was “Plank Owner #4” of the
U.S.S. Shangri-La (CV-38). This ship
was both christened & commissioned by
Josephine Doolittle (Col. Doolittle’s
wife). It also served as the flagship for
Vice Admirals Marc A. Mitscher, John S.
McCain and John Towers. Vice Admiral
John S. McCain was senator John
McCain’s grandfather. We started out in
the 5th Fleet during the Philippine Campaign as Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitcher’s
Flag Ship and the transferred to the 3rd
Fleet through the Iwo Jima and Okinawa
Campaigns. We were running up and
down the Japanese mainland eastern
coast by the end of WWII, raiding the
war manufacturing facilities and engaging an y milit ar y opp os itio n .
This ship was the only ship ever to
be paid for by the sale of war bonds.
There were more requests from Navy
personnel to be a member of its crew
than any other ship in Naval History.
My specific station was #1 Throttle.
45
46
Robert Davis
U. S. Army Air Force
1943 - 1945
SERVED
COMMENTS
U.S. Army Air Force
Robert Davis was killed in
a plane crash in Iceland
while in route to the 8th
Air Force in England.
April, 1943
thru
February, 1945
46
47
ROLAND E. DAVIS
U. S. ARMY
1943 - 1946
Roland E. Davis
SERVED
U.S. Army
April 20, 1943 – February 25, 1946
DEPLOYED
Pacific Theater
DISCHARGE RANK
Technician - Fifth Grade
AWARDS
American Service Medal,
Asiatic-Pacific Service Metal,
Good Conduct Medal &
World War II Victory Metal
AWARDS
47
Wayne Davis
48
U. S. Army Air Force
1942 - 1945
Served: U.S. Army Air Force
November 1942 to November 1945
DEPLOYMENT
8th
Air Force – Deopham, Green England, Ardennes, Rhineland, Central Europe
AWARDS
American Air Theater Ribbon, European-African Middle Eastern Ribbon with
Three Bronze Stars, Good Conduct
Medal, Air Medal, World War II Victory
Medal
POSITIONS
Airplane Armorer Gunner 612, Army Air
Force Crew Member, Sub-Machine Gun
Expert
48
49
Harry DeClemente
U.S. Army
1942-1946
Served: U.S. Army
1942 to 1946
DEPLOYMENT
Guam
AWARDS
American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific –
Army WWII Occupation Pacific, World
War II Victory Medal, Good Conduct
Medal
49
50
ROBERT E. DEHART
U.S. NAVY
1943 - 1946
Robert E. DeHart
SERVED
US Navy
February 5, 1943 to February 7, 1946
DISCHARGE RANK
Machinist Mate First Class
DEPLOYED & POSITION
Pacific
USS LST-41 & USS LST-512
Tank Landing Ships
AWARDS
American Theater Ribbon
Asian Pacific Ribbon w/4-Stars
Philippines Liberation Ribbon w/1-Star
Good Conduct Ribbon
Victory Ribbon
USS LST-41
USS LST-512
50
51
Ambrose Depew
U.S. Army
1942-1946
Served: U.S. Army
March 11, 1944 to October 28, 1945
DEPLOYMENT
France, Belgium, Austria, Czechoslovakia,
Germany
AWARDS
3 Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, European African Middle
Eastern Service Medal
COMMENTS
Ambrose “Chippy” Depew was a Private First
Class in the U.S. Army. Drafted on 3/11/44 at
age 35 ande served in France, Belgium, Austria,
Czechoslovakia & Germany. He served in Co.
F328 Infantry, 26th Div. 3rd Army. Participated
Battle of Rhineland, Ardennes & Central Europe. Wounded in Germany & received the
Purple Heart & Bronze Star for Bravery. He
also received The Good Conduct Medal, European African Middle Eastern Service Medal
with (3) Bronze Stars. Ambrose received his
Honorable Discharge October 28, 1945.
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Kenneth Dilks
U.S. Navy
1943 – 1946
Kenneth Dilks
Served: U.S. Navy
July 22, 1943 to April 14, 1946
DEPLOYED
USS LST 285
USS LST 735
(Tank Landing Ships)
DISCHARGE RANK
Coxswain (SV6)
AWARDS
Victory Medal; American Theater Medal;
Asiatic Pacific Medal w/4-Stars; Philippine Liberation Medal w/1-Star.
Commendation by C.O.
USS LST-285
USS LST-735
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LEROY E. DILKS, SR.
U.S. ARMY
1941-1945
Leroy E. Dilks, Sr.
Served: U.S. Army & U.S. Navy
(NAVY) December 15, 1944 to August
7, 1946
(ARMY) October 1, 1948 to March 31,
1950
(ARMY) October 16, 1950 to August
27, 1951
US ARMY RESERVES
August 28, 1951 to April 15, 1953
DEPLOYED
WWII (Navy)
Army – Korea
SPECIALTY
Radioman
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal (E-4)
AWARDS
Army of Occupation
Purple Heart
Bronze Star\
Korean Service Medal
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LINWOOD H. DILKS
U.S. ARMY
1941-1945
Served: U.S. Army
July 31, 1941 to May 12, 1945
DEPLOYMENT
Ireland, England, North Africa, South France,
Eastern France & Italy
AWARDS
Pre-Pearl Harbor Ribbon, Good Conduct
Ribbon, European Theater of Operations, 6
Battle Stars, (2) Each for North Africa, Italy
& France.
COMMENTS
Dilks, who entered into the Army in July of
1941, went overseas in February of 1942. He
amassed a total of 112 points, 27 over the
required amount for release. He was first sent
to Ireland & England and served with the
American Forces during the invasion of
North Africa. He participated in the invasion
of Salerno, Italy & took part in the fighting on
the Anzio Beachhead. Following his service
in Italy he was sent as part of the invasion
forces in southern France. Dilks served with
the 14th Ordinance Co. & returned to the U.S.
from Eastern France on March 2nd. He was
the 1st group of 25 men who left Ft. Dix under the point system
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RAYMOND F. DILKS, SR.
U. S. ARMY
1942-1946
Served: U.S. Army 8th Div.
1942 – 1946
DEPLOYMENT
Northern France; Rhineland; Normandy;
Central Europe
SPECIALTY
Radio Operator
DISCHARGE RANK
Technician 4th Grade
AWARDS:
Good Conduct Medal, 4-Bronze Stars, Combat Infantry Badge
55
WILLIAM FRANKLIN DILKS
56
U.S. ARMY
1944-1945
William F. Dilks
Served: U.S. Army
July 31, 1944 to October 19, 1945
DEPLOYMENT
Ardennes Central Europe Rhineland
(Battle of the Bulge)
SPECIALTY
Light Machine Gunner
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC
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William I. Dilks
U. S. Army
1942 - 1943
SERVED
U.S. Army
December 16, 1942 – April 8, 1943
DEPLOYED
Company “H”, 331st Medical Regiment
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CHARLES DOMINIC, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1941 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
1941 - 1945
DEPLOYED
Central Europe
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory
Medal, EAME Theater Service Medal,
American Defense Medal
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GETTING READY TO GO
TRAINEES ANSWERING
EIGHTH CALL
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HONORING OUR
WORLD WAR II MEN
KILLED IN ACTION
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DAVID E. DRUMMOND
U. S. ARMY
1946 - 1966
SERVED
U.S. Army
February 23, 1946
Thru
March 3, 1966
DEPLOYED
Germany - Austria
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CLARENCE M. EDWARDS
62
U.S. ARMY MEDICAL
1942-1944
Served: U.S. Army Medical
1942 to 1944
AWARDS
5 Bronze Battle Stars, American Service Medal,
Good Conduct Medal, World War II Victory
Medal, European African Middle Eastern Service Medal
COMMENTS
Sgt. Edwards was a surgical technician in Colonel Frank Kreb’s well know 440th Troop Carrier
Group. The group was awarded the Presidential
Unit Citation for its work in the initial invasion
of Normandy, the paratroop and glider operations in Southern France, the invasion of Holland and the aerial re-supply of the U.S. Troops
surrounded at Bastogne.
His group, part of Major General Paul L. William’s U.S. Troop Carrier Forces, had also flown
thousand of tons of vitally needed gasoline,
ammunition and food to the battle lines. Landing on forward airstrips to deliver the supplies,
casualties from the front were evacuated to base
hospitals on the return trips.
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E. CHARLES ELLIOT
MERCHANT MARINES
1942-1946
Served: U.S. Merchant
Marines
1942 to 1946
DEPLOYED
North Atlantic, Middle
East, Mediterranean, Pacific, Caribbean, South
Atlantic & Gulf of
Mexico
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CHRISTMAS MENU
DURING WWII
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65
LESTER EMERY
U. S. ARMY
1940- 1945
Lester Emery & Vernon Barkdull
Lester Emery with Sister Beatrice &
Brother Norman
SERVED
U.S. Army
44th Division, 114th Infantry
1940 – 1945
DEPLOYED
Europe
AWARDS
Combat Infantry Badge,
Marksman, Expert Infantry
Badge, Good Conduct Medal,
European Theater, 3 Battle
Stars & WWII Victory Medal
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LESTER EMERY
U. S. ARMY
1940- 1945
MY WORLD WAR II JOURNAL
By Lester Emery
It was the summer of 1940 in Salem, NJ when a tent was put up on the main corner of the city with marching music playing. It was the National Guard and they were
recruiting. Of course , a lot of men from Salem County signed up to join the National
Guard. We were the largest company in the State of New Jersey. We had 149 men
leave for Ft. Dix. Some of those men were in for just a year, but for many of us it was
a lot longer than that. While at Ft. Dix in additional to our regular training, we did
road work around the barracks. Out regular training consisted of hiking, close order
drill and firing our weapons. One of the best marksmen was Harry Brumbraugh who
shot 15 bulls eyes out of 16 shots. That was the camp record at the time. Sleeping
accommodations were definitely not “The Ritz”. We slept six men in a tent, and when
it snowed, it seemed so deep that it went halfway up the tent walls. If you were the guy
next to the door, when you woke you had to brush the snow off. We all slept with our
clothes on so we could keep warm.
In the spring of 1941, we were shipped to AP Hill in Virginia for maneuvers. We
walked up & down those hills with our backpacks completely filled with all of our
gear. When we finally got to where we were going we set up camp for the night,
pitched our pup tents and then would work on a problem as if we were at war. After
our Maneuvers WE WERE SHIPPED BACK TO FT. DIX for a short period of time
until our next set of maneuvers in South Carolina. We stayed there in South Carolina
until the beginning of December when it was back to Ft. Dix again. On our way back
we traveled through Gettysburg, PA where the townspeople were holding up newspapers stating that the “Japanese Bombed Pearl Harbor”. At that point we realized that
we would be in the service for a while. Shortly after arriving in Ft. Dix we were off
again to do Guard Duty in New York, but not for too long. We were then called back
to Ft. Dix and shipped to Camp Claiborne, LA for one month and then loaded onto a
train for the 11-day trip to Ft. Lewis, Washington. I ended up in Seaside, Oregon on
the boardwalk doing my duty. The Japs shelled the coast of Oregon aboul halfway
between Seaside and the Coast Artillery Base with no casualties. After they were done
shelling we went looking for shrapnel, because we would sell it to the people there for
$25 to $50. That was 1/2 months pay for us.
We were stationed in Oregon until 1943 when we were shipped off to Camp Phillips in Kansas and then to Camp Myles Standish in Boston, MA where we boarded a
ship to France. This was the first convoy to arrive after the invasion of France. When
we landed, we found that the English Channel was one rough body of water, especially
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LESTER EMERY
U. S. ARMY
1940- 1945
when you had to climb down a rope ladder with a full backpack containing all of your
personal belongings as well as a duffel bag in our hands. Once we hit the shore we
hiked 11 miles and it was straight into combat. We were there for 144 days with no
breaks whatsoever. Our first taste of war began on 24 October 1944 in the forrest of
Parroy, east of Luneville, France. The Line Companies dug foxholes and lived in them
for two weeks in the rain! You can’t imagine what they put up with, no place to
change clothes and no place to dry out. These foxholes were dug in front of Ft. De
Manonviller, an old but staunch French Bastion. Afterwards, I-Company sent out a
reconnaissance patrol to find the German’s position. Once we received the information, K-Company raided their position and returned with prisoners and much needed information.
On November 21st we were on the move again traveling through the following
towns & villages: Veho, Lientrey, Avrocourt, Reichi-Court, and Sarrebourg. We continued chasing the enemy only to find the road littered with German equipment. We
returned with 150 prisoners. That year we spent Thanksgiving at Eschbourg near the
entrance to the Dossemheim Pass in the Saverne Gap. We started out again on November 29th moving northward out of the Vosges foothills and met with little resistance
in Lohr, Petrbach and Struth. We entered Weislingen on December 2 nd and MCompany, K-Company & L-Companywere bulleted in houses. I-Company was on
“Outpost Duty” in the outskirts of town. Under cover of darkness and no moon, the
German Soldiers (120 of them) came into town with three Half-tracks and a SP gun.
For several hours they roamed the streets shooting into houses and throwing grenades.
One platoon of L-Company was surrounded. This attack was within 100-yards of the
battalion CP that brought us all out of hiding right into the fight for our lives. We had
one casualty. The Germans lost the three halftracks, had 30 casualties and 30 captured. The Batallion received a commendation for this heroic action.
We followed the first battalion into battered Volksberg. We swept through a heavily wooded area to the north and west and flushed the enemy into a gap between our
regiment and the 324th Infantry. We continued with the 1st Battalion on our right side
and moved in on Montbronn. By that evening we had secured the town. Following
that we received orders to relieve elements of the 324 th located south and west of
Hottweiler, a German stronghold in the Maginott Line. The first day we had reconnaissance patrols and the second day we set out to successfully take the town. Following that we were relieved by the 100th Division. At this point the “Battle of the Bulge”
caused a regrouping along the front. The 44th Division was moved on December 22 nd
to the most northern part of the 7th Army. The 3rd Battalion was sent to defend and
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Topographical Map of Route Taken
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Topographical Map of Route Taken
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LESTER EMERY
U. S. ARMY
1940- 1945
hold the town of Sarre-Guemines, which was an industrial city on the Lorrain-German
border. Outposts were set up in buildings along the Saar River which was a change
from the housing we were used to (foxholes) since the day we went into combat. This
was my last stop in combat as I was transferred to Military Government to set up places
for DPs (Displaced Persons).
My job in the field was to handle ammo and clear minefields so our troops
could move about without having to look where they were walking. I also had to clear
barbed wire from the front lines, mostly during the night. That is where you learn to
trust your buddies that you trained with to to what is required. Let me explain about
clearing a minefield…. We used our bayonets to probe in on an angle so not to hit a
mine on the top, because if you did, it was “Goodbye Charlie”. When we discovered a
mine, we would move them very gently and put them to one side.
I always kept up on the moves that the battalion
was making since we were in radio contact with the 7 th
Army. The battalion left Sarreguemines and headed into
Bois deBleisbrucken to strengthen the line. Starting from
Weisviller and Woelfling, they attacked to the north and
west and then ran into a strong force holding their position
in the woods. Before they moved too far, they ran into
mortar fire along with an artillery and nebelwerfer barrage. The forward element was met with machine gun fire.
We suffered a lot of casualties during this fire fight. This was the beginning of a three
month strong hold by the Germans. This was also the first time that the 7 th Army ran
into strong opposition, but they handled it like they were trained to do. It was attack
and counter-attack throughout the months of January and February in those woods that
were studded with German Bunkers and fortifications. One of the more serious instances of fighting occurred on February 15 th when the Battalion experienced the Germans
attacking with two battalions of infantry and five tanks. This attack was preceded with
a 4-hour barrage. Adjacent units were driven back leaving K-Company exposed on
three sides. Tanks were behind them in the rear and situated on their right with enemy
infantry attacking their forward position. The battalion maintained their ground until
the line was straight once again.
The third battalion crossed the Rhine River on March 27 th at Worms and captured Weinheim. They then headed toward Heidelberg, Germany’s treasure of tradition. Several small villages fell but when they got close to Dossenheim, on the outskirts
of Heidelberg, a sudden struggle occurred. The battalion was pinned down by artillery
and 20MM flack fire. They suffered heavy casualties. Three hundred “Krauts” aided
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LESTER EMERY
U. S. ARMY
1940- 1945
by Panzerfaust Armed Citizens opposed the advance from dug-in positions. Ultimately
they were defeated and German Officials came through their lines to our line with a
flag of truce to surrender Heidelberg. Before the surrender could be accepted, the 63 rd
Division relieved all units of the regiment and the next morning had the honor of taking
the famous German city.
There were long moves by little activity for several weeks. Our men journeyed
northward to Stockstat, Alzenau and Aufenau. They stayed for several weeks guarding
roads and installations until April 9th when they moved 110 miles south to KleinRinderfeld. After a brief rest our forces went back to the lines at Utterhoffen on April
19th, pushing seven miles through enemy artillery fire. The Third Battalion reached
Gaildorf the next day and posted the town. The Battalion then mounted tanks and TDs
and being completely motorized, drove deep into Bavaria and Southwest Germany in
one of the swiftest drives of the war. Crossing the Danube at Ehingen on April 25th,
they swept into Memmingen where American and Allied prisoners were liberated. The
next day the column sped 25 miles to and enveloped Kempten. Droves of demoralized
German Troops and stores of enemy materials were captured at every turn of the road.
Many “Kraut” units were cut-off from their supply units in the mountains.
In the wake of the fleeing German soldiers, the 3 rd Battalion swept into Austria on
the 28th of April. During a whipping snow storm, Gran & Halden fell in rapid succession, but the drive was halted when the enemy blew up the great bridge across the
Gaicht Pass. While foot troops climed their way down the slopes of the mountains into
Weissenbach in the Lechtal Valley, the rest of the battalion retraced their way and approached the town by another route. It wasn’t long after this that the war ended. We
were all glad to think that we were headed home soon. I rejoined the outfit in Austria.
We were in Innsbruck & Reutte, the towns where the Olympics were held, which were
both very nice and “Picture Perfect”, located in the Alps.
We traveled back through Germany, France and crossed the English Channel into
England where we received a three-day pass before boarding the Queen Elizabeth for
the trip across the Atlantic Ocean. It was such a beautiful sight sailing into New York
Harbor and seeing Lady Liberty. Fron there we went to Ft. Dix and receives a 30-day
leave. At the same time we received orders to return to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas with
additional orders to go to the Pacific for more fighting. While we were on leave the
war in the Pacific ended so when we arrived in Arkansas we were mustered out of the
service. My time in the service was 5-years and 21-days. When the Korean War broke
out, I joined the National Guard. This time I spent 10-years in the service entering as a
private and I left as a Master Sergent. This was the history of my Military Service.
THE END
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VINCENT ENGLAND
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1943 – 1945
VINCENT ENGLAND
U.S. MARINE CORPS
AUGUST 19, 1943 – JANUARY 14, 1946
DISCHARGE RANK
CORPORAL
DEPLOYED
Pacific, Battle of Saipan, Battle of
Tinian & Battle of Okinawa
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Medal
WWII Victory Medal
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73
VINCENT ENGLAND
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1943 – 1945
Vincent England
His World War II Experiences
(As Recounted to his wife, Doris England)
Vincent England had just turned 18 in July of 1943 when he received “Greetings” from his
“Uncle Sam” to travel to Erie, PA as a draftee into the Military Service. On August 18 th he boarded
the Greyhound bus in Tionesta, PA with a number of young men from Tionesta, Kelletville, East
Hickory and West Hickory. Among them were his cousin “Plink” Thomas and Feathers Schwab.
Once they arrived at the induction center in Erie, they all lined up to get their physicals and
dental exams. They were measured for height and weight among other things. Plink didn’t pass,
but when the dentist examined Vince he told the Marine Sgt., ‘Here’s a good Marine for you!’ ”
The Marine Sgt. quickly grabbed Vince’s paper and noted that Vince had already written that he
wanted to join the Marines. Out of all of the young men who were present only Vince and Ben
Blum became Marines. Later, they ran into each other in Japan.
After Erie, PA it was off to Buffalo where they stayed the night and the following morning
they went to the Marine Recruiting Office and were sworn in. They were told how life would be
once they arrived on Parris Island and were given a ten day leave. During that time Vince made the
most of civilian life and on August 28th his brother Walt took him to Oil City to catch the train to
Pittsburgh. There he met Patsy White from Sharon, PA who ended up in his platoon . They went
on to Washington, DC. From there they took the train to Beaufort, SC and a barge to Parris Island. They heard guys who were going on leave shouting to the new recruits, “You’ll be sorry!”
Once on Parris Island they lined up into four lines and were instructed to strip. They were
checked once again for any abnormalities, given haircuts as close to their scalp as possible, sent into
the showers and then were issued their clothes. You got to pick whatever color you wanted as long
as it was green….. green boxers, green t-shirts, green pants and a green jacket that serves as a shirt,
although the socks they got were white! The green pants were called “dungarees”. When they
were measured for their shoes they had to pick up a weight to make their feet spread so they were
not issued shoes that were too small.
After they dressed, their names were called out and they were assigned to a platoon. Vince’s
Platoon was number 662. They were taken to their barracks and it was explained to them how they
were to stand in formation, at attention and many other things. They were lined up out in front of
their barracks according to height, tall in front and the shortest in back. Then they took them inside
and assigned bunks. They were given a bucket and scrub brush for washing their clothes which
was done on tables outside where they would lay their clothes to scrub them. On the tin topped
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VINCENT ENGLAND
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1943 – 1945
tables was their water supply and the tables were slanted to allow for proper drainage. There were
clotheslines for the men to use and sometimes the clothes were stolen by guys from other platoons.
Vince’s platoon was lucky since none of their stuff was stolen.
The men had to shave every morning whether they needed to or not. The bathhouses had
toilets with water running continuously (no flushing) and showers and mirrors above each sink.
Vince must have felt right at home since he came from a home with no plumbing.
They went and picked up their rifles and a pack with all of their gear including a canteen with a
utility belt. The rifle had a bayonet which attached to the belt. The men were then told to stow
their new gear in their barracks and it was off to the mess hall for chow. That day they were taught
how to march including “about face”, “left face”, “right face”, how to salute, and how to address
the Drill Sgt….it was always “Sergeant ‘Sir’!” All the way through boot camp he was “Sir!” The
Drill Sgt. and Corporal bunked in the same barracks as the men. Their quarters were at the end of
the building partitioned from the men. They used the same “head” as the men but they had separate showers. Vince’s Drill Sgt. was from New Jersey.
“Our second day at 5:00 AM our Drill Sgt. Yelled ‘Hit The Deck!’ All the men shaved & dressed,
went outside and fell into formation and then together went to chow. There was plenty to eat including cereal, eggs, coffee and milk and as much as you wanted.” Vince actually gained weight
during Boot Camp. Boot Camp lasted 10 weeks. During that time the men had plenty of close
order drills, bayonet practice, boxing, and they went to the rifle range a number of times during the
last couple of weeks.
When Boot Camp was over they had a 10-day leave. He said, “We came over on the barge
(from Parris Island) and caught the train for home. When the leave was over, Walt and Ray Confer
took me to Oil City to catch the train for South Carolina. While waiting in DC for the connecting
train to Beaufort, Patsy White and I went to a musical play with Sammy Kaye, whose logo was
“Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye”. There were also girls balancing on large rubber balls.”
Once Vince got back to Parris Island from leave, he and the other men stayed in brick
barracks for a few days while they waited for their orders. The barracks in boot camp had been
wooden buildings. When the orders came in, Vince and a couple of men were shipped to Texas
while others were shipped in different directions. When Vince first arrived in Texas he was a “brig
chaser”. A brig chaser transferred prisoners from brig to brig. An old Mexican guy drove the panel truck while Vince stood on the wide plank bumper in the back as a guard. Later on a kid came
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VINCENT ENGLAND
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1943 – 1945
and took Vince's place as the brig chaser and since the kid couldn’t drive Vince got that job. That
was when he got his service (drivers) license. He was able to drive all types of trucks from pick-ups
to 1-1/2 ton rigs. With that came the duty of keeping them clean. As a driver, he transported sentries' to their posts. He sometimes felt bad for those guys since they were on duty in the wee hours
of the morning on those cold nights. Vince spent a little over a month in Texas and was back at
Camp Lejeune in January for machine gun training. In North Carolina he was able to see Tyrone
Power in person. Tyrone Power was a pilot and was there as “Officer of the Day”!
Once Vince arrived back at Camp Lejeune , he went to “Tent City” (so-named because it was
once nothing except tents). There were 8 men per building and they slept in bunk beds like they did
in Boot Camp. They were taught how to disassemble machine guns and then to re-assemble them.
They had to crawl on their bellies under live machine gun fire. They were taught how to fire the 30
caliper heavy duty machine guns. It took three men to transport the 30 caliper machine guns, one to
cary the tripod, one to carry the gun and the third to carry the ammunition. The ammunition was
on big long belts and stored in boxes and the man carrying it always had to carry more than one
box. In training they were taught to fire the gun in bursts. The machine gun will rise when you do a
burst and they wanted to get six shots off in each burst. A man would shoot and release, shoot and
release as fast as you can pull the trigger. When you hold the trigger steady it looks just like a redhot streak going out of the barrel. Every sixth bullet is a tracer bullet so the shooter can see where
he is shooting.
In February they left Camp Lejeune and headed to the Navy Base in Norfolk, Virginia. The
morning they left for Norfolk, while they were in line to board the ship, the Red Cross gave out
packages with four cigarettes, biscuits, a can of cheese and a can of meat. They boarded the ship in
the morning and that night they were on their way to the Panama Canal. That evening, on their
journey down the east coast and around Florida and about the time they were passing Key West,
they hit a terrible storm. The waves were 20 to 30 ft. high and breaking over the bow of the ship.
Vince didn’t get seasick but there were many men who were hanging over the railings tossing their
cookies. Vince thought that some of the men might fall overboard but they didn’t. Vince said that
it was kinda funny to watch them.
That day Vince and his buddy Phillips went to chow together. (He and Phillips had buddied
around in Texas and then again in Camp Lejeune. When they got to Honolulu Phillips went as a
replacement for another outfit.) Down in the mess hall, the food trays were sliding off the tables,
unless they held onto them. Those food trays were full of food but many of the men didn’t get a
chance to eat before they got sick and were throwing up. Even some of the men working the mess
got sick and they were looking for other men to help clean up. That was their cue to get outta there.
Vince and Phillips went up on deck where there were some vehicles on top of the hold and they hid
between them. They were there for quite a while and no one found them.
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VINCENT ENGLAND
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1943 – 1945
I asked Vince how long it took to get to the Panama Canal. He said, “I just don't remember. I think it was overnight and we got there the next day. Come to think of it, we didn’t get there
until the next evening because in the morning we had a drill and the captain of the ship said, “If you
hear ‘ABANDON SHIP’ get off this tub as fast as you can!” He did not make it sound as if the ship
was too safe! It was only an old freighter with bunks put down into the hold. They didn’t build
them special for troops.”
“The Panama Canal, it’s not what you’d think it is,” Vince said, “you know what I mean? It’s
more like a river, just wide enough for a ship to go through.” I asked him about the accident that
happened as they went through the locks of the canal. “A boy who was on sentry duty was suppose
to keep everybody back (out of danger). I don't think he understood what he was suppose to do.
Man oh man! A whole bunch of us were sitting on the booms on the ship (poles that move the
equipment from one place to another). The boy squeezed into the channel irons where the pulley
cables ran up & down, to pull up the landing boats that hung on the outside of the ship. There wasn’t room for the ship to go through the canal with the landing boats on the outside of the ship; they
were a pretty good size. A coxswain got into each boat and drove the landing boats through the
canal, following after the ship, then the boats were pulled back up into place. That is when the boy
was killed; when they pulled the boats back up, he was inside the channel and was crushed. They
had to pull him out and lay him on a stretcher. He was already gone then. The ship stopped at Balboa, and he was taken off and shipped home from there. When we got to the Pacific Ocean, the
water was blue as blue and smooth as it could be (after the stormy Atlantic). It’s pretty when the
moon shines on the water. We were headed for Hawaii!”
I asked Vince how long it took to get to Hawaii? He said, “We were aboard ship at least a week
before we got to Hawaii. We were replacements, in that ship, for the men who had been hurt or
killed in the battle of Tarawa; they had just come back from Tarawa and it was a severe battle. The
landing boats hit the reefs and upset and could not get over the reefs, so the men had to swim and
some drowned.”
Vince said that they sang a lot on board ship on their way overseas. When they were in Hilo,
Hawaii waiting to go aboard ship, they were sitting around talking “and yakking”, someone came up
with an out of tune guitar. Vince didn’t know where it came from but he played it a little and sang
too. He knew several chords but he wasn’t very good at changing chords at the right time during
the song. He told me that after Saipan was secured some of the men were together and one of the
guys he knew said “Vince plays the guitar.” and Vince said, “I don’t play the guitar.”
While on their way to Hawaii, Navy airplanes flew over the ship so the gunners on the ship
could target practice. The planes were towing long socks behind them just for that purpose. This
was in the Pacific Ocean, where it was calm and smooth. “Not expecting anything,” Vince said, “I
was coming up on deck out of the hold, where we slept, and as I stepped onto the deck there was a
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VINCENT ENGLAND
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1943 – 1945
blast from one of the guns. The sound was deafening and I almost fell down. After that we
watched them while they practiced.”
“Once we landed in Honolulu (Pearl) Harbor, they took us to our barracks on trucks with
seats on the sides. We were there for three or four days while we had more training. They had 11/2 ton and 2-ton trucks with dual wheels called 6 X 6’s. They also trained us in the art of Judo..
That is where we learned how to fall,” Vince said, “why do you think I never get hurt, when I fall?
You have to roll with the fall, not go down like that (plunk!) .”
The men who were assigned to the 2nd Division got on a ship one night, for an overnight boat
trip. “We got off the ship at Hilo, on the island of Hawaii. (The “Big” Island) We rode in a 6X6
over dusty lava fields up to a camp on the other side of the island. After we got to the camp we
were all set. It was a “tent camp”, tents were everywhere. There were six men assigned to each 12’
X 12’ tent. We had folding cots for beds and it was really cold there, we used a Marine blanket and
two Navy blankets plus a pad for a mattress. I often wonder what happened to all of those blankets.” (Doris added: “Our family made good use of two of Vince’s blankets over the years. Our
daughter, Diane, got hives from the wool in the Marine blanket, but they helped us keep warm
many times. When the Marine blanket wore down to a small ragged piece, I used it to make a cute
stuffed horse that I gave to Vince one Christmas.”)
“The temperature warmed up during the daytime, but often there was a cool mist up on that
mountain. And you could see snow on the mountain peaks, although when we went down to the
beach it was warm and sunny. The camp was on a ranch owned by Kings Ranch in Texas. There
was a cowboy settlement of a few buildings near our camp. We also had a little restaurant outside
the gate where some of the men would go for a steak. I never went because I didn’t have the money to spend. I got paid twice a month. I had an allotment of forty-some dollars taken out of my
pay for Mom & the girls (pronounced “Mum”). They told me later that Mom never used that
money; she put it in the bank for me, but they had to use it for her burial, when she died.” Vince’s
mother died in September of 1945 while he was in Japan. The Chaplin called for him to come and
see him and that is when he told him about his mother. That same day, before he talked with the
Chaplin, Vince received a letter from a girl in West Hickory who always wrote him. In that letter
she said that she was sorry to hear about his mother. “So the pay I got to keep for myself,” Vince
said, “was sometimes $5 and sometimes $10. Cigarettes were 50 cents a carton; we got soap and
stuff at the PX. On several Saturday nights, a Hawaiian lady and her two daughters came to the
theater and put on a Hula Dance for us. The mother played the guitar and the girls, only 12 or 13
years old, danced. Not much more than a week before we left, the government had a luau down
on the beach for the men. They cooked beef in a pit, had beer and a good meal. It was hot that
day. When we left the ranch camp we went down a winding blacktop road. People stood outside
and waved at us and gave us the “Victory Sign”. We left Hilo and went back to Honolulu. Some
of the men went on liberty but since I didn’t have money I stayed on board ship. I was on deck
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looking out into the harbor and a sub surfaced right next to our ship and scared the liver out of
me.. The next day, some of us went for a walk. A couple of the guys got tattoos.” Vince’s dad
(who had died as a result of an industrial accident) had a small tattoo on his arm and he had told
Vince that he should never get a tattoo, so he never did.
“We joined the 2nd Division while on Hawaii, as mentioned before, to replace the men
who were killed on Tarawa. They had lost many drivers so I was taken out of the machine gun
company and put in as a driver since I had a Service Drivers License and they needed drivers.
There must have been ten men who were pulled out of the Machine Gun Company. The Recon
Trucks were made all of metal and reminded me of the truck in the comic strip, “Gasoline Alley”.
They were wide open, no roof, and they had a scabbard (built-in sheath) on them for your rifle.
We stayed in Hawaii for another three months before shipping out.”
“After those months in Hawaii, in May we shipped out for Saipan. We must have been on
board ship for a month since I remember that it was June 14th when we arrived in Saipan. You
never saw so many ships as were in our convoy. We turned the ship every so many minutes. We
had a destroyer escort that was searching for submarines. The escort ship really did move when it
was trying to pick up the sub alert signals. There were also some battleships in our convoy that
shelled and planes that bombed the island of Saipan before we got there. When we got into the
harbor we watched the battleship shell all night from on board our ship. Some of the shells went
overhead. The night before we went on shore another soldier and I were standing on deck watching when a 16-inch gun fired at the island from the battleship. That other guy went down so fast it
would make your head spin. Those shells were 16” across and over a yard long. They were “RedHot” when they came out of the gun and you could follow them with your eyes and then see them
explode when they hit. There was no artillery before we went on shore, so we had to depend on
the battleships for coverage. A spotter plane (A Cub from the 10th Marines) flew over the island
to see where the shells were hitting and he would call back to the ships and tell them to raise or
lower their guns. We went on shore the next morning, June 15th around 8:00 A.M via the landing
boats. There were many landing boats and each one was loaded. They were seven or eight foot
wide and 25-30 ft. long. They held a lot of men and equipment. The first wave went on shore,
then the next and the next with a cheerleader waving everyone on. You are just a sitting duck in
those landing craft, and not everyone made the beach. If you made the beach you were lucky and
would be fine. The “Nips” (Japanese) could sit up on a hill and watch you come in. Many of them
were in caves and were not affected by the shelling the night before. When you first go into combat you really don’t know what is going to happen but after a couple of days you sort of lose that
fear. You get used to all of the shelling and banging and hope that you don’t get hit. The big shells
never bothered me so much but when a Jap mortar came in over your head, you would hardly hear
it until it hit. It just sounded like a wh-r-r-r or a whist, like something going through the air and
catching wind. Our artillery going out from behind us made a cha-cha-cha noise, not smooth. You
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didn’t pay attention to it. The Japs didn’t have artillery like we had, they just had old field guns. If
they had good artillery we would have been in a lot worse shape. The main weapon they used
against us was the mortar, and you’d better get down, because you never knew where they would
hit and they never hit the same place twice. Our own mortars were up close to the line and you
never heard them unless you were near them. The first night we were on the island a Nip plane
came down right at us while bombing an air strip. He had three bombs on his plane and if he
would have had a fourth, we would have been scattered everywhere.”
“When we went into the middle of the island, Saipan, the 4th Division was on our right.
We kept on moving up the island cleaning out the Japs as we went. The Japs would come running
out of the jungle screaming ‘Bonsai...Bonsai’ with their guns with bayonets a blazing. Some of their
officers had swords. They were hard to stop but we kept on shooting. They usually pulled these
attacks when it was dark and hard to see. They would shoot flares and it would be like daylight.
The first time you experience a Bonsai charge (and they were coming right at you,) it would scare
the pants off you with so many coming at one time.” I asked Vince how tall the Japanese were.
Vince said, “They weren’t too tall, just about like you see around now. The Imperial Japanese were
6-ft. and over; we didn’t see any of them there.”
“When we were halfway down the island of Saipan, one of our fighter planes was strafing and
got hit by Japanese small arms fire. The plane caught on fire and the pilot jumped. I did not see
where he parachuted to.” Years later, when they were talking about their experiences during the
war, Mr. Ricketts (whose son, Brian, is married to Vince’s daughter, Amy), related how he had
watched this same scene from on-board his ship.”
Vince continued, “One evening at dusk, I took a Lieutenant and two soldiers from the Scouts
& Snipers Platoon up to the 2nd Battalion. They told a Sgt. in that battalion that they were going
through the line to see what was going on, the Jap position and so on. Before daylight, when they
came back out from their observations, they had to use a password to get through the line. The
password changed every morning and you didn’t want to forget it since many of the Japanese understood and spoke English, and they would use it to fool you. “
“After Saipan was secured, the 10th Marine Field Artillery shelled a small neighboring island.
As I watched, it looked as if the island was literally jumping from all the shelling received. After the
second or third day of shelling you got used to the noise and when they were finally finished a
platoon was sent onto the island to clear off any Japanese survivors. There was no news of American casualties. The artillery shells were rather large being about 18-inches to 2-feet long and 8inches in diameter. They all had a detonator that exploded upon impact. Later I spotted a 16”
shell that was a dud and never exploded. You stay away from those and let the specialty crew come
around to gather them up. The 10th Marine Field Artillery is what held the Japs back. They would
drop their guns level with the ground and fire directly into the line. Some of the artillery men were
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wounded since they could only get off one round at a time before re-loading.”
“During the battle of Saipan, the wounded Japanese soldiers (prisoners) were treated in our sick
bay. One Jap who came in with the wounded prisoners asked the doctor for a (alcoholic) drink. ‘I’ll
give you a drink, you “so & so”’. The doctor didn’t use those exact words and didn’t take to kindly
to the prisoner. They build a stockade to hold these prisoners and made them strip, both men &
women, before going into the stockade to be sure they had removed all of their weapons.”
“The Japanese people living on Saipan were brainwashed by their government. There was a
cliff at the end of the island. Some of the Japanese would throw their children off that cliff to keep
from being captured or they would take them by the hand and walk into the ocean and continue to
walk until they drowned. There was a lot of propaganda out there about what the Americans do to
their Prisoners of War.”
“On the sixth of July, after Saipan was secured, we went to Tinian, only a skip and a hop across
the bay, in fact you could see it from Saipan. They shelled Tinian from Saipan and then we went in.
There were still a lot of Japs there. That is where I had my hairiest experience. They had told us
that some Nips had broken through the lines up in the area of the 4th Division. We were told that
there were four spotted so be on the lookout for them. (We were in the second Division) It was
clear that night and the moon was out and was very bright. I was on Guard Duty and heard what I
thought was Nips. It was a gravel road and it sounded like four men were coming. I was in a hedge
along that road expecting the enemy and along comes a water buffalo. What a welcome sight that
was.”
“The action we took on the island of Tinian went quickly. We went right through in five days
or so. Not nearly as bad as Saipan. There was a lot of sugar cane growing in fields that you could
barely see through and we came across a sugar mill as well. When going through the mill we discovered some Nips hiding in the stack. In another area we found a elderly woman hiding under a roof
set up on poles. They were built this way so the livestock could get under it. The old woman wanted to go down over the hill to get some relatives. We tried to explain to her that it was very dangerous but she ignored us and went anyway. She had to go through the sugar cane field and we explained that the Japanese would shoot at anything that moved in that field. She didn’t make it any
more than 40-ft.”
“Early one morning, we were about halfway into the island when some Nips crossed some
distance in front of us. Some men went up there to get them including Dutch Gladfelter. The Nips
went into a cave and there was a girl with them. Shortly, the girl emerged from the cave with a rifle
in her hands. Someone shouted out to Dutch “Shoot her!” Dutch wouldn’t shoot her and later he
said that he just stood there like a statue. I think someone else must have shot her.”
Doris stated, “Vince made several good friends while in the service. Two of them were Dutch
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(Sterling K.) Gladfelter and George Flannery. These two men came to visit us when we were first
married and lived in a tiny apartment behind Osborn’s Filling Station/Grocery Store along the river, at the northern most end of Tionesta. Gladfelter came from York, PA area and Flannery came
from a place east of Pittsburgh. Flannery came back to see us in West Hickory, when we were in
the process of moving to New Jersey. Our neighbor, Wolford Watson, in West Hickory told us
about it when we were back for more of our stuff. I felt bad to have missed him, for Vince’s sake.”
“Dutch and I went overseas together, in the same ship. He was in a different outfit and I never
got to know him until we got there. There was another “German” who went overseas with us
known as Dutch but he was bigger and we called him “Big Dutch”. They called Gladfelter “Little
Dutch”, but he was almost as tall as I was. The first time I saw Gladfelter, he was boxing someone
on ship while we were going through the Panama Canal. We were sitting on the boom watching
them. Gladfelter knocked that guy once and put him down flatter than a pancake. He was no
fighter but he could hit. We got in the same outfit overseas because they needed someone who had
a service license for driving, and they got me to drive truck for their outfit. Flannery came into our
outfit after Saipan, as a replacement. I don’t remember how many new guys came into the outfit at
that time but there was Flannery, Slim (our mechanic) from Louisiana, a guy from Tennessee, Seward from Kentucky and one other guy. One thing I remember about Slim was that he would turn a
Jeep on its side to work on. I had never seen that done before.”
Doris said, “Vince tried to explain to me about the regiments and the divisions, etc. Hope I
have this right!” Vince was in the Regimental Headquarters Company of the 6th Marines. The
Regimental Headquarters Company has to supply all the units and battalions; it consists of Quartermaster, Communications Section, Transportation (moving supplies and men plus fought), Scouts
and Snipers, and Weapons Company. The 6th Marines had the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions. There
are 15 men in a Squad, four Squads in a Platoon, three Platoons in a Battalion, three Battalions in a
Regiment and three Regiments (and attached units) in a Division. Each Squad has a Corporal and a
Sergeant and there is a Lieutenant in charge of each platoon.
The Second Division included the 2nd, 6th and 8th Regiments; the 10th Regiment was an
artillery battalion attached to the 2nd Division. Also included in the Division was the Engineer
Battalion. It was sort of like the Seabees. They had heavy equipment. The 10th Marines was the
artillery. They got their directions from men at the front line who gave them the coordinates of the
target.
“Our outfit was the 6th Marine Headquarters Company. You go and come and do a little bit
of everything. We took everything up to the lines that they needed; ammunition, mortar shells,
water, etc. I took mainly ammunition. Fred Garrison and I were taking ammunition to the 1st
Battalion. We were in an International recon truck. This truck was wide open, no roof or anything. If a shell would have hit us we would have been goners. We had traveled further than we’d
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gone the previous day. We saw no one except for one of our tanks with a couple of guys waving.
We thought they were friendly so we waved back. When we got nearer we asked them where the 1st
Battalion was? They explained that there was a sniper in the area up on higher ground. Apparently
we didn’t clean all of the Nips out when we went through. Those guys felt for sure that we were
going to get hit by that sniper. That was one delivery that we didn’t make and the 1st Battalion must
have made a really big push because we never did find them.
“There was a guy who got transferred into our group following the Tinian campaign. He didn’t
last very long, the dumb knucklehead. He had worked with a carnival in civilian life, a ‘carnie’. He
seemed to like that type of work. He kept on asking me if he could go to the front line with me.
He kept on bugging me…” ‘Can I go with you?...Can I go with you?’ It was a slow period and finally the guy in charge told him that he could go. So we went. On the way a shot came close to us,
right past me and it struck a metal building right next to me. The “carnie’s” face got as white as a
sheet. I jumped down and that is when the he got excited. He tried to get out on the same side as I
did and got all tangled up in the gearshift knobs on the right side then he tripped on the reduction
gear knob and finally the 4-wheel drive gearshift knob. Everything turned out OK but he never
wanted to go with me again. I would ask him if he wanted to go and he always had an excuse. Later
I heard that he got hold of an old 45 someplace and he ended up shooting himself in the leg. He
was playing around with it in the back of a Jeep and it went off and busted his leg into pieces. They
took him to the hospital and we never heard from him again.”
“Some guys in combat would say, ‘send someone else, I was just up there.’ I never did that. If
they told me to go, I went. I got a half day off for that. I’m sure that is why they did it. You would
think there wasn’t a war going on sometimes, the way some of those drivers complained about going
to the front line. Their thinking was, if they could get someone else to do it for them, why do it
yourself.”
“The night of my 19th birthday, July 3, I was coming back from taking ammo up to the line and
a kid in a Jeep ahead of us hit a land mine. Before we had arrived on the scene they had taken him
to the hospital. But his Jeep was still upset on the road. You learn while driving a truck you just
follow the tracks that are on the road so you wouldn’t hit any land mines, although when I arrived
on the scene I had to go out around in order to get through. It was dusk when I was going out to
the front but on the way back it was dark and you couldn’t turn on your headlights. I put a knife in
my mouth to be ready in case a Nip would jump down from a tree because there wouldn’t be time
to grab your gun. I was late getting back to the Command Post. At that same time, a Nip had got
on board of an old Jap ship that was sitting out in Garapan Harbor and was firing anti-aircraft guns
at us from the ship. We stopped, jumped off of the truck and took cover. Flack was flying all over
the place. You wondered how it would miss you. After I got back to the Command Post there was
a Staff Sgt. named Root sitting up on a truck. Those type of trucks sit you way up high and you
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were exposed. He struck a big wooden match and lit his pipe. No sooner did he do that when a
sniper shot at us. Root would taunt them and say ‘Shoot...you so & so…. you can’t hit me!!!’ And
then he lit another match. The next day he was gone. I imagine they sent him back to the States or
to a hospital in Hawaii! I guess he was some kind of psychiatric case, but nobody ever said anything
about who sent him there or where he went!”
“We had two men get hit the first day of the campaign, after we had landed. The first man got
shot through the thigh, pretty well up. He was sent to a hospital in Hawaii and was the only man
to come back,. His name was Colotte. He just came walking in one day but wasn’t there long before they transferred him home. I think he was still with us when we were getting ready to go to
Japan. The other man had the lower half of his arm shot off. He was a good looking fellow that
reminded me of a movie star. He was a good mechanic and had some cars that he raced in civilian
life. I never did find out how he made out. I often wondered if they let him drive with one hand.
I remember one other fellow who came to us later on from Baltimore. He got shot in the back of
his neck, near his spine. They left the bullet in because they thought that it would be too dangerous to operate.”
“While I was on Saipan, I saw Ernie Pyle, the famous WWII News Reporter. He was afraid to
ride in the open Jeep down a steep 30-ft. incline. We didn’t have roads over there to drive on, you
just picked an area and forged your way through, hoping that you would not hit a mine the Japs
planted there! Pyle was killed later on Iwo Jima. “
“One day the 27th Army cane up to the line to relieve the 1st Battalion. The Japs had people
watching us, just like we had people watching them. They knew it was a new unit coming in so
they pulled a Bonsai attack late that evening toward dusk. The 27th Army either had to be
“Greenhorns” or they had never been in combat before. When the Nips came at them, they
jumped up instead of staying hid and shooting. Even the officers got up an ran and of course the
enlisted men followed. The General may not have been there with them but some ran into the
water and some didn’t make it. There were many wounded but a lot were killed. They hauled their
wounded off the lane for two days. If it hadn’t been for the Artillery, who held the line, the Japs
would have come back around and got us from behind. There was a driver who heard General
Smith of the 2nd Marine Division tell the General from the 27th Army “Take your Army and get
the heck off of this island.” They nicknamed them ‘The Swimming 27th’!”
“Following the campaign in Tinian, we came back to Saipan for what they called “rest camp”.
It was anything but a rest camp. There was always something to do and you couldn’t expect anyone to come in and do it for you. The only thing you weren’t doing was fighting. We had ‘guard
duty’, we went on patrols, we also did training and we had to look for the Nips who were still out
and around. Every time we went on patrol we would pick up Nips.
“The rest camp we had on Saipan was set up on a six-acre field. They put up quonset huts
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with corrugated metal roofs. One hut, where we ate, was set up with long tables with benches fastened to them (like picnic tables). The other hut was the kitchen and the food was lousy! No one
liked it. They could fill the garbage cans with it. They gave us bread, no cereal but a lot of powdered eggs (also tasted lousy). The cook was a really nice guy but nice doesn't make good cooking.
The Weapons Company right across the road had a cook who would mix cheese with his eggs and
they were good. Our coffee was made in a 30-gallon galvanized garbage can that was set over a gas
burner. The put a dipper on the side of the can so you just dipped the coffee out into your canteen.
I remember in the rest camp, Tom Moran got a Christmas package from his wife. She put a pint of
liquor in some red cherries. By the time they arrived in Saipan the cherries had soaked up all of the
liquor, and he ate the cherries! The cookies she sent in the package were all in crumbs.
“After rest camp on Saipan we headed to Okinawa on a transport freighter. The night before
we arrived we hit a typhoon, or should I say it hit us! We had to hang onto the sides of our bunks to
keep from falling out. The bunks were six high and the ship was going up and down; when the
screw (propeller) came out of the water it made a loud noise. The next morning when we arrived at
Okinawa the typhoon had calmed down but the waves were very rough. Everyone boarded the
landing boats, that were run by Navy Coxswains, and headed for shore. We were to make fake
landings in order to draw the Japs attention away from the real landing of troops on the opposite
side of the island. They had it timed just right. The rough waters tossed us around like balls. We
got to the beach and then turned back. By late afternoon we were back on board the ship. Our
troops were able to land on the other side of the island with no resistance. We stayed close by the
island for three days to see how everything went and then it was back to Saipan and rest camp. Later, the troops did face some resistance on Okinawa and more troops were needed. It was our turn
to go back there but because the 8th Regiment had gone on a chow strike they sent them in for punishment. On Saipan, while we were in combat, we had K-Rations that could fit in a pocket. Back
on Saipan following a couple of days in combat we were given food rations from boxes called FiveIn-Ones. They weren’t made for combat but five men got a meal from one of those boxes. They
were better than K-Rations. After Saipan we never had K-Rations.”
“Following our return from Okinawa, we started to get ready to go to Japan. They issued us all
heavy winter clothing and equipment that we would need there. One night we heard that the war
was over. Everyone was a-whooping and a-hollering and believe me, everyone was smiling when we
were told to turn those clothes back to the Quartermaster, except for the Quartermaster who had to
put them away. It would have been terrible if we had to go into Japan to fight. I’m afraid that there
would have been a lot of casualties there and most of the fighting would have been up hill and it was
a steep hill!”
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“We eventually did go to Japan, but there was no combat there. It was in the fall when we
went and it was a short trip from Saipan. The treaty had to be signed, then they were going to ship
us home. We landed at Nagasaki Harbor after dark. We didn’t unload but they let us off ship and
we ran around there. It was all blown to pieces. They had guards posted further up the bay so we
couldn’t get into the city. We went back to the ship and slept there that night. The next morning,
we unloaded close to where we were going to be working from in one of the Mitsubishi Shipyard
offices. We took our sea bags and all of our belongings up the stairs to the 3rd floor, there were no
elevators. Our barracks was just one big room on the top floor. There were Japanese women
working there along side of the men plastering the walls. The women worked in the shipyards, too!
Right behind this office building was a single story building they made into our “Sick Bay”. Across
the road from our barracks was another three story building where a group of Japanese people
would come out onto the roof every morning, bow down three times toward the sun and recite
something. I never did find out what they were saying.”
“From our Barracks in that office building, we had to go on patrol to all of the little villages in
order to gather rifles and swords that the Japanese people used to train the children. They were
mostly wooden. Usually there were about 15 of us who went on patrol. We stayed overnight in a
little hotel since most villages had one available. We would get all of the “weapons” gathered together and take them back to headquarters and then go out to another village the next day and do it
all over again. The villages were located in the valleys and there was always water there. That was a
main type of transportation in Japan. A lot of the Japanese acted happy to see us. The women
would carry “honey pots” balanced on each end of a long bamboo pole across their shoulders. The
post would bounce up & down as they carried them to their gardens where they dumped them for
fertilizer. They had terraced gardens because the terrain was so steep.”
“From Nagasaki we went to Sasebo by truck. We were only there for a couple of days, but
while we were there I went for a walk by myself. I wanted to see some of the Japanese ships that
were sunk in the harbor. I never did get to the harbor but along the way I ran into a lot of the local
Japanese, not all in one group but just along the path. Some of them asked me for a cigarette. It
gave me somewhat of a creepy feeling, you never knew what they may do but they never made a
move to do anything to me. I eventually turned around and went back to the barracks.”
“We left for home from Sasebo. We were aboard ship for a long time, close to 30-days. It
was cold during the trip and I ended up going to Sick Bay because I got piles from sitting on the
steel of the ship. There were several of us that had the same problem and they told us… ‘Don’t sit
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on the deck!’. We landed in San Diego and went to Camp Pendleton. We were there only overnight
but we went on liberty there for New Years Eve.” Doris added, “It must have been a crazy but
joyous time of celebration!” Vince said, “All the girls came up and kissed us. The traffic was bumper-to-bumper and the guys would crawl over the hoods of cars just to get to the other side of the
street. Olmby, a guy in my outfit, had a sister-in-law who lived out there. She came and picked us
up and took us to her house. She gave us a meal and then took us back to the bus station where we
caught the bus back to Camp Pendleton. We were in California for a week and then we boarded
trains headed for the east coast.”
“We got discharged in Bainbridge, MD. I and a guy from West Virginia hitchhiked from Bainbridge to DC. We went to a restaurant to eat and sat there gabbing for a while. We then parted
company and I took a train from DC to Pittsburgh and then up to Oil City. I hitchhiked from Oil
City but walked until the Allegheny River came into view and that is where the mailman stopped
and picked me up. Man, was I tired. He had the morning mail and it was just about dawn. He
dropped me off and I walked down to Aunt Chattie’s. She was up and gave me breakfast. After I
ate, I laid down and slept. I woke up around lunchtime when my sisters Guila & Imogene came
home for lunch. Aunt Chattie was making quite a racket in the kitchen shaking down the ashes in
the coal stove. My sisters said I jumped straight up off the couch without bending my knees.”
At the end of the story, Doris added, “Vince is a man of few words when it comes to descriptions, for example of the scenery and very personal experiences of feelings. Not much in detail.
There are several experiences he has told me that are not included in this account. Sometimes he
would tell me something, and he would say, “Now don’t put that down. I don’t want that in there.”
So we can thank Cindy (Doris & Vince’s eighth child) for urging me to write this account, after reading Tom Brokaw’s “The Greatest Generation”. It took 63-years to get this much out of him. Like
pulling teeth!.”
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87
VINCENT ENGLAND
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1943 – 1945
Vince wrote a letter to his grandmother
while he was in the thick of battle in the
Pacific that was published in the newspaper, and is reproduced below:
Dear Grandma,
Thought I would drop you a line and let you
know I’m still O.K. and think of you often. I
hope you are feeling fine these days.
Well how are things going out there now?
Have you had much cold weather yet?
Grandma, you wouldn’t have a picture of
yourself you could send me, would you? I have
one at home but I would like to have one with
me. I think mom sent you one of mine, didn’t
she?
I had a nice letter from Walter the other day.
He says he thinks he will like the Navy. I think
he will too. It’s a very good outfit. It’s most all
clean work too. At least he wont have to sleep in
a fox hole. I kind of like those fox holes, though,
they come in handy sometimes.
Vince England at WWII Memorial in
Washington, DC (2009)
I think I told you I was on Tinian, didn’t I?
I sure wish you could go and stay with
mom, then you would be there when I come
home.
Well, guess I’ll close for this time. So long
with oceans of love and a kiss on every wave.
Love,
Vincent
(Pfc. Vincent R. England)
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LEWIS W. ERB
U. S. ARMY
1943 - 1945
Lewis W. Erb
SERVED
U.S. Army
September 15, 1943
to
September 29, 1945
DEPLOYED
Ft. Meade, Maryland
SPECIALTY
Military Police
DISCHARGE RANK
Technician Fifth Grade
88
89
PHILIP H. ERB, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1943 - 1945
Philip H. Erb, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Army
1943 to 1945
DEPLOYED
Aleutian Islands; India; China; Burma
Theater
SPECIALTY
Heavy Duty Truck Driver
DISCHARGE RANK
Technician Fifth Grade
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal; Victory Medal;
American Theater Ribbon; AsiaticPacific Theater Ribbon
89
90
ALFRED H. FENTON
U. S. NAVY
1942- 1944
Served: U.S. Navy
1942 to 1944
Killed in Action
AWARDS
Purple Heart Medal (Posthumous)
COMMENTS
Alfred H. Fenton, Electrician’s Mate
3, was killed in action during the Philippines naval battle. The first carrier
he served on was the Independence
where he escaped death in an accident
aboard the carrier and was the last of
five men trapped in the hold. After
that mishap he was hospitalized for
several months. Upon recovering
from his injuries, Fenton was assigned
shore duty for a time and was later
ordered to duty on a new aircraft carrier U.S.S. Belleau Wood just before it
left the coast for active duty in the
South Pacific. On October 30 1944,
while Belleau Wood was patrolling with
her task group east of Leyte, she shot
down a Japanese suicide plane which
fell on her flight deck aft, causing fires
which set off ammunition. Before the
fire could be brought under control,
92 men had either died or gone missing.
U.S.S. Belleau Wood (LHA3)
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91
EUGENE FISHER
U. S. ARMY AIR FORCE
1942- 1945
Served: U.S. Army Air Force
Oct. 28, 1942 to Nov. 26, 1945
DEPLOYED
Eastern Theater of Operations
AWARDS
European African Middle Eastern
Service Medal, World War II Victory
Medal
91
92
ROY G. FLANNIGAN, SR.
U.S. ARMY
1939 - 1945
Roy G. Flannigan, Sr.
Served: U.S. Army
October 16, 1939 thru October 11, 1945
DEPLOYED
Monterey, CA – Camp Haan & Wichita KS – Camp
Banding - Florida
DISCHARGE RANK
Staff Sgt.
SPECIALTY
Truck Driver Light & Heavy
Driver & Mechanic Badge
M-1 Rifle
AWARDS
American Defense Service Medal
92
93
ALBERT FOSTER
U. S. ARMY AIRBORNE
1943- 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
April 1943 – December 31, 1945
DEPLOYED
England, Netherlands, Belgium,
Germany, Austria
AWARDS
European-African-Middle Eastern
Theater Ribbon, Bronze Arrowhead,
Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Distinguished Unit Badge
93
94
ALBERT FOSTER
U. S. ARMY AIRBORNE
1943- 1945
COMMENTS
Albert Carlton Foster (Junie) was drafted into the Army and left for Ft. Dix in April of 1943
with two bus loads of Salem County men boarding at Penns Grove High School. After a short
period at Ft. Dix “Junie” was shipped to Ft. Bragg, NC to train as a Glider Artillery Trooper. It
seemed as if his teenaged hobby of breaking and training riding horses and his weekend job
working for his Uncle Charlie in his service station on South Main St. in Woodstown made him
an ideal candidate to be a jeep driver.
The glider troopers were trained along with the paratroopers and many of them were glider
riders as well as paratroopers. When Junie had free time, he often rode up in the planes with
the Paratroopers so he could help the pilots prepare the plane to land back at the base. When
going into battle, the gliders were loaded with either a jeep or a gun that was towed by a jeep,
as well as Glider Riders. The jeeps were loaded into the glider and it was hooked up so that
when the glider landed, moving the jeep forward raised the front of the glider.. After they entered into battle and the machinery mired down into bad weather horses had to be used to pull
them out, if horses could be found.
Following his Ft. Bragg Training, Junie spent time at Camp Meade, MD for rehab training after
an operation. From there he was shipped to Camp Shanks, NY and then aboard the ship “LLE
de France” landing at Cardiff, Wales. He took a train along with “Wally” Olson (from St. Paul,
MN) to a camp in England where they joined the 101st Airborne, 907th Glider Field Artillery
Battalion, “A” Battery, as replacement Troops. The 101st had already fought in Africa and
Sicily. Here they were taught hand-to-hand combat fighting and to exist behind the German
Enemy Lines. They had to know how to take care of themselves no matter what the battle
situation was. They were also issued Paratrooper Boots that the Paratroopers used which came
further up the leg than regular issue boots. The other Army outfits envied those type of boots.
Those boots were so good that Junie wore his after coming home until they could not handle
another re-soling.
When it came to the Holland Invasion in September of 1944, Junie was trained to be the Jeep
driver in a 907th Glider. He was ready to go but was called aside to drive a weapons carrier
loaded with ammunition instead. Jess Riggs was assigned in his place. The glider took off, ran
into a fog bank over the channel and had to return. It collided with another glider over the
airfield and everyone was killed. Junie drove the weapons carrier aboard the ship and over the
channel to Holland. He said it was more dangerous than going by glider as one bullet could
have blown him to smithereens. They won their battle on the island in Holland, Brabant then
helped the British win their battle at “A Bridge Too Far” they were standing up into the battle
for Bastogne.
It was Christmas Eve 1944 when the Germans tried to move in and the Temperature dropped to
near zero and it snowed 3-ft. The battle lasted into January 1954 where they were surrounded
by the Germans, but their General McAuliffe told the Germans they were nuts when he was
asked to surrender. Junie remembered that he had 3 bullets left for his gun, Gen. Patton’s Army got through to them and after a rest, the “A” Battery 101st 907th Glider Field Artillery
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95
ALBERT FOSTER
U. S. ARMY AIRBORNE
1943- 1945
COMMENTS (Cont.)
moved on with Patton’s Army and found the first concentration camps at Ordraff. Junie was
put on MP duty while the nearby villagers walked through the camp. The mayor and his wife
went home and killed themselves rather than live with that shame.
The 101st 907th GFAB reassembled and moved across Germany winning the “Battle of the Eagles Nest” on the day the war ended May 7, 1945. Junie did not have enough points to come
home and they were preparing for a flight to Japan by putting tracks on some of the wheeled
vehicles. The “Atom” Bomb was dropped on Japan and they were shipped home on December
31, 1945. Junie returned home across the Atlantic Ocean aboard a ship in a storm so rough that
it washed the life rafts off the boat and then back on again.
Junie never spoke about the battles he was in until after we went to reunions in the late 1970’s.
After that I acquired a lot of information from his officers and his buddies and learned what
questions to ask. I read everything I could get my hands on. He did not want to be regarded as
a hero and after “The Battle for Bastogne” the story came out in the “Yank” newsletter that the
American Public did not want these butchers back in their neighborhoods. He said that his
country sent him to Europe with a job to do and he did it to the best of his abilities and survived. He came home with a bleeding ulcer, suffered with his stomach the rest of his life and
died of cancer to the stomach on my 63rd birthday, November 2, 1995.
Junie’s cousin (from Gloucester County) went to war on the same day as Junie. Junie searched
for him the entire time he was in Europe only to find out that his cousin had disappeared, July
17, 1944, when Junie got back to the States. Everett Hudson’s body was discovered off the
coast of France five years after the was ended and was buried in the American Cemetery at
Newville en Condroz Cemetery near Liege, Belgium, when we were invited to return with the
101st Airborne 907th GFAB to Holland by the Queen and the former Dutch Resistance Group in
1990. We spent 21 days traveling across Europe revisiting the battle sites where Junie had been
during the war. Talking about the battles made him remember them. He had many nightmares
and we had to buy twin beds for my protection, because he slept so rough. Those nightmares
never left him. On the night before he died, he turned to me and said,” I am finally going to
find out if I am going to Heaven or Hell”. I knew that he felt that but he never expressed it.
REMEMBERING JUNIE
One day Junie came home from Cowtown & said he had seen his Uncle Roy and he had apologized for asking for the farm back. He said that he had bailed his cousin out of trouble so much
he should have let him go to war to become a man. He congratulated Junie on his life and his
work since returning from the war & said he was proud of him. Junie had attended Alloway
Grade Schools & quit when he turned 15. He spent his lifetime working with heavy equipment, helping to build the NJ Turnpike, the NJ Parkway, the Satellite Station at Holmdel, NJ &
working with the Soil Conservation Service. He also worked on many golf courses throughout
South Jersey. He was loved dearly by his daughters and their families and expected the best for
them. His life’s work touched many lives. We built our home on Harrison Lake Rd. where he
lived until his death. (This article was contributed by Albert C. Foster’s Wife.)
95
96
MILFORD FOSTER
U. S. ARMY
1942 - 1944
SERVED
U.S. Army
1942 - 1944
DEPLOYED
Europe
ASSIGNMENT
Army Field Artillery
96
97
ELMER P. FOWSER
U. S. ARMY
1944-1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
August 1944 to November 1945
DEPLOYED
Ardennes, Central Europe, Northern
France & Rhineland
AWARDS
American Service Medal, Bronze Star,
European African Middle Eastern Service
Medal, Good Conduct Medal.
COMMENTS
Article from Salem Standard & Jerseyman
Newspaper 7/19/45:
PFC. Elmer P. Fowser, Jr. son of Elmer
P. Fowser, Sr. of Central Park, has been
awarded the Silver Star for Gallantry in
Action when he broke up a Nazi roadblock without assistance on January 18,
1945.
Now serving with the Third Army of
Occupation in Germany, Pfc. Fowser was
with Company M 104th Infantry Regiment
of General Patton’s Third Army when he
distinguished himself in the vicinity of
Kaundorf, Luxembourgh
97
98
PAUL G. FREDRICKS
U. S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS
1942 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Army
February 1942 – February 1946
DEPLOYED
CBI Theater, China, Burma & India
AWARDS
Asiatic Pacific Campaign (3-Yrs.)
WWII Medal, American Campaign,
Distinguished Service NJ Medal, 2Ribbons & 2-Medals
EVENT
Witnessed the sinking of The HMT
Rhona in the Mediterranean (1943).
SEE PAGE 34
98
99
JAMES H. GANT
U. S. AIR FORCE
1942 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
July 25, 1942 – January 4, 1946
DEPLOYED
India & China
10th AAF Headquarters
AWARDS
American Service Medal, AsiaticPacific Service Metal, World War II
Victory Medal, and Good Conduct
Medal
TITLE
In India & China served as an Airplane Mechanic Gunner. He checked
planed for any faults and prepared
planed for the next mission.
99
100
HELEN GATANIS
U.S. ARMY
1944 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. ARMY
January 1944 – December 1945
DEPLOYED
Camp Beale, California
100
101
JOHN T. GAYNER
U. S. ARMY
1943-1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
September 1943 to December 1945
DEPLOYED
Rhineland & Central Europe
AWARDS
Bronze Star, Purple Heart, American
Theater Ribbon, European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon
American Theater Ribbon
European-African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon
101
102
GLIDE BOMBS
WRITTEN BY:
JOHN H. LIENHARD
GLIDE BOMBS
Thursday, November 26, 1943 the HMT Rohna was underway from Oran to Port Said in an Allied Convoy.
She was carrying two thousand American Soldiers. At 4:20 PM that afternoon, German bombers found
that convoy and began circling it. The troops on the HMT Rohna were puzzled by several smaller planes
flying below the bombers. Were they Allied fighters sent there to protect the transport ship? Then a couple of those small planes attacked the ship ahead of the Rohna. Moments later another of those planes
headed directly for the Rohna. First it fell from the “Mother Plane”, then it accelerated and finally at 5:30
PM it struck the HMT Rohna’s port flank at an enormous speed. The device blew a huge hole in the ship’s
side, killing hundreds of men outright.The burning ship sinks & when the smoke cleared, 1,135 troops and
crew had perished. The images of the burned and damaged troops is a horror that will remain etched on
survivors and rescuers alike. This was one of the least-known weapons of World War II and had just inflicted the greatest American death toll on any ship that was sunk.
As a pre teenager, I had followed the aerial war closely, yet this was news to me at the time. The HMT
Rohna disaster was hushed. Its survivors were bundled off to war in Asia without so much as the chance to
grieve. Those at home never heard about it at all. What struck that ship was called a “Glide Bomb”. Glide
Bombs had first been used during World War 1. Dirigibles had tried dropping bombs with stubby wings
that could glide into the side, rather than the top of the target. That idea returned during World War II.
The Germans, Russians, English and Americans all worked on it , but only the Germans & Americans were
able to manufacture usable weapons. The Germans were first to perfect it. They realized that the bombs
had to be radio-controlled and they needed a rocket booster to get it past enemy fire or defenses.
By 1943, the German Forces were using Glide Bombs in combat. The Henschel-293 that destroyed the
HMT Rohna was a small unmanned airplane with stubby wings and an 1,100 lb. bomb. Pilot Hans
Dochterman dropped it from his Heinkel Bomber at an altitude of about four-thousand ft. The rocket
kicked in as it fell and Dochterman’s bombardier, Georg Zuther, steered it directly into the side of The
HMT Rohna from a safe distance. It may have been moving over five-hundred miles per hour at the time
of impact.
102
103
GLIDE BOMBS
WRITTEN BY:
JOHN H. LIENHARD
GLIDE BOMBS (Con’t)
By 1943, the German Forces were using Glide Bombs in combat. The Henschel-293 that destroyed the
HMT Rohna was a small unmanned airplane with stubby wings and an 1,100 lb. bomb. Pilot Hans
Dochterman dropped it from his Heinkel Bomber at an altitude of about four-thousand ft. The rocket
kicked in as it fell and Dochterman’s bombardier, Georg Zuther, steered it directly into the side of The
HMT Rohna from a safe distance. It may have been moving over five-hundred miles per hour at the time
of impact.
HMT Rohna
America was developing its own glide bombs by then, and we imposed secrecy on the entire project.
Soon aftder that we gained air superiority in Europe. The German Glide Bombs were no longer a threat.
The Allied Forces continued to create their own glide bombs and were soon using them with murderous
effect against the enemy bridges. By the end of the war, the Japanese had developed an even more deadly
and sinister version of the technology called The (human flown) Kamikaze Pilots.
And so the cold waters of the Mediterranean Sea closed over that terrible November day. The HMT
Rohna went down and we here in America never knew. Those secrets had to be kept and a war had to be
won. My name is John Lienhard from the University of Houston, where we were interested in the way
inventive minds work. I am grateful to Robert Mate, University of Houston Chemical Engineering Dept.,
for suggesting the topic and to Rohna survivor Ralph Allgood for telling me something of what it was like
to be present there.
Johnson, C., Forgotten Tragedy: The sinking of HMT Rohna. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press,
1997.
103
104
GEORGE GITHENS
U. S. ARMY AIR CORPS
1943 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army Air Corps
April 1943 to October 1945
DEPLOYED
China, Central Burma India & Luzon
AWARDS
Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Good
Conduct Medal, Asiatic Pacific Theater Service
Medal
SCHOOLING
Aerial Gunnery School
Tyndall Field Florida 1944
Radio Operator & Mechanic Course
Scott Field, Illinois 1943
104
105
Earl Graham
U. S. Navy
1943 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Navy
April 21, 1943 to December 15, 1945
DEPLOYED
Pacific Theater
AWARDS
American Theater Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific
Area Campaign Ribbon, Philippine Liberation Ribbon
COMMENTS
Stationed as a helmsman and a Steering Aft
Coxswain on the USS Pensacola, a heavy
cruiser which had earned three campaign
ribbons during WWII. Earl’s battle station
was in Turret Two Powder Transfer Box.
Earl had many memorable momentsbut
the greatest was when the USS Pensacola
was struck six times in three minutes while
off the coast of IWO JIMA on February
19, 1945 by the Japanese shore batteries.
ENEMY ISLANDS BOMBARDED
(54)
Tarawa, Gilberts – Once
Taroa, Marshalls – Nine Times
Wotje, Marshalls – Twice
Matsuwa, Kuriles – Once
Kurabu, Kuriles – Once
Wake Island – Once
Marcus Island – Once
Iwo Jima, Volcanoes – 19 Times
Chichi Jima, Bonins – Once
Haha Jima, Bonins – Once
Okinawa – 15 Times
Tsugen Shima, Ryukyus - Twice
U.S.S. Pensacola
105
106
JESSE H. GREEN, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1942 - 1945
Served: U.S. Army
Picture Goes Here
August 14, 1942 – December 6, 1945
DEPLOYMENT
Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Central Europe
DISCHARGE RANK
Technician Fourth Grade
POSITION
515th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Co. Field
Artillery
AWARDS
American Theater Ribbon
European-African-Middle Eastern Ribbon
WWII Victory Medal
106
107
CHARLES N. GRIFFITH
U.S. ARMY
1942 – 1946
Charles N. Griffith
SERVED
U.S. Army
1942 – 1946
National Guard
1947 – 1984
DISCHARGE RANK
Major
DEPLOYED
EUROPE
AWARDS
European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal,
WWII Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
Served with the
Second Chemical Mortar
Battalion
Ninth Division
107
Bessie Haaf
108
U.S. Army Air Force
Ground Observer Corps
Ground Observer Corps
BESSIE HAAF
SERVED
U.S. Army Air Force
Ground Observer Corps
May 1943 – May 26, 1944
The Ground Observer Corps was a
World War II Civil Defense program
of the United States Army Air Forces to protect against air attack. The
1.5 million civilian observers at
14,000 coastal observation posts
used naked eye and binocular
searches to search for German and
Japanese aircraft until the program
ended in 1944.
Observations were telephoned to filter centers, which forwarded authenticated reports to the Aircraft Warning Service which also received reports from the Army Radar Stations.
AWARDS
Certificates
108
109
ALICE R. HANCOCK
U.S. ARMY
1944 – 1946
Alice Rumsey Hancock
SERVED
U.S. Army
August 1, 1944 thru June 28, 1946
DISCHARGE RANK
1st Lt.
DEPLOYED
ASF Regional Hospital
Camp Lee, VA.
AWARDS
109
110
LESTER HARRIS
U.S. ARMY AIR FORCE
1942 - 1945
Lester Harris
SERVED
U.S. Army Air Force
June 29, 1942 To October 23, 1945
DISCHARGE RANK
T SGT
DEPLOYED & POSITION
Europe
AAF Gunnery Instructor
AWARDS
Distinguished Flying Cross
Good Conduct Medal
110
111
PAUL HASSLER
U. S. NAVY
1942 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1942 – 1946
DEPLOYED
Atlantic & Pacific Arena
POSITION
40MM Anti-Aircraft Director-Pointer
AWARDS
6 Silver & Bronze Stars
Presidential Citation
5 Battle Stars
1 Silver Star
World War II Victory Medal
Philippine Liberation Ribbon
Asiatic Pacific Medal
American Theater Medal
BATTLES
2nd Battle Philippine,
Ora Jima, Iwo Jima,
Okinawa, Hokiooa,
Japan & Tokyo 1945
Witnessed the signing of the Peace Treaty
from Tokyo in 1945
111
112
RALPH HASSLER
U. S. NAVY AIR CORPS
1944 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Navy Air Corps
1944 – 1946
U.S. Naval Reserve (4-Years)
DEPLOYED
UNS Bomber Patrol
South Atlantic & Caribbean
AWARDS
American Theater Ribbon
World War II Victory Medal
POSITION
Tail Gunner
112
113
ROBERT A. HASSLER
U. S. NAVY
1943 - 1944
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1943 – 1946
DEPLOYED
USS Duluth
AWARDS
Rifle Marksman’s Medal
Honorable Service Lapel Button
World War II Victory Medal (1-Star)
Asiatic Pacific (2-Stars)
Honorable Discharge Metal
USS Duluth
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114
THE CARRIER FRANKLIN’S
VALIANT FIGHT FOR LIFE!
“Sea calm,” Commander Stephen Jurika wrote in the USS
Franklin’s Deck Log that morning, “with a 12-knot wind from about 060
true, sky overcast with occasional breaks...horizontal visibility, excellent.”
March 19, 1945, thus began in routine fashion for the 26,000-ton
aircraft carrier. It would end in disaster!
USS Franklin, nicknamed “Big Ben,” was one of 24 Essex
Class carriers, home to 3500 crewmembers and 100 aircraft, bristling with 5” and 45mm anti-aircraft guns and topped by a Douglas Fir flight deck. The Franklin was commanded by Captain
Leslie E. Gehres, a former enlisted man and
veteran aviator.
The Franklin was part of Task Force 58,
The U.S.S. Franklin (CV-13)
the cutting edge of Vice Adm. Raymond A.
Spruance’s Fifth Fleet, headed for Japan. The Franklin and 16 other carriers were to launch the first
naval air strikes on Japan, hitting the southern home island of Kyushu.
The Carrier was loaded with ordnance and men, among them Lt. Cmdr. Joseph O’Callahan, one
of the Franklin’s two chaplains. O’Callahan cut an impressive figure behind his altar-boy face and
Capt. Leslie E. Gehres
spectacles. He was a colligate track star, a poet, a writer, a math. Prof. at the College of the Holy
Cross and formerly the Catholic Chaplin of the USS Ranger in the Atlantic. Another passenger was the strict, reticent
Rear Adm. Ralph E. Davison, who led Task Group 58.2 from the Franklin.
By Sunday, March 18th, Task Force 58 had begun its attacks. On the Franklin, O’Callahan and his Protestant
counterpart, Cmdr. Grimes Gatlin, held separate services on the hanger deck. Lt. Budd Faught & his VMF-214 shipmates flew off the Franklin to attack Kagoshima Bay. The VMF-214 was a famed outfit “The Black Sheep Squadron,”
once led by Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington.
After the VMF-214 bombed Kagoshima Bay, the Japanese counterattacked that night. The Franklin went to General Quarters 12-times that night, exhausting everyone on board. No hits, but one Franklin sailor died from drinking torpedo fluid. The dead sailor was to be buried at sea on the morning of March 19th. A half-hour before dawn, the Franklin Crew prepared for the burial ritual; Marines mustered on the fantail with Gatlin and the executive officer, Cmdr. Joe
Taylor. Meanwhile, flight deck crews readied Air Group 5 to pulverize Kure naval base with 12” wide Tiny Tim rockets..
At 6 a.m., the Chance Vought F4U Corsairs rumbled off the Flight Deck.
The Franklin secured its dawn action stations. All over Big Ben, crewman headed for breakfast. Chow lines snaked
through the cavernous hanger deck between the Tiny Tims on their ordinance carts. Messmen slapped powdered eggs,
tomato juice, coffee, toast and apples on steel trays. In the pilot house, ensign Dick Jortberg was junior officer of the
deck. He watch the Corsairs and the Curtiss SB-2 Helldivers warm up while aviation ordancemen loaded the Tiny Tims.
The Kure strike was delayed. A snooper plane had just picked out two Japanese ships, the Battleship Yamoto and the
carrier Amagi, in the Inland Sea. Crewmen were ordered to remove the contact bombs and load armor-piercing ordinance.
Up on the bridge, navigator Jurika started scribbling in his log. The Franklin turned into the wind and cranked up
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THE CARRIER FRANKLIN’S
VALIANT FIGHT FOR LIFE!
to 24 knots, ready for launch. At 6:57 a.m. the first Corsair was airborne. At 7:05, Jurika heard a scratchy message in the TBS (talk-between-ships) radio from the carrier, Hancock: “Enemy plane closing on you..one coming toward you!”
The Franklin’s Combat Information Center (CIC) reported at 7:06, “Bogey orbiting on port beam, range
about 12 miles.” Firing Director One picked up a moving target bearing 10-degrees but then lost it in the clutter of Task Force 58’s launching her planes.
Down in Damage Control, Yeoman 2nd Class Joe Lafferty, the captain’s yeoman, was on his way to chow.
He decided to stop at his office, where he found a Navy journalist who had been sent out with the Franklin to
write human interest stories. The journalist said to Lafferty, “It was great standing on the bridge seeing the gun
flashed and the enemy plans splashing into the dark Pacific.” Lafferty answered, “Don’t ever go topside without your helmet and Mae West (life preserver) On”.
At that moment, logged at 7:07, Cmdr. Jurika saw an enemy plane sweep over his head. It was a Japanese
Yokosuka D4Y “Judy” dive bomber, and dropped two 500-lb. bombs on the Franklin. The twin blasts hurled
Jurika into the air, and he hit his head on the steel overhead.
The first bomb ripped through 3-inch armor to the hanger deck. The
second bomb detonated two decks below that, near the chief petty officers’ quarters.
The explosions knocked Captain Gehres off his feet. He saw “great sheets of flame
envelope the flight deck, the anti-aircraft batteries and catwalks. The forward elevator, weighing 32 tons, rose in the air and then disappeared in a great column of flame
and black smoke.”
Commander Taylor, heading for the bridge, was hurled into lifelines on
the starboard side. He staggered up and made his way into the island.
Five bombers, 14 torpedo bombers and 12 fighters were on the flight deck and hanger decks, carrying
36,000 gallons of fuel and 30 tons of bombs and rockets between
them. They became an inferno.
Joe Lafferty had just finished telling his journalist friend to don
his helmet. The blast created a flash of light...and the journalist was
gone. Lafferty himself was badly burned and covered with blood.
Down in a wardroom, O’Callahan and other officers dived under
tables as smoke filled the room. Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Jethro Green, the
chief engineer, headed for his beloved engines, but passageways were
either clogged or blocked. Dr. James L Fuelling found himself
trapped in a galley, surrounded by
compartments full of loose bombs and rockets. They could only wait for
help.
The Franklin was listing at 13°. Her radar was out and her CIC communications were gone. Gehres thought his ship was damaged on the starboard side
and turned the Franklin in that direction to put the wind on the port bow.
That move instead fanned the flames near the fueled aircraft..
The Franklin presented a terrifying sight to the rest of Task Force 58. On a
battleship 1,000 yards off, crewmen starred in horror at the carrier covered with smoke and flame. Marine
Corporal Bill Clinger saw the Judy that had bombed the Franklin whiz over his head. Lt. Scotty Campbell saw
the Franklin’s bombs and rockets exploding in all directions.
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THE CARRIER FRANKLIN’S
VALIANT FIGHT FOR LIFE!
One observer reacted immediately to the situation. A Corsair orbiting the Franklin swooped down on the
Judy that delivered the bombs and shot it down. In the Franklin’s engine room, the “black gang” (stokers, socalled from the grime of coal soot) were able to keep the boilers running. To Ensign William B. Hayler, the
bomb impacts were like a “giant sledgehammer had been cut loose on the deck above us.” As the ship heeled
over, Seaman 2nd Class S. Aaron Gill slid down the oily grates and somehow managed to cut back the superheat,
1,200 lbs per square inch, to reduce the oil supply to the fires. The engine crew was trapped.
Things were much worst above. Taylor finally scrambled onto the bridge. He and Gehres were relieved to
see that neither of them were injured. Gehres broke the tension by quipping, “Joe, I’ll have to say the same thing
the admiral told me when you were last bombed. Your face is dirty as hell!” Taylor replied, “This time it is a
little bit worse, though, captain.” “It is indeed.” replied Gehres soberly. Then to business. Jurika suggested that
Gehres turn the Franklin into the wind. Gehres put the Franklin on course 355, due north, which put “relative
wind on the starboard bow” and allowed firefighters to work fore to aft. It also put the Franklin on a 24-knot
course directly toward Japan.
There was no time to think about that. A 3-inch gasoline line aft had
ruptured. Bombs, rockets and a .50 caliber ammunition were still exploding
and then a 40mm ready-service magazine exploded. This new blast lifted the
Franklin and spun her starboard. A sheet of flame rose 400 ft. over the carrier,
rupturing the flight deck in a dozen places.
Up on Fly One, everyone wondered where Lt. Cmdr. MacGregor “Mac”
Kilpatrick, who commanded Fighter Squadron 5, was? He had ridden down a
supply hoist elevator by mistake just before the bomb blast. It was not like the
veteran aviator to miss a battle.
But Kilpatrick turned up. He told everyone that when the bomb hit, he figured that the Franklin was a
goner. “If I was going swimming, I might as well have some cash,” he explained. He had stopped at his compartment on the way back for some cash!
Other pilots were not as lucky as Kilpatrick. Eleven of the twelve Black Sheep aviators in ready room No.
51 perished. Somehow Budd Faught had survived. He had been studying a map when he was flung to the deck,
breaking both legs. In O’Callahan’s wardroom, Lt. (j.g.) Lindsay “Red” Morgan turned up, telling everyone to
head for the forecastle. The priest and hid shipmates moved out, battling smoke, explosions and twisted decks.
Another determined officer was Lt. (j.g.) Donald A. Gary, a 30-year veteran and former enlisted man.
When the bombs hit, he had grabbed an oxygen breathing apparatus (OBA), which had a 60-minuted air supply,
and he searched for trapped shipmates. He found plenty, including Dr. Fuelling and 300 others. Now that Gary
had located them, he tried to figure out what to do.
Up on the bridge, Gehres watched Corsair engines flying into the air. Taylor said: “Violent explosions were
rocking the ship, and debris was showering all around. Flames 100-ft. high were shooting past the island; the
roar of exploding shells was deafening. A column of smoke rose a mile
above the clouds.”
Tiny Tims were flying in all directions. As Cmdr. Taylor later recalled:
“Some screamed by to starboard…..some to port and some straight up from
the flight deck. The weird aspect of this weapon whooshing by so close is
one of the most awful spectacles a human has ever been privileges to see.
Some went off, the firefighting crews forward would instinctively hit the
deck….their heroism was the greatest thing I have ever seen.”
Tiny Tim Rocket
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THE CARRIER FRANKLIN’S
VALIANT FIGHT FOR LIFE!
At the bow, Lt. Stanley “Steamship” Graham, the fire marshal, inspired sailors by yelling: “Boys, we got pressure on
the lines, we got hoses. Let’s get in there and save her.”
Commander Hale, the air officer, led firefighters on the Flight Deck. He saw one eager sailor playing a hose on a
steaming bomb. The water was spinning the bomb’s arming valve, and it was ready to detonate. Hale and his men
hurled the bomb over the side.
The heroes were not just limited to the Franklin. The destroyers Miller & Hickox moved within several hundred
feet of the Franklin and played their hoses on the damaged ship. At 7:41, a Japanese Mitsubishi Zero fighter was reported to be diving on the carrier. Determined flak brought her into the sea.
Up on the Franklin’s forecastle, O’Callahan and his party were in the clear. O’Callahan detoured to his own room
for a life jacket, his tin hat, and a vial containing holy oil to administer “Last Rites”. Then he went into the Jr. Aviators
bunk room to care for 30 badly burned men. Gatlin was already there, so O’Callahan, after working with some of the
most seriously injured patients, left to find other injured men. O’Callahan found Dr. Dam Sherman on the forward part
of the flight deck, tending a large number of wounded men. The Chaplin ordered seamen to go below and bring them
mattresses.
Kilpatrick, meanwhile, organized a party to jettison shells from a 5” gun. The projectiles alone weighed 50 pounds
each. Kilpatrick’s party also hurled two hot 1,000-lb. bombs into the sea.
At 7:47 a.m., the light cruiser Santa Fe, a new ship bristling with anti-aircraft guns, moved up to take charge of
emergency operations. Her skipper, Captain Harold Fitz, conned THE Santa Fe efficiently and had his men hurl life
jackets, life rings, rafts and floater nets into the water to help swimmers.
Gehres cut speed to 8-knots, so Rear Adm. Davison could transfer to the Destroyer Miller. Before departing, Davison told Gehres: “Captain, I think there is no hope. I think you should consider abandoning ship—those fires seem to
be out of control. Gehres said nothing. Davison and Gehres shook hands, and Davison transferred by breeches buoy
to the Miller. Flutter Davison’s Pennant, The Miller sailed off around 9:00 am. Davison could not order Gehres to
abandon ship. Gehres’ authority on the Franklin was supreme, and the tough ex aviator was not going to give up. But
Davison radioed his ships: “Am afraid we will have to abandon her. Please render all possible assistance.” He then
ordered the heavy cruiser “The Pittsburgh” to assist the Franklin. Her skipper, Joe Gingrich, did not know what the
Admiral had in mind but readied his ship to accommodate survivors. He too thought the Franklin could not last long.
That view seemed accurate. As Taylor walked around the battered carrier, explosions still rocked the Franklin.
Ammunition was still exploding, and aviation fuel streamed out of Big Ben into the water. The ship settled forcing more
water into gasoline resovoirs, shoving the fuel to the top, near the fires. At 9:11, The Franklin’s signalmen blinkered a
message to the Santa Fe: “We have lost steering control. Can you send fire hoses? Can you send for Sea Tugs?”
While Capt. Fitz on the Santa Fe mulled that over, Lt. Gary and Dr. Fuelling grew tired of waiting in their compartment. Gary snapped, “Damn it, We’re not dead yet!” Fuelling and Gary opened a door and found smoke all around.
Gary figured he had 10-minutes of oxygen in his OBA and went along the third deck to a hatch going to the 4th deck.
That in turn led to an engine room uptake. He found the uptake’s end and a fresh oxygen canister and went back to his
trapped shipmates. Gary estimated that he could take 10 men out if they moved as fast as possible. Gary and his men
traveled 600 ft. through the uptakes to one of the 40mm gun sponsons, six decks above. Then Gary returned and pulled
50 more men—and 200 after that.
The injured Budd Faught was struggling to live as well. He managed to crawl away from the fires. Despite two
broken legs and a fractured arm, he propelled himself off the gallery deck and fell 50 ft. into the water, using his good
arm to push himself away from the ship.
Below decks, an engine room thermometer hit 200 degrees, then cracked. Firemen, water tenders and boiler technicians passed out. There were not enough gas masks to go around. Seaman Holbrook Davis phoned the bridge asking
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THE CARRIER FRANKLIN’S
VALIANT FIGHT FOR LIFE!
permission to secure Fire room No. 2.
Gehres told Davis to have the black gang to leave the throttles at 8-knots and make
their way topside without securing station. Exhausted, fainting engine crewmembers
groped past boilers, turbine and switch panels and struggled up ladders. Fireman Roy
Treadway’s escape was temporarily foiled by a burning 1,000-lb. bomb. He tried another route, a third deck galley, then the aviation engine ready shop, and he finally came out
onto the hanger deck.
Hayler reached the hanger deck, also, and found it full of smoke. “I was not sure whether I was entering Dante’s
Inferno or crossing the River Styx,” he said later. “The forward elevator had been blown out of its well and settled back
to form a ramp between the hanger and flight decks. Airplane engines were still burning fiercely and were in many cases
all that remained of what once had been complete machine capable of flight and bearing men aloft. Strewn all around
was the evidence that there had been no escape for many of those who were trapped in the inferno. Worse than the
hanger deck was the gallery deck between them…..after two bombs hits; this area was like the oven of a gigantic stove.”
Other witnesses were equally stunned. Mac Kilpatrick saw the remnants of the gallery deck as resembling “oatmeal” or
“irregular cinders”. O’Callahan saw “one solid mass of fire.”
About 9:20, the Santa Fe blinkered the Franklin to ask if the carrier’s magazines were flooded. “We believe the
magazines are flooded,” Big Ben answered. “Am not sure.” The water valves were on, but the pipes had split. No water had reached the hundreds of tons of explosives stored in the after magazines. Nobody knew that.
The Santa Fe cut speed to stay alongside the crippled carrier and aimed hoses at the Franklin’s fires. Heavy lines
transferred Big Ben’s wounded men to the cruiser. The Santa Fe logged a report regarding the Franklin, stating that the
stricken carrier “had about an eleven degree list to the starboard, was burning fiercely aft, and a flaming gasoline fire was
pouring out of the hanger deck on the starboard quarter. There were explosions from time to time.”
At 9:52 one of those explosions, reported as “immense,” hurled hanger deck sections and debris all over the Santa
Fe. Nobody was injured, but Jurika felt as though the Franklin was “a rat being shaken by an angry cat.” The Santa Fe
backed off. Jurika figured the blast was an exploding five inch ready-service magazine. “Whole aircraft engines with
propellers attached, debris of all descriptions including pieces of bodies, were flung back into the air and descended on
the general area like hail on a roof,” recalled the commander. “One engine and prop struck the navigation bridge a
glancing blow about three ft. from my head and for a couple of moments I will admit to ducking under the overhang of
the masthead light.”
Fireman Treadway, still on the hanger deck, was flung into the water, and someone from the Santa Fe threw him a life jacket. Then the cruiser moved away from the burning
carrier, leaving some wounded men still on board. On the Franklin, O’Callahan took time out
from firefighting to administer “Last Rites” to dying men. One recipient was Joe Lafferty,
who was not dying and objected strenuously. Then O’Callahan returned to his hoses.
By now, the Franklin plight had attracted the attention of Vice-Adm. Marc A.
Mitscher, who led Task Force 58 from his flagship, the carrier Bunker Hill. He blinkered
Gehres permission to abandon ship. Gehres, infuriated, ordered his own signalman to flash
back, “Abandon? Hell, we’re still afloat!” But moments later the Franklin lost all steam pressure in her turbines. Just after 10 a.m., the Santa Fe signaled the Bunker Hill: “Franklin now dead in the water. Fires
causing explosions. Have got a few men off. Fires still blazing badly….whether the Franklin can be saved or not is still
doubtful.”
Capt. Fitz, on the Santa Fe, raced back at 25-knots to resume taking on wounded men. He hit the carrier bow on,
knocking over the Franklin’s toppled radio mast….and stayed close along side. Gehres said, “It was the most daring
piece of seamanship I ever saw.” Boards and aluminum ladders were stretched from cruiser to carrier, and wounded
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THE CARRIER FRANKLIN’S
VALIANT FIGHT FOR LIFE!
men were moved to the Santa Fe in large mail pouches. Gehres ordered all airmen off the Franklin. Dr. Sam Sherman, of Air Group
Five, objected and stayed on, but Mac Kilpatrick lost the battle. “You
are an aviator, not a firefighter.” Gehres barked! “Take your pilots
and get moving!” Kilpatrick, still clutching his cash, gloomily joined
800 others ordered aboard the Santa Fe. By 11:00 am Gehres managed to get a pump started and shifted fuel to port. He blinkered
Friz: “Can you take us in tow? We have lost all power. Our towing
gear is ready.” Actually it was not. There was no power in Big Ben’s
winches, but the Santa Fe could not have towed her anyway. Fitz
called up the Pittsburgh, and Skipper John Gingrich did not hesitate.
Seconds later the Pittsburgh’s public address system blared: “Rigging
party lay aft. Break out the tow gear!” The Pittsburgh cut flank speed
to get into position while the Santa Fe crewmen tossed OBAs, medical cases, blankets, loaves of bread and water beakers onto the Franklin’s slanting decks. The Santa Fe men came on
board to battle the flames.
Gary brought out his last group of trapped men, including a pale and exhausted
Dr. Fuelling. “We’d be dead if it wasn’t for Gary”, Fuelling said later. But Gary didn’t wait for
compliments. He headed below to see his engines.
Seaman George S. Smith crawled over the side to splice a burst hose together,
risking being crushed to death. Joe Taylor led 30-sailors to hack away the starboard anchor with
files, steel cutters and acetylene torches. The idea was to dump the anchor and use the 540-ft.
chain as the tow line. That tow was vital. At 11 AM Jurika checked winds and calculated that the
Franklin was drifting right for Japan. At 11:28 AM, the Pittsburgh signaled that she was ready to
take Big Ben in tow.
In on of the 5” gun turrets, O’Callahan ignored his claustrophobia to help pass hot shells outside so they could be
dumped into the sea. He stayed in the turret until the last shell was heaved overboard. After O’Callahan was finished,
Steamship Graham sought a party to clear bombs from the gallery deck, where fires were subsiding. O’Callahan joined
the party and was soon squeezing through dark, smoky passageways.
Taylor called O'Callaghan's work “A soul-stirring sight. He seemed to be everywhere, giving
extreme unction to the dead and dying, urging the men on and himself handling hoses, jettisoning
ammunition, and doing everything he could to help save our ship. He was so conspicuous not
only because of the cross dabbed with paint across his helmet, but because of his seemingly detached air as he went from place to place with head slightly bowed as if in meditation or prayer.
Gradually, determined the firefighting paid off. Any still-unexploded ammunition had been
thrown overboard. Around noon, the Santa Fe blinkered the Bunker Hill: “Franklin says fire
practically under control, skeleton crew aboard, list stabilized at 13-degrees. If you save us from
the Japanese, we will save the ship.” Astonished, Mitscher replied, “Tell the Franklin we appreciate their message and will do all we can.”
The Pittsburgh tossed an 8” messenger line to the Franklin, and raw muscle power hooked it around Big Ben’s
inert capstan. Among the wire handlers were sailors who had been trapped earlier.
But the battle was not over yet! At 12:54 PM, radar picked up a bogey four miles out. It was another Judy, and it
attacked the Franklin. Gill saw it release a bomb and ducked behind a winch, knowing “it was comingfor me. The
bomb looked unreal, several times bigger than the plane that released it!” But the bomb missed, splashing 200 yards to
the starboard and detonating in the water, shaking the Franklin. There were a few 40mm guns still operable on the
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THE CARRIER FRANKLIN’S
VALIANT FIGHT FOR LIFE!
Franklin, and a motley crew scrambled to man them—yeomen, laundrymen, two buglers from Big Ben’s band, and
Gehres Marine orderly, Wallace Klimiewicz of Jersey City. They splashed the Judy.
Between 1 & 2 PM the anchor was cut through and a steel cable was attached to the anchor chain. The Pittsburgh
managed to tow the Franklin away from Japan at 3 knots. The sight of Big Ben under towcheered most of the men but
scared others. Budd Faught, having been hurled into the water, had managed to grab hold of a seat cushion that kept
him afloat. He then looked up to see the Franklin heading directly
toward him, “towering like a house”! Faught was afraid that the ship
would run him down, bit Big Ben passed by, listing and smoking.
Faught floated a while by himself, in a haze, until a destroyer came
by. The injured pilot yelled and shouted, and finally a seaman peered
over the side and yelled, “Climb on up!” “I Can’t,” Faught replied,
“Both of my legs and an arm are broken. The sailor looked puzzled,
but finally, a bunch of sailors in a life raft turned up to load Faught
onto the Marshall, which already had 210 survivors on board.
The Miller picked up Treadway and 49 more, while the Santa Fe
embarked 832 Franklin Officers and men. The Santa Fe’s medical
team spent the next 48 hours in continuous surgery. Among those
tended was Lafferty, who had suffered burns and a compound fracture of his right foot.
At 3:45 PM the Franklin was being towed away at 7-knots, her fires were out. Gehres had time to call muster and
take stock. His ship had 832 dead and nearly 300 men wounded, one third of the crew. No ship in history had suffered such losses and remained afloat. Gehres had only 600 men and 103 officers left aboard. Jurika described his
flight deck as a “mud shackles of burned, warped and broken wood and steel, with bodies, debris and wreckage littering
the area. Holes were cut in the flight deck with axes, and hoses were poked through in an attempt to quell flames still
raging on the gallery deck.
But the Franklin’s Crew worked on. The list was steadied at 13 degrees to starboard, with the ship down 3-ft. at
the stern; the fires forward were extinguished, and the fires abaft were gradually coming under control. For the first
time things looked hopeful. Gary said the fire rooms had cooled sufficiently to permit habitability, and the boilers
could probably be lit off. The cooks produced canned pork sausage and orange juice to feed the crew. “Best damn
meal I ever tasted,” Taylor proclaimed.
At 6:13 PM, the Franklin’s log recorded sunset, adding, “Ship darkened except for small glow from fire, frame
200”. Now it was time to rescue Seaman Brookie Davis and his four pals in the steering compartment aft. The men
had been trapped there for 17-hours, linked by phone to the bridge, handling the Franklin’s rudder through the crisis.
Lt. j.g. Bob Wassman led a party down twisted ladders, over hot metal and through dark passageways, finally
reaching the compartment. The men were inside, soaked through by a foot of water but unharmed. When Davis
stumbled out onto the Gallery Deck, he saw for the first time the swath of destruction and blurted out, “What the Hell
happened?”
That night, Greene and Gary returned to their fire rooms with enginemen. Just before midnight the fires were lit
in Boiler No. 5. Exhausted engineers worked far into the night to bring engine power up to 1,200 lbs. per in. 2.
Above them, officers turned over their rooms to enlisted men who had been burned out of their berthing spaces.
Sailors collapsed into racks, two or three to a bunk. Other sailors worked on, battling fires in the Franklin’s gasoline
reservoirs. Fires broke out periodically, and nearby destroyers continued to play their hoses on Big Ben.
The starboard list made steering difficult, and Gehres ordered counter flooding at 10 PM. Most of the hydraulic
controls were useless, so the work was done by hand at the valves.. The counter floodinig worked a little too well. At
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THE CARRIER FRANKLIN’S
VALIANT FIGHT FOR LIFE!
2 AM the Franklin rolled over and developed a 10-degree list to the port, and then Gehres stopped the counter flooding.
At dawn on the 20th, the battle cruisers The Alaska and Guam arrived to take the wounded from the destroyers,
Budd Faught among them. He considered himself lucky to be alive, although he would lose his left leg below the knee..
Aboard the Franklin, crewmen pulled bodies out of the blasted hanger deck O’Callahan and Gatlin said prayers
over the dead, O’Callahan working until he fell sound asleep, utterly exhausted, halfway down a ladder.
Gehres had his men hurl wreckage overboard. The crew found four hanger deck jeeps intact, and these were used
to haul away debris.
By 12:30 the Franklin had four boilers on line, and Gehres cast aside his tow, steaming along at 15-knots. Fire
Marshall Steamship Graham staggered into the pilot house to report that he had finally reached the ammunition magazines. “They were flooded, weren’t they?” asked Gehres. :Bone Dry”, answered Graham. “My God,” Gehres gasped. If
the fires had gone a little lower, the Franklin would have exploded and sunk!
Someone found cases of beer on the Franklin, which were distributed to the crew. The men were also given bread,
bacon and spam for dinner. During the night Big Ben worked up to 18knots on course 135. Fires still blazed on the gallery deck and in Gehres’
own cabin, but the gyrocompasses, search radar, sound powered phones
and some of the carrier’s guns were working again.
All day on the 21st, the Franklin’s crew continued to clear away the
wreckage, fighting fires, searching for bodies and fend off sporadic air attacks. Taylor found a typewriter and wrote an account of the day, which
he gave a highly alliterative but accurate headline, “Big Ben Bombed, Battered, Bruised. And Bent but not Broken!”
Upon reaching the Ulithi Atoll, the Franklin and the faithful Santa Fe were sent to New York for repairs and a
major press conference.. With only 400 men on board, the Franklin’s crew had a lot of work to do, including shoveling
away huge quantities of water soaked beans that had been stored for the ship’s galley.
Ahead lay a shower of awards for the Franklin’s men.
It led off with two awards of the Medal of Honor, one to Lt.
Cmdr. Joseph O’Callahan, the only medal of Honor awarded to a
chaplain during WWII, and the other to Lt. j.g. Donald A. Gary.
The Navy Cross went to 19 of the Franklin’s Crew, including
Gehres, Taylor, Hale, Jurika, Fuelling, Fox and Kilpatrick.
Twenty-two men were awarded the Silver Star, Gatlin, Graham,
Wassman and Davis among them; there were 115 recipients of
the Bronze Star which included Jortberg and Klimiewicz, and
234 Letters of Commendation.
But this parade of glittering medal lay in the future for the Franklin’s Crew,
once the “battered, bruised and bent” carrier had arrived at Gravesend Bay just
off Brooklyn’s Coney Island on the cool windy afternoon of April 26th. She
reached New York under her own power after a 12,000 mile journey.
Precisely at 2:23 PM that day, The Franklin’s officer of the deck hit the
carrier’s public address system and barked, “Mooring. Shift Colors.” As Old
Glory shot up over the Franklin’s badly damaged flight deck, her port anchor
shot down into mud, racing past her blackened decks and the commissioning
number on her hull…..No. 13!
121
THOMAS W. HASSLER, SR.
122
U. S. NAVY
1943 - 1944
THOMAS W. HASSLER, SR.
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1944 – 1946
DEPLOYED
Pacific Arena
DUTY
Ship Fitter 3rd Class
122
123
Genevieve E. Martell
Haynes
U.S. Air Force
Genevieve E. Martell Haynes
1945 Thru 1966
U.S. Army & USAF Nurse Corps
DEPLOYED
Japan, Philippines, Germany & England
DISCHARGE RANK
Lt. Col.
AWARDS
American Campaign WWII; Army Occupation; National Defense, Korean Service Medal; United Nations, Air Force Commendation for Meritios Service
COMMENTS
Genevieve E. Martell Haynes served in the United States Armed Forces for 21 years from 1945 through 1966 as a nurse.At the time of her
induction she was a Registered Nurse Supervisor in the Emergency
Room and OPD at St. Lukes & Childs Medical Center. She entered
the US Army Nurses Corp as a Second Lieutenant and Transferred to
the US Air Force in 1949 as a First Lieutenant, where she met and
married Major E.M. Haynes, a USAF Pilot, in 1958. Throughout her
tenure in the Military Service she held numerous responsible positions
in the following locations; PA; VA; LA; ALA; NJ; FL; TX; MD;CA;
Okinawa, Japan (Tokyo & Nagoya); Philippines (Camp John Hay
Bagiuo & Clark AFB); Germany; England (RAF Alconbury; RAF
Lakenheath & Molesworth).
2nd Lt. Genevieve Haynes & Lt.Col. E.M. Haynes
123
124
HOWARD HENDERSON
U. S. MARINE CORP
1943 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corp
November 1943 – July 1945
AWARDS
Purple Heart
124
125
LLOYD F. HURLEY
U. S. ARMY AIR FORCE
1943 - 1945
Lloyd F. Hurley
SERVED
U.S. Army Air Force
February 6, 1943
thru
December 27, 1945
DEPLOYED
Georgia (USA), England, France, Belgium, Germany
DISCHARGE RANK
AWARDS
American Theater Ribbon, EuropeanAfrican-Middle Eastern Ribbon, WWII
Victory Medal
125
BENJAMIN C. HYSON
126
U. S. ARMY
1942 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army Signal Construction
October 24, 1942 to November 26,
1945
DEPLOYED
China, Burma & India
AWARDS
Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal, Good
Conduct Medal & WWII Victory Medal
COMMENTS
St. Sgt. Benjamin C. Hyson was stationed in Company A 31st Signal Heavy
Construction Battalion.
126
127
DONALD P. HYSON
U.S. ARMY
1943 - 1945
Donald P. Hyson
SERVED
U.S. Army
March 16, 1943 – October 30, 1945
DEPLOYED
Ardennes; Central Europe; Normandy; France
AWARDS
European, African, Middle Eastern Medal;
Good Conduct Medal; American Service Medal;
Army of Occupation Medal; American Campaign Medal; Distinguished Service Medal;
WWII Medal
127
128
FORREST V. JACOBS
U.S. ARMY
1944 – 1946
Forrest “Spook” V. Jacobs
SERVED
U.S. Army
March 30, 1944 – June 2, 1946
Quartermaster Corps
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY
Athletic Instructor 283
DISCHARGE RANK
Sgt.
DEPLOYED
Pacific
AWARDS
American Theater Service Medal
Asiatic Pacific Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
WWII Victory Medal
128
129
Kenneth P. Johnson, Sr.
U.S. Army
1943-1946
Kenneth P. Johnson, Sr.
Served: U.S. Army
1863 Engineer Aviation Battalion
February 6, 1943 to
February 28, 1946
DEPLOYMENT
Western Pacific Theater of Operations (WPTO)
DISCHARGE RANK
AWARDS
American Service Medal, Asiatic/Pacific Service Medal, World War
II Victory Medal.
129
130
WILLIAM JOHNSON
U. S. ARMY
1943 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
March 1943 to October 1945
DEPLOYED
European Theater of Operations
AWARDS
Good Conduct Ribbon, American
Campaign Ribbon, Europe-Africa
Middle East, WWII Victory Medal
& World War II Occupation.
130
131
EDWARD W. JONES
U.S. ARMY
1943-1945
Edward “Eddie” William Jones
SERVED
U.S. Army
March 16, 1943 thru October 30, 1945
DISCHARGE RANK
TEC 5
DEPLOYED
England, France, Germany, Belgium,
Norway, Luxemburg & Czechoslovakia
AWARDS
European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal
131
132
EDWARD W. JONES
U.S. ARMY
1943-1945
Edward W. Jones was inducted into the United States Army on March 16, 1943, through the
Salem Armory in Salem, New Jersey, and on March 23, 1943, he entered through Camden, New
Jersey. He attended basic training at Camp Gordon in Georgia.
Eddie was a member of 293rd Engineers Combat Battalion – Third Army – Company “C”.
As a Truck Driver, his duties included driving a 2 ½ ton truck, commonly referred to as a deuce
and a half, delivering military supplies and equipment, making minor repairs, and reading maps to
follow given routes. The Battalion’s itinerary included:
May 1943
- Basic Training, Camp Gordon, Georgia
August 1943
- Maneuvers in Tennessee
October 1943
- Camp Pilot Knob, California (Desert Maneuvers)
February 12, 1944
- Departed Boston
February 22, 1944
- Landed Liverpool, England (Trained at England – Bridge School)
June 1944
- Landed in France – Survived D-day invasion. (Assigned to 3rd Army Eng
Headquarters, Advance Section)
May 15, 1945
- Rejoined Battalion
June 1, 1945
- Landed in Oslo, Norway (Part of Tank Force “A”)
June 1945
- To Luxemburg attached to 6th Cavalry and 26th Reconnaissance
(Replacing “B” CO 293rd Engineer Battalion)
October 15, 1945
- Departed Norway
October 25, 1945
- Landed in USA
October 30, 1945
- Honorably discharged
Eddie was under combat conditions in France, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and Czechoslovakia. Battles/campaigns included Ardennes, central Europe, Normandy, northern France and
the Rhineland.
Like most returning soldiers, Eddie rarely spoke about his service. However, he did relate that
one time he stuck his head out of the truck window to look up at planes flying overhead. Lt. General Patton was nearby and berated him for not wearing his helmet.
Eddie received commendations from US Army Lt. General G. S. Patton, Jr. and General
Dwight Eisenhower, Allied Expeditionary Force.
Eddie’s medals include the Good Conduct
Award and European-African-Middle Eastern Service Award.
Edward William Jones passed on December 13, 1996. He was buried with full military honors in the Salem County Veteran’s Cemetery, located on Route 45 in Pilesgrove, New Jersey.
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133
JAMES L. JONES
U. S. ARMY AIRBORNE
1943 - 1944
SERVED
U.S. Army Airborne
September 16, 1940 to July 30, 1945
DEPLOYED
Germany, France & Belgium
AWARDS
American Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, Distinguished Unit Badge GO#31, EuropeanAfrican Middle Eastern Medal with (1) Silver
Service Star, Sharpshooters Medal, Parachute
Wings WWII Victory Medal & World War II
Occupation.
From the Log of James L. Jones
Nov. 10, 1943 – Due to our not jumping on
Monday, we had 2 jumps today. Our first was at
1200-ft., similar to yesterday’s jump. This is individual command. I was No. 2 man in the first
stick. The No. 1 man, who is the squad leader,
was a Lt. He is a great guy. Everything went OK
except, I had a terrific opening shock and got a
small razor burn on my neck from it. We also had
hard landings for there was a big ground wind
again. After we landed we went back to the hangers and got our other chutes and lined up in the
sweat shed for our other jump and in there I saw
Jimmy Jones and a few other of my buddies so I
slipped in their stick and I was the 12th man in the
second stick. Jimmy was No. 11. We all sweated
this jump out quite a lot, for 2 jumpe in 1 day are
mighty rough and tough. It was a mass jump. I
got a little air sick today, but it wasn’t bad. When
I went out of the plane I was right on Jimmy’s
back. I thought we might tangle but we didn’t,
however, I did walk over his canopy. A mass
jump usually takes 10 seconds for all the men to
clear the plane, and as I said before I was the last
man, and when I went out of the plane, I was
actually running.
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134
THEODORE F. JONES
U. S. ARMY
1942 - 1945
COMMENTS
Theodore F. Jones graduated as a surgical technician
from Lawson General Hospital in Atlanta, GA. Accepted in the Armored Force Officer Candidate
School, Fort Knox, KY and served as platoon leader
in 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Armored Division, 5th Army
in Africa & Italy. Wounded in the PO Valley Campaign.
SERVED
U.S. Army
1st Lieutenant
April 23, 1942 to December
16, 1945
DEPLOYED
Mediterranean Theater, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno,
Northern Appennines, PO
Valley, Africa & Italy
AWARDS
European-African Middle
Eastern Theater Campaign
Ribbon, Purple Heart Award
134
135
VIRGIL L. JONES
U. S. NAVY
1942 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Navy
DEPLOYED
Pacific
U.S.S. Iowa
STATIONED
U.S.S. Iowa
and
U.S.S. Enterprise
U.S.S. Enterprise
135
136
JAMES O. KATES
U. S. ARMY
1942 - 1945
James O. Kates
Served: U.S. Army
October 1, 1942 thru October 28,
1945
DEPLOYED
Europe
DISCHARGE RANK
Technician Fifth Grade (T-5)
AWARDS
European – African – Middle Eastern
Theater Ribbon,
Good Conduct Medal
Lapel Button
136
137
JOHN KEELER
U. S. ARMY
1944 - 1946
COMMENTS
Left Boston on the USS Parker and joined a very large convoy of
ships headed for Europe. Sea was very rough and I was seasick for the
trip. Interesting thing happened on the first drill, I found a schoolmate,
Elmer Layton, stopped directly in front of me. We experienced one
(for real) alert and all ship reacted by coming to a halt until all clear was
sounded.
Arrived on the coast of England and went to Plymouth and
crossed the English Channel at night into the harbor of LeHarve,
France. Later boarded a small river boat (later used by the Jews in The
Exodus), and went up the Seine River to “Camp Twenty Grand”.
Moved from there to an old chateau outside of Senlis, France. Nine
days after arrival in Europe, VE Day was declared. I got the chance to
go into Paris on the se1cond day after.
Deployed to Delta Base Sector outside Marseilles, France for
deployment preparation to the Pacific Theater of War. We left on the
second ship. We crossed the Pacific Ocean 5-degrees above the equator on the USS Admiral C.F. Hughes Troop ship. On the way crossing
the equator, I happened to get selected from the troops for the retrial
of “The Order Of the Golden Dragon” and what an experience that
was. We also crossed the International Date Line, losing one day.
We arrived in Manilla, changed to the ship “Maui” a captured
Japanese ship used for transporting troops to the Lengyen Gulf, where
we were sent over the side on a rope ladder to landing boats heading to
shore. Fifteen days later VJ Day was declared.
We moved to the beach and maintained a road for future troops
to arrive for deployment via naval LST’s. On November 8 th the 1777th
boarded LST 1040 for the trip to Japan. My ship was the lead ship of
ten, five in a staggered row. One day on the trip I saw a floating mine
passing my ship and in the direct path of the second ship following us.
I alerted a nearby sailor who called the bridge, and then horns were
blasting and lights flashing. Later we heard a sound that was probably
the floating mine being destroyed.
Later we received notice for deployment to start my trip back to
the US for discharge. Left Yokohama on the USS Hase troop ship
bound for Seattle, Washington, USA.
137
SERVED
U.S. Army
April March 30, 1944
to May 7, 1946
DEPLOYED
Europe, Phillipine Islands &
Japan
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asian-Pacific Campaign
Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, WWII Victory
Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon,
Honorable Service Lapel Button WWII,
Sharpshooter Badge with Rifle Bar.
1/20/05 – NJ Distinguished Service
Medal by Louis D. Greenwald og the
6th Legislative District.
9/12/06 – Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition & Salem County
Freeholders Military Service Medal
138
WILLIAM KUGLER
U. S. NAVY
1942 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1942 - 1945
DEPLOYED
Adak, Alaska & Mississippi
ASSIGNMENT
Flight Training
AWARDS
Several Unit Citations & Several
Awards as a Unit
138
139
Roger LaCount
U. S. Navy
1942 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1942 – 1944
DEPLOYED
USNCTC NOB Norfolk, VA
RATING
Coxswain
139
G. BENJAMIN LAURY
140
U. S. ARMY AIR CORPS
1942 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army Air Corps
1942 – 1945
DEPLOYED
Philippines, South Pacific
RANK
2nd Lieutenant – Pilot with 48
Missions
140
141
JOHN F. LAWLESS
U. S. NAVY
1945 - 1948
SERVED
U.S. Navy
DEPLOYED
Pacific Fleet 20-Months at Pearl
Harbor
U.S.S. Boxer
STATIONED
U.S.S. Bronx and U.S.S. Boxer Aircraft Carrier
AWARDS
American Theater Medal Campaign,
World War II Medal, Good Conduct
Medal
U.S.S. Bronx ( APA-236 )
141
NOTE
All allied Generals & Admirals constantly met at The Pacific Fleet
142
DOROTHY LEVITSKY LINNER
U. S. ARMY NURSE CORPS
1944 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Army Nurses Corp
1944 thru 1946
142
143
JAMES E. LOMAX, SR.
U.S. ARMY
1942 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Army
1942 thru 1946
DEPLOYED
European Theater
RANK
Staff Sergeant
AWARDS
American Theater Ribbon
European African Middle Eastern Ribbon
Good Conduct Medal
American Theater Ribbon
European African Middle
Eastern
Good Conduct Medal
143
144
STEPHAN B. LOPES
U. S. ARMY INFANTRY
1943 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Army Infantry
June 29, 1943 – December
16, 1946
DEPLOYED
Pacific Theater of Operations
AWARDS
Asiatic Pacific Service Medal,
Bronze Star, Good Conduct
Medal, Philippine Liberation
Medal, Combat Infantry
Badge & Purple Heart
144
145
CHARLES LUTZ
U. S. NAVY
1943 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Navy
June 1943 – July 1945
DEPLOYED
Pacific Theater
RANK
Navy Seaman 1st Class
COMMENTS
Charles was lost at sea. His ship, The USS
Indianapolis holds a place in history due
to the circumstances of her sinking, which
led to the greatest single loss of life at sea
in the history of the U.S. Navy. On 30
July 1945, shortly after delivering critical
parts for the first atomic bomb to be used
in combat to the United States air base at
Tinian, the ship was torpedoed by the
Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58,
sinking in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 crewmen
aboard, approximately 300 went down
with the ship.
USS Indianapolis
145
146
JOSEPH L. MACONI
U. S. ARMY
1943 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Army
146
147
Joseph L. Martell
U.S. Navy
1944 – 1946
Joseph Lawrence Martell
March 15, 1944 Thru May, 1946
BRANCH OF SERVICE
U.S. Navy
DISCHARGE RANK
Fireman First Class
DEPLOYED
Europe – Southern France
AWARDS
American Theater Medal; European Theater
Medal; WWII Victory Medal
147
148
Louis W. Martell
(KIA)
U.S. Navy
Louis W. Martell
June 23, 1943 Thru September 16, 1944
U.S. Navy
Rank
Machinist Mate Second Class
DEPLOYED
Marshall Islands; Marianas; Carolina Islands
AWARDS
Purple Heart
(Reprinted From Newspaper)
A growing list of local casualties now includes the name
of Machinist Mate Second Class Louis W. Martell (21), killed in
action.
Machinist Mate Martell, son of Mr. & Mrs. Carmen Martell of 19
s. Smith Avenue, Penns Grove, had previously been reported
missing in action in the South Pacific, according to a telegram
received by his brother August Martell. A later Navy Department message, however, reports that he was killed in action
on September 16th.
The local seaman, a former employee of Plant 1, entered the Navy in February of 1942 less than a year after being
graduated from Regional High School. He was eventually
assigned to a Destroyer Escort, and at the time reported
missing, had served almost a year in the South Pacific. His
Brother Fireman 2c Joseph Martell, is serving with the Navy
and is stationed in the Mediterranean Theater of War.
His remains were buried at sea with full military honors.
148
149
WILLIAM MARTIN
U. S. ARMY
1943- 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army (25th Medical Depot
Co.)
Oct. 16, 1943 – Dec. 24, 1945
DEPLOYED
Burma, (Central & India Campaigns)
AWARDS
Asiatic Pacific Service Medal,
Good Conduct Medal
&
World War II Victory Medal
149
150
CLARK F. MATTSON
U. S. ARMY
1942- 1945
Clark F. Mattson
SERVED
U.S. Army (450 Bomb Sq)
July 25, 1942 to October 10, 1945
DISCHARGE RANK
SGT
DEPLOYED
African Campaign & European Theater
BATTLES & CAMPAIGNS
Air Offensive Europe, Ardennes, Central
Europe, Normandy, France, & Rhineland
AWARDS
European African Middle Eastern Service
Medal & Good Conduct Medal
Lapel Button Issued
150
151
FLOYD MCCURDY
U. S. AIR FORCE
1945
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
1945
DEPLOYED
Framingham, England
SERVICE
B17 Navigator with the 305th Bomber
Group
Flew 28 Missions and was shot down
over Germany.
Was held as a POW in Stalag Luft Three
151
STALAG LUFT III
In the middle of the night on March 24, 1944, 76 Allied
airmen crawled on their bellies through a 300-foot long
tunnel to escape from the Nazi POW Camp, Stalag Luft
III (see photo below). They did it by constructing three
tunnels the airmen named “Tom,” “Dick,” and “Harry,”
using only tools that they could make themselves out of
tin cans, bed boards, strips of cloth, and other materials
that they scavenged. This went down in history as one of
the greatest mass escapes of all time and became the
basis for the movie “The Great Escape.” After the war
one of the POWs, Ley Kenyon, drew a map of the camp
and “Harry,” the tunnel that was ultimately used for the
escape. NOVA created an interactive map from Ley’s
sketch, which can be seen HERE.
152
HARRY MESSICK, JR.
U.S. ARMY
1941 – 1945
Harry Messick, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Army
October 22, 1941 – September 5, 1945
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
DEPLOYED
Guadalcanal, Northern Solomon Islands
Served with Battery A, 246th Field Artillery Battalion
AWARDS
American Defense Service Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
Presidential Unit Citation
Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon
152
153
CHARLES M. MILLER, JR.
U.S. ARMY
1942 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
September 11, 1942
thru
November 16, 1945
DEPLOYED
Rome Arno Campaign
AWARDS
American Campaign Medal,
European African Middle
Eastern Campaign Medal,
Good Conduct Medal, WWII
Victory Medal, 1-Bronze Star
153
154
DANIEL MILLER
U. S. ARMY
1943 - 1945
COMMENTS
Following Basic Training at Ft. Dix, Dan was
sent to Agusta, GA where he joined a combat engineering group. After that he was sent to Tenessee
for training, then to Yuma, across the border from
California for more training. He was then shipped
out of Boston, MA on the Empress of Australia It
took several weeks to cross the ocean where he
landed in Liverpool, England. His camp was near
Oxford. He was sent to Chester, England to run a
camp teaching explosives to replacement troops.
Right after D-Day this camp was closed and he
joined his original company and was shipped to
France.
They became security guards for General Patton’s Headquarters and were there until St. Lo was
bombed. This was the “Break-Out” point for General Patton’s Armor. As soon as the has a break
through, Gen. Patton started up the Peninsula. He
had so many tanks, he was really punishing the
Germans. Some place along there Patton caught up
with a lot of members of the German Army. He
ringed the pocket where he had them trapped and
slowly destroyed the entire group. After that the
Americans were scattered across France where they
took out tanks & ground forces.
SERVED
U.S. Army
March 16, 1943 – August 25, 1945
DEPLOYED
Europe
AWARDS
Purple Heart, Army Demolition Specialist,
Good Conduct Medal, European African
Middle Eastern Service Medal, Bronze Star
Dan’s group was following the scattering
groups providing whatever engineering assistance
was needed like putting in bridges where needed.
When the “Bulge” came, his group was deployed.
He told many stories about the time there including
one when his company had to cross an open field
and a German tank was positioned where they could
fire on them. The crossed the field one at a time
and the tank never fired. Another time when they
were leaving a wooded area and they found men
walking with them in overcoats. The Americans
had no overcoats or boots since they were taken
before they left for the Bulge so they could move
faster. Those extra men in the overcoats were Germans who were giving up.
Dan was wounded with machine gun fire on
January 7, 1945 and discharged 100 percent disabled from Camp Upton on Long Island, NY on
August 25, 1945. Dan passed away on March 6,
2003.
154
155
HARRY E. MILLER
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1945 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
January 22, 1945
thru
November 12, 1946
DEPLOYED
Asiatic Pacific Area
Aug 7, 1945 thru Feb. 1, 1946
Occupation of China
June 2, 1946 thru Sept. 2, 1946
RANK
Private First Class (TA)
155
156
MARTIN MLINEK
U. S. AIR FORCE
1944 -1946
SERVED
U.S. Army (25th Medical Depot
Co.)
March 1944 – February 1946
DEPLOYED
South Pacific
Martin was in the Special Services
Unit.
On his plaque located at the Salem
County Veteran’s Cemetery is
Martin W. Mlinek – T5
156
157
WILLIAM E. NIXON
U. S. ARMY
1942-1945
COMMENTS
SERVED
U.S. Army
June 13, 1942 – November 6,
1945
DEPLOYED
Staff Sgt. Nixon led medics to recover
wounded, went ahead checking for mines &
snipers while waving the medics on when he
was sure of their safety.
He was stationed with the U.S. Army “K”
Company, 304th Infantry – 76th Division –
3rd Army under General Patton.
European Theater, France, Luxemburg, Belgium, Ardennes &
Rhineland
AWARDS
Bronze Star, Good Conduct
Medal
RANK
157
158
Ellen Levitsky
Orkin
U. S. Army Nurse Corps
158
159
Hildreth R. Owens
U. S. Air Force
1940 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
1940 – 1945
DEPLOYED
Sandston Air Force Base, VA
(Last Service)
STATIONS
European Theater, Fighter Pilot, Stationed
at the Royal Air Force Base, England
8th Air Force 353 Fighter Group/352
Squadron
1940-Co. I, 114 Infantry Regiment, 44th
Division US Army,
Federalized September 16, 1940
AWARDS
Air Medal, 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Presidential Citation
159
160
CARL F. PANKOK (KIA)
U. S. ARMY
1944-1945
Served: U.S. Army
Killed in Action January 4, 1955
DEPLOYMENT
Europe with The 75th Division, 289
Infantry Regiment
DISCHARGE RANK
Sergeant
AWARDS:
Purple Heart; WWII European, African Campaign
w/Bronze Star; Combat Infantryman’s Badge
Sgt. Cark F. Pankok was
assigned to the coast Artillary in Ft. Bliss, TX. Fearing that he would not see
action he transferred to the
Infantry. He was killed in
action on January 4, 1945
during the “Battle of the
Bulge”. He is interred at
the National Cemetery
Neuville-En-Condroz, Belgium.
160
161
HARRY E. PANKOK, JR.
U. S. NAVY
1944-1946
Served: U.S. Navy
September 16, 1944 – July 2, 1946
DEPLOYMENT
USS LSM 473; USS Egeria
DISCHARGE RANK
Boatswain Mate Third Class;
USNR Coxswain
AWARDS:
American Theater Medal; Asiatic Pacific
Medal; WWII Victory Medal; Good Conduct
Medal
U.S.S. LSM (CV-473)
U.S.S. Egeria (ARL-8)
I was doing my duty and proud to serve my
country.
161
162
LEO M. PANKOK
U. S. NAVY
1946-1948
Served: U.S. Navy
July 11, 1946 – July 10, 1948
DEPLOYMENT
U.S.S. Valley Forge (CV-45)
DISCHARGE RANK
Fireman
AWARDS:
WWII Victory Medal
The U.S.S. Valley Forge was built in Philadelphia & Leo was part of the original crew, “A
Plank Owner” in Navy terms. The ship circumnavigated the world, went through the
Panama Canal, The Suez Canal, crossed the
Equator and the International Date Line. In
the Navy when a seaman crosses the equater
he goes from “Pollywog” to “Shellback”.
U.S.S. Valley Forge (CV-45)
162
GUS T. PARAS
163
U. S. ARMY
1943-1946
Gus T. Paras
Served: U.S. Army
March 23, 1943 – January 4, 1946
DEPLOYMENT
106th Infantry (Battle of the Bulge)
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
AWARDS:
European African Middle Eastern Ribbon;
Good Conduct Medal; WWII Victory
Medal
Battle of the Bulge
Rifle Marksman & ASR Lapel Button
163
164
James Paras
U. S. Coast Guard
Amphibious Forces
1941 - 1946
James Paras
SERVED
U.S. Coast Guard
Amphibious Forces
May 13, 1941 – May 18, 1946
DEPLOYED
Atlantic & Pacific
Participated in Normandy Invasion
DISCHARGE RANK
Boatswain Mate 2nd Class
AWARDS
USCG Commendation Medal
(3) USCG Honorable Discharge Emblems
The Landing at Normandy
James Paras was assigned to a USCG Manned
Amphibious Transport and made landing as a
“Landing Barge Coxswain” during the Normandy Invasion.
Coxswains were the sailors that piloted the landing
craft used in the D-Day assault. LCVPs used at
Omaha and Utah beaches were steered by U.S. Navy
and U.S. Coast Guard coxswains.
164
165
Louis Paulus
U. S. Army
1945-1946
SERVED
U.S. Army
1945 –1946
DEPLOYED
Japan
AWARDS
Marksmanship
165
166
James Pelura, Jr.
U. S. Army
1941-1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
1941 –1945
DEPLOYED
Ashio, Japan, Luzon
AWARDS
Philippine Liberation Ribbon,
Victory Medal, American Theater Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon.
POSITION
Radio Operator, 158th Infantry,
8th Army
166
167
William E. Peterson
U. S. Army
1940 – 1944
SERVED
U.S. Army
July 11, 1940 – November 20,
1944
DEPLOYED
Northern Apennines & NaplesFoggia Campaigns
AWARDS
 Purple Heart with One Oak Leaf
Cluster
 European African Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon with Two
Bronze Stars
 Combat Infantry Badge
 Good Conduct Medal
 World War II Victory Ribbon
167
168
RAYMOND K. PEW
U.S. NAVY
1943 - 1946
RAYMOND K. PEW
SERVED
U.S. NAVY
December 8, 1943 Thru January 17, 1946
DEPLOYED
English Channel, Normandy, South Africa, Malta,
Tokyo Bay, Okinawa
DISCHARGE RANK
Fireman, First Class
Fireman, First Class Ray Pew
of the US Navy During
World War II served aboard
the USS Jeffers and participated in the invasions of Normandy and Okinawa. The
“Jeffers” Was a Destroyer
and then converted to a
Minesweeper and was one of
the first Ships to clear mines
in Tokyo Bay in order for the
USS Missouri to arrive for the
signing of the Peace Treaty.
See story on pages to follow.
AWARDS
American Theater Ribbon;
WWII Victory Medal;
European Theater Ribbon w/2-Stars;
168
169
RAYMOND K. PEW
U.S. NAVY
1943 - 1946
Raymond K. Pew
D-Day Remembered
(From 6/6/84 on the 40th Anniversary)
June 6, 1984 was the 40th anniversary of the D-Day Landing in France. There will be
many accounts written from many vantage points and Heads of State will gather on the
beaches of Normandy to pay tribute to the thousands of men who stormed those beaches
and fought their way across France to final Victory in Germany. (This is one such account.)
In addition n to the thousands of men who landed in France that first day, and the
thousands who arrived later to carry on the fight ashore, there were thousands who never
left their ships. I was one of those who arrived on D-Day, stayed for almost a month on a
supporting U.S. Navy ship and then left for another invasion without ever setting foot in
France.
My memories of the build-up for D-Day, the actual landings on June 6, 1944 and the
hectic period that followed, are quite different from the usual accounts that are centered
around the beach landings and the push inland. I was an Engineering Officer on the destroyer, the U.S.S. Jeffers, DD-621. It was a small ship (1630 tons) considering its
50,000HP engine, its many guns, five torpedoes, depth charges, K Guns, and a smoke
screen generator. It was fitted out to accomplish many tasks from convoy escort to full
battle fighting.
The crew began to gather during the summer of 1942 when the ship was still in the
builders yard. In the time since then and through a tough experience, our raw recruits had
developed into a well organized fighting crew when we were assigned to
“OVERLOAD” (the code name for the Normandy Invasion).
Our association with the Normandy landings started in the fall of 1943 when our division of destroyers were assigned to convey escort duty to support transport ships. We
made four trips, New York to Belfast and back during the fall and winter of 1943 to 1944.
Our fifth convoy trip left New York the latter part of March in 1944 and arrived in Belfast
the first part of April. Now our routine changed to training, gunnery practice and landing
exercises with troops in the northern islands of Scotland. This occupied out time but no
one went ashore. We all knew too much about the upcoming invasion for them to risk a
security leak. One man in my engineering division had an acute attack of appendicitis during the last week of May and instead of sending him ashore he was sent to a U.S. battleship
to be operated on and then carried along to the invasion.
169
170
RAYMOND K. PEW
U.S. NAVY
1943 - 1946
June 4, 1944 our group of destroyers left Belfast and met up with troop transports and
started south through the Irish Sea. The U.S.S. Jeffers became the Flagship of the division
of destroyers, now down to two ships. The Maddox was lost in the Sicilian Invasion, and
the regular division command ship, The Nelson, had been recently damaged in an accident
in Plymouth, England. Our division of two ships, The USS Jeffers and the USS Glennon
headed out for Normandy along with dozens of other destroyers to escort our troop ships.
As we all know now, the invasion was delayed by one day but when the invasion occurred
it was a task to keep all of those hundreds of ships in formation through the Irish Sea during bad weather and without lights at night. On June 5thy we got the final “Go Ahead”
which was a simple message sent out in a low security code….”D equals 6”. From that
point on, procedure was determined by the massive OVERLOAD operation manual.
We slowly moved toward France. There were only 4-5 hours of darkness left, from
11:00 PM until 3-3:30 AM and it was important to make the last approach during those last
few hours of darkness.
Right before dawn the roar of planes was the most noticeable sign of the invasion, but
soon afterward we could hear the hum of the smaller diesel powered ships joining us from
the English southern coast ports. Along about day-break we heard that one of our larger
transport ships, the USS Susan B. Anthony, had hit a mine and sunk. A good friend, Lt.
Roger DeMontier of Melrose, MA was on that ship. I had attended Mass. Nautical School
(formerly Mass. Maritime Academy) with Roger and had also sailed with him to the South
American east coast ports. Later I learned that there was little loss of life from the USS
Susan B. Anthony, although she was carrying 2200 troops and a crew of 400. Roger said
that he was the last man to leave, and swam away as the water reached his neck. As far as I
know the USS Susan B. Anthony was the first major ship to be sunk.
By full daylight we could see the coast of France. Large battle flags were hoisted on all
U.S. Navy ships. Planes were bombing the shore and our big guns, 6”, 8” & 14” on the
cruisers and battleships soon opened fire. We moved in and joined the shore bombardment with our 5” guns. Before noon, we could see the USS Cory was slowly sinking but
her guns continued a steady dual with the shore battery. The shore battery won that fight
as the Cory soon settled to the bottom but was in so close to the shore that she was in an
upright position with her two stacks, mast and a gun director out of the water. The Cory
had been shot so full of holes that she filled with sea water and gently settled to the not-sodeep bottom.
Small boats moved in to pick up the living and dead from the Cory and when this job was
completed and no fires had been started that might cause an explosion, our ship was ordered in to take up the Cory’s position and continue the fight with the shore battery. As
soon as we got near the now quiet Cory, shells from the shore battery started whistling
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RAYMOND K. PEW
U.S. NAVY
1943 - 1946
over us. This was our worst experience during the invasion. There is no place to hide on a
destroyer. The hull plates are aluminum which was about 5/16” thick and a .22 caliper
bullet would easily go through it.
For two hours we slowly moved back & forth trying to locate that shore battery, firing
at any indication of smoke. The larger ships with their larger guns were firing over top of
our ship from a safer distance out in the channel. Around 6:00 PM we were hit at the water line in the aft fire room and engine room (No. 2 fire room and engine room). The shell
burst and sent shrapnel through the hull plates into the engine room where I and ten other
men were located. No one was hit and no vital parts of the engine room were damaged.
We quickly plugged the holes in the ship’s side with wood wedges, rags and clamped on
braces. Damage in the fire room was limited to a rupture in one of the fresh water tanks,
although it was a potentially serious loss since fresh water is an important item on any ship.
On the deck, five men were wounded, one seriously, so the ship then moved out of range
quickly. The wounded men were removed to rescue ships and we reported the damage to
our captain. At that point the naval attack on the shore batteries was called off and a few
hours later a group of 30 or more bombers flew over to saturate bomb the area. That was
the last the we heard from those shore batteries.
Before dark on that first day, D-Day, all ships except PT Boats and small craft were
assigned to anchor positions. This seemed to be an odd way to fight the war, at anchor,
when we had all that horsepower and about 80 men in the Engineering Division to make
things hum, but with so many ships in a small area coupled with bad weather and tides as
high as any place in the world, it was the only solution.
We had seen no German planes but our contact with the enemy was limited due to the
dual with the shore battery. Soon after dark the German planes flew over dropping very
bright flares, as we had seen before, and they also dropped some bombs from high flying
planes. We had no evidence of damage and had been instructed not to fire at the planes
unless we were directly being attacked by low flying aircraft. Also, from our first night
there and throughout most of our stay off the shore of Normandy there were running battles between the German “E” Boats and our P.T. (Patrol Torpedo) boats. The fast running
German “E” Boats tried to break through the P.T. Boat defenses in order to fire torpedoes
at the concentration of ships in the landing area. Commander Buckly was in charge of the
P.T. Boats at Normandy. Earlier, when he was a younger Lieutenant, he had rescued General MacArthur from the Philippines. He visited us often on the Jeffers. Our days soon
became quiet and we lived in relative luxury sitting down to well prepared meals and resting
during the day. At night we stayed at General Quarters (battle stations) but the nights were
short. We supplied the P.T. Boats with freshwater and fresh bread and even a place to rest
during the days. In the choppy English Channel a destroyer was more comfortable for a
few hours sleep than those plywood P.T. Boats. Every night the P.T. Boats would be off
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RAYMOND K. PEW
U.S. NAVY
1943 - 1946
to meet their “E” Boat “friends”. We would often see them blazing away at each other
with their 20mm, 37mm and 40mm guns. They would return in the morning to update us
about their part in the battle, pick up supplies such as fresh bread and water that we could
spare and take up a few square feet of deck space for some rest.
Around D+3 or D+4, June 9th or 10th, our sister ship the USS Glennon had moved in
close to shore to assist our troops as they tried to move Cherbourg. They struck a mine or
possibly a mine struck them. The Germans had learned how to float mines down the small
rivers and streams during outgoing tides. Whatever happened, the Glennon became
pinned to the bottom when a mine damaged the ship’s stern. There she was with her bow
pointing out with no way to move and the shore guns firing upon her. She had only two
5” guns able to return fire and soon she was outgunned and had to be abandoned. Some
of the USS Jeffers crew was moved to the Glennon when the division commander had
come to the Jeffers, including one of my assistant engineers, a recent naval academy graduate. He made it through that bad experience on the Glennon as well as trough the war. In
1954 I met him in the Navy Building, Fargo Building, located in Boston. He was still in
uniform and I was working there as a civilian engineer. He said that there was heavy loss
of life and many wounded during that short but furious fight while their ship was pinned to
the bottom in plain view of the enemy without the USS Glennon being able to see where
the enemy was fighting from.
June 15th, D+9, a new destroyer, the USS Meredith joined our line of ships, replacing
another ship that returned to England for repairs. The USS Meredith was the largest (2250
tons) ship built for WWII. The USS Meredith was clean, had all of its paint, and stood out
in our group of ships which had been at sea for months. We all admired the clean &
smooth lines of the Meredith, its twin mount 5” guns and double set of Torpedo Tubes!
Although, one thing we had that the Meredith did not was a well disciplined, battle-trained
crew! When darkness came and out nightly visits from the German planes arrived with
their bright flares, the Meredith crew opened fire contrary to the standing orders, with all
of their anti-aircraft guns. Within minutes, a guided missile glide bomb hit the USS Meredith dead center and put a hole large enough to drive a truck into it. Rescue boats moved
in to pick up the crew from the ship and from the water. At dawn we noted, and reported
to the command ship, that the Meredith was loose from its anchor and was drifting toward
the enemy held Cotentin Peninsular and Cherbourg. We reached the USS Meredith and
tied up along side of her. She was in bad shape, listing badly with a very large hole in her
side and not one living person on board. A small group of us went on board the Meredith
to see if any of its stores could be salvaged. There were many casualties, a gruesome sight,
with many bodies and body parts throughout the ship. We removed ammunition from the
above deck areas and also a complete copy of the Overload Operation. A Navy salvage tug
soon took over and we returned to our anchor position. Later that day we heard that the
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RAYMOND K. PEW
U.S. NAVY
1943 - 1946
Meredith had broken in half while the salvage crew was removing oil to correct the list, and
that both halves rolled over and sank.
In all we were at the D-Day landing site about 22 days with two fast trips back to England for supplies and repairs. None of us had been off the ship since March except to
travel to other ships or in the repair shipyard for a few minutes. We were feeling the effects and strains of long hours at battle stations. The weather was cold and wet for June
and we were anxious to leave. We had seen too many of our destroyers go down and we
now became the flagship of our division of one ship!
On June 28th we left for Belfast, spent a few days there cleaning, painting, and repairing the ship. The crew received a few hours of Liberty so at my own expense I went to
Londonderry to order Engineering supplies from the U.S. Navy Base and to enjoy the
peace and quiet of Ulster; how ironic..
The first part of July we left for the Mediterranean Sea and reported in to Malta where
the ship was assigned to aircraft carrier screen duty for the invasion of Southern France,
but that is another story!
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Jack R. Plasket
U. S. Army Air Corps
1943 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Army Air Corps
1943 - 1946
DEPLOYED
England
ASSIGNMENT
Navigator, 8th Air Force
AWARDS
Silver Wings as an Aerial Navigator & Commission in the Army
Air Forces American Campaign
Medal, European African Middle
Eastern Campaign Medal, WWII
Victory Medal & Distinguished
Unit Badge.
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JAMES V. PORTER
U. S. ARMY
1945 - 1946
SERVED
U.S. Army
May 21, 1945 – November 26, 1946
DEPLOYED
Pacific
AWARDS
American Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
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ANTHONY L. PRIEST
U. S. MERCHANT MARINES
1943 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Merchant Marines
May 4, 1943 thru April 26, 1945
DEPLOYED
Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean
AWARDS
Merchant Marine Emblem, Atlantic
War Zone Bar, Pacific War Zone
Bar, Mediterranean –Middle East
War Zone Bar
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EUGENE RANCK
U.S. NAVY
1943-1945
COMMENTS
The following occurred after the war was
over:
We were on our way to San Francisco
from the Philippines. It was noon time
on a bright sunny day when we received a
S.O.S. from a merchant ship, stating they
had a sailor on board with appendicitis
and they had no doctor on their ship. We
had been a Flag Ship and carried several
doctors & surgeons on board. We immediately went to flank speed and about
18:00 (6PM) we sighted the ship. The
merchant ship signaled that they would
make the transfer as soon as we could
come alongside, which took a while and it
was getting dark.
SERVED
U.S. Navy
May 30, 1944 – May 19, 1946
DEPLOYED
Pacific
AWARDS
Asiatic Theater
We carried six 12” arc lights & twentyfour 6” arc lights which were turned on.
It too almost 2-hrs. to come alongside and
rig a trolley between the two ships. By
this time, the weather was quite rough.
When the stretched went over, it was up
& down dropping close to the water. We
all shuttered. Once the sailor was put on
the stretcher and began to be pulled back
that stretched did not waver one foot.
The sailor was immediately taken to sick
bay and the operation began. Following
the operation, the doctors stated that if
they would have waited until morning to
make the transfer, the sailor would have
died. Six days later when we arrived in
San Francisco the seaman was able to
walk off the ship.
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JAMES REILLY
U.S. NAVY
1943-1945
SERVED
U.S. Army Air Force
44-Months
DEPLOYED (9-Places)
United States – 3 Schools
New Jersey, Florida, Illinois,
Utah, Washington State,
Texas & South Dakota
POSITION
Taught instrument flying
procedures to B-17 Bomber
Pilots.
On the side, James was in
stage & radio shows, an art
editor and a cartoonist for
the Air Force publication
called “Thunderbird”.
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John Romansky
U. S. Army
1944-1946
JOHN ROMANSKY
Memoires
SERVED
US ARMY
U.S. Army
1944 - 1946
August 25, 1944 thru July 3,
1946
I remember standing on the
front steps of the old Penns
Grove High School (“RE-HI” )
on Maple Avenue and being
inducted into the United States
Army. Some of the other men I
can remember being there were
Bob Bartleson, Tom Bright &
George Pedrick.
DEPLOYED
France & Germany
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal, ETO
Ribbon with 3 Battle Stars, Victory Medal, Presidential Citation
& French Fudeguerre
(Memoires continue on pages
to follow)
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We were sent to the Convention Hall in Camden, NJ for our physicals
and then transferred to Ft. Dix, NJ for our inductions into the U.S. Army Life.
While at Ft. Dix, we had our first taste of K.P. (Kitchen Police). I remember
working all night helping to peel potatoes, clean pots & pans, etc. This was
hard work, but the Mess Sergeant was good to us. He made us all a good breakfast and then we had the day off to get some sleep.
I remember the inoculation shots at Ft. Dix. They would give you a shot
in each arm while singing you’ll never know how much this will hurt you. The
next morning, after getting the shots, you couldn’t raise one arm as it felt dead.
It took about two days before you could use it again.
Haircuts were great. It took at least 30 seconds to complete each man. I
remember one man from New York, who had beautiful hair. The barber asked
him how he would like it cut. The soldier said just a little off the sides. Well,
thirty seconds later, he had it cut off the sides, the tops and everywhere else. He
walked away with tears in his eyes.
On Sunday, another fellow & I volunteered to help the Chaplain in
church to hand out the bulletins. All the other fellows laughed and said they
were going back to bed. We went to church and pretty soon we heard a lot of
noise coming from outside. Here comes a column of fours, marching to church.
You see, back in those days, everybody went to church.
After a few days, I left Ft. Dix bound for Camp Blanding, FL. To take
basic training. It was soon to be known to me as the “Hell Hole” of the earth!
We traveled to Ft. Blanding on a Troop Train. The train pulled into the station
and everyone got off. At this point, the sky opened up and we all got soaked
from the rain. Combined with the soot from the train we all were a very pretty
sight. We all got back onto the train and the same ordeal happened at least
three times before they finally loaded us all onto trucks and transported us to the
Company Area. The company area consisted of several sixteen man huts with no
windows. There were screens along with plywood that would swing down in bad
weather.
We had a corporal named O’Connor. We thought that he had to own the
Army by the way he yelled at us. We never knew that there were so many ways
of cussing you out and/or scaring you to death.
We finally got settled away and started to get into the swing of things.
They took us out on a nice leisurely hike the second day we were there, SEVEN
MILES! We thought that we would die before we got done.
As our training continued, our bodies got used to the rigorous training.
We would go on seventeen and twenty-five mile hikes which included sleeping on
the bare ground, digging fox holes, crawling under live machine gun fire, two
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hours of exercise each day, pulling K.P. and a lot of other rotten jobs.
We had many kinds of weapon training with machine guns, M-l rifle,
mortars, hand grenades, bayonet training and hand to hand combat. I remember
that we had a captain to teach us bayonet fighting. He explained about the different moves, the parry, then thrust, stab the enemy, hit him with the gun butt.
The captain then said, after all of this, if the enemy gets up, you better run like
hell, because he is going to be mighty mad.
We went on bivouac for several days at a time. We learned how to survive on one quart of water a day and learned which plants were safe to eat. I
remember one experience on bivouac when a lieutenant was explaining the danger of coral snakes. How deadly they are when they bite you. Right after the
seminar on snakes, our company had to crawl through some high weeds to attack another company which was the "enemy", About the time we got about half
way across the field, some wise guy hollered out "coral snake" You can imagine
220 men coming up out of the weeds and running. The referee or the observer
yelled out that we were all dead from enemy fire. Somebody yelled "better to be
dead than bit by a coral snake". Needless to say, this brought on extra duty.
We finished basic training and were given a seven day delay in route, to
go home before being shipped overseas. Bob Bartleson, George Pedrick and I
were on a troop train from Florida to Baltimore, Maryland. It took over two
days to get to Baltimore. In Baltimore, the three of us got off the troop train with
our duffel bags and got on a civilian train which took us to Wilmington, Delaware.
We were sitting in the aisle on our duffle bags, because the train was full.
The conductor came along and wanted to know if we had tickets and we told him
no. He looked at us and said, "Don't worry about it".
We got off at the Wilmington train station, caught a bus to New Castle,
Delaware where we took the ferry boat across the Delaware River to Pennsville.
We hiked up Ferry Road to Carney's Point to where we lived. We had no success
in getting a ride because everyone was going to work at DuPont in Deepwater,
N.J. It was really cold. The wind was blowing and we were standing there trying
to decide what to do. There was a taxicab stand near Main Street and Broadway.
One of the drivers came over and asked us where we were trying to get to. We
told him Carney's Point and Penns Grove. He said He said I'll tell you what I'm
going to do. I'll take you all home for a dollar. We counted our money and found
we had only $1.04 between the three of us. He took us home and we still had
four cents left. I don't know the man's name, but he sure did us a favor that day.
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After spending four days home, I was to report bock to Fort Meade, Maryland. My dad took me over to the Wilmington Train Station where I got a ticket
and boarded the train to Fort Meade. I arrived at Fort Meade in the afternoon.
We were assigned to barracks. We stayed at Fort Meade for three days. We were
issued new clothes and equipment and were given another hair cut. We were
then sent to Camp Kilmer, N.J. our final stop before going overseas. We were
there about three days and believe it or not, they gave us another hair cut.
We had one fellow in our group thot wouldn't take a bath and become
rather smelly. So, some of the guys took him into the shower and washed him
with yellow soap and a scrub brush. He turned a bright red.
The man reported the people that had given him the bath to the Captain.
The Captain immediately mode us all fall out in company formation. It was
snowing really hard. The Captain asked who did this. One of the guilty men
stepped forward and told the Captain how this man would not take a bath . The
Captain t hen proceeded to chew out the man who wouldn't take a bath. He told
him, as long as we have the facilities, he would toke a shower. End of incident.
We were issued new back packs and we had to pack them with everything
we owned. The next day we were taken to Hoboken, NJ to board the ferry to go
to New York harbor to board the troop ship, the General Gordon. There were
9000 troops put on board the ship. While on the ferry going to the troop ship, we
had to sit bock to back so we could push against each other, in order to stand
up, because the bock pocks were so heavy. We couldn't get up by ourselves. After
boarding the troop ship, we were assigned bunks which were really close to each
other. Our company was put all the way into the bottom of the ship. I can remember that my bunk was right near the frozen food locker. Every time they
would open the door around 5:00am, the cold air would freeze you really bad.
We received two meals a day. Our time was 9:00 A.M. and lunch 9:00 P.M. The
food was somewhat to be desired. For lunch, we could have a can of peanuts or
a candy bar, which we had to pay for. Needless to say, I got sea sick and was
sick just about the whole thirteen days it took to get to Marseilles, France. There
was one thing that happened on the troop ship that I had a hard time understanding. They were loading German prisoners of war onto the ship to take them
back to the United States. This didn't seem right to me. Taking them back to our
country where it was safe and sending us over there where it was so dangerous.
When we arrived in France, they took us to a camp site that was called
Tent City. They gave us a comforter, a cup of coffee and a couple doughnuts.
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The coffee
was really bad and the doughnuts were stale. But we ate them anyway.
The best port of the whole thing was the comforter. We were assigned
tents to sleep in. For the most port, almost all of us slept about twelve hours,
which we really needed after being on the troop ship for thirteen days.
We stayed at Tent City for a couple of days. Then we started the process of moving up through replacement depots heading for the front lines. Our first stop was
a city called Epinal, France.
We stayed there for a few days to get our new rifles and equipment. The
new rifles were packed in cosmoline, a rust preventative. They told us that there
was a fifty five gallon drum of gasoline to clean the cosmoline off of the rifles.
When we found the drum, it was like jelly. So many men had used it to clean
their rifles. But, we did the best we could with the cleaning. We then went to the
firing range to zero in our rifles. It was snowing and the snow was about eight
inches deep.
They gave us some live ammo and in order to get the first round in the
rifle, I had to use a knife to scrape the frozen cosmoline from the chamber. I finally got the bullet in the chamber and then fired the rifle. I never felt such a
kick and a big flame come out of the whole rifle. Apparently, all of the cosmoline
that was frozen in the barrel ignited and this really cleaned the rifle barrel out.
While at Tent City, I met a man from Paulsboro, NJ, which is a few miles
north of Penns Grove, where I lived. Over the years I have forgotten his name. I
don't even know if he survived the war. But, talking to him I found out that he
was going with a girl that used to be our neighbor. Her lost name was Simpkins.
After leaving Epinol, France, they took us up into the mountains to the
lost replacement depot. The depot consisted of several cottages which held about
ten men each. On the first night we had cottages assigned to us. We slept pretty
well that night after traveling all day.
During the second and lost at the depot, they come and took me and a
friend of mine, Bob Bartleson from Carney's Point, NJ down the road to guard a
cross road. It was a bad day as it was snowing and the wind was blowing pretty
hard. After a couple hours, they come and took Bob away and I never saw him
again until I returned home after the war and went back to work at DuPont. That
night they came and got me. They were sending me up to the front line. But, in
order to go into combat, you had to have snow packs or rubber lined boots. They
didn't nave my size which was size eight. Instead, they gave me size ten and told
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to stuff them with rags. Then I was introduced to a Second Lieutenant that
was returning to his outfit after being wounded.
We started hiking up the road to the front. The Lieutenant was about six
foot two inches tall and I was about five foot eight inches tall. As we were talking, he asked me my name and looked down at my feet. He said for a little guy
you sure have big feet. I explained to him how I was given size ten snow paks
and I only wore size eight.
He said that we couldn't have that. After joining the 79th Division that
night, I didn't think anymore about it. Then next morning the Lieutenant comes
with a new pair of snow packs, size eight for me. He gave them to me and said to
throw those size tens as far as you can. When you have to run, you have to able
to.
That night I joined the 79th Division, Company 0, 34th regiment... I was
introduces to the other men. We were in a house where at night we could have a
fire because at night the Germans couldn't see the smoke,
I was introduced to our medic "Doc" Smith. He was from Michigan.
"Doc" had won a Silver Star Medal for rescuing a wounded soldier from the
mine field. I asked him how he could tell where to walk when he carried out the
wounded soldier. He said he could see where the grass looked dead where the
Germans had planted the mines. He was a very brave man in my book.
They put me on guard duty with a fellow who had been in the war since
D-Day. We were stuck in the corner of a blown out building. He gave me first
shift 2-3 A.M. He curled up under a piece of canvas and went to sleep and left
me to stand guard. I was scared to death, imagining Germans were all around
me.
After about a half hour on guard, I thought I saw something move down
In front of me. The snow was pretty deep, I had heard about Germans wearing
white snow suits and what I saw moving was white. I tried to wakeup "Mac",
the fellow with me, but I couldn't. I aimed my rifle at the object and thought,
"Man, I have never shot anyone in my life", What a feeling. The object come
close and then I heard a "meow". It was a bit white Tom cat. Boy, what a scare.
The next morning I was telling one of the men about it. He said he had
pulled guard in the some spot and the floor of the building was shoulder high
and he said he felt something top him on the shoulder. Here it wos the same cat.
He said he was really scared.
We stayed in the village for a couple of days and then the Germans
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chased
us out. We had to pull out to regroup. Just after that, our outfit was
transferred from the 7th army to the 9th army, which was a much
stronger army.
We then started making a comeback and starting retaking ground we had
lost. The next several months were spent capturing towns and moving on towards the Rhine River, I can remember going without a bath for two or three
weeks at a time and eating nothing but K rations. What a diet. To get a shower,
three big tents would be set up. The first tent you would strip down, the second
tent you would take a shower and the third tent you would be given clean
clothes. One time we were taken to a German cool mine to get a shower in gigantic shower rooms. We took our shower with the German miners taking their
shower at the some time.
I can recall one night that we were sent into a night attack to capture a
German farm house. The engineers had cleared a path through a mine field and
had marked it with yellow ribbon, which we had to walk through so we wouldn't
set off any mines.
We arrived at the farm house and fighting was going on all around us.
Tracer bullets were flying everywhere. I was scared and so was everybody else.
We went into the farm house and went down into the cellar. We found about
twenty Germans sleeping and captured them. They had no fight left in them.
They were glad it was over.
We stayed at the farm house for three or four days, waiting to move
ahead. The farm house had a court yard with a stone wall around it. The wall
was about eight feet toll with doors on both sides and bock. I was put on guard
duty at the back door. Our BAR (Browning automatic rifle) was placed at t he
other door. All of a sudden we heard German voices. Two German soldiers
come walking down the road. We had cut their telephone wires and we figured
they were trying to find out what was wrong. They walked right up the road opposite the BAR man. He shot them both. One went down and the other one got up
and started to run. Since it was so dark, we didn't want to go out to see what was
going on. The one German on the ground moaned and cried for help all night
and then towards morning, he died. Later the next day, as we moved ahead, we
found the other man up the road about three hundred yards. He was dead. He
was about sixteen or seventeen years old. He had run all that distance carrying
his stomach in his hands, where he was wounded. While in Holland training to
cross the Rhine River, We stayed in a two story building. While talking to one of
my buddies, we heard a noise outside. We ran out and a V1 rocket was going
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overhead,
just missing the church steeple. It was on its way to Belgium. We
heard later that it had destroyed a whole block in one of the towns. One day a
boy and girl, which were brother and sister about 13 or 14 years old, came
down and were talking to us. They gave me a cross and told me it would help
keep me safe. I still have that cross after fifty years. I often wonder what happened to those children. We finally reached the time and place where we were
going to cross the Rhine River. I never saw so much artillery and men assembled
to cross the river. Our company dug in a grave yard about two miles from the
river. I saw a big haystack near us. I said to Bob, "lets get some hay for our foxholes". We went over to get some hay and about that time somebody said to get
out of there. There was a gun artillery piece camouflaged with the hay. We never did sleep that night because every gun and weapon the American's had fired
all night long was hitting on the other side of the river, tearing everything apart.
The next morning about six o'clock A.M, we started moving toward the
river. When we got to the river, we were loaded into assault boats, about twenty
in each boat at a time. We were token across the river at a town called
Dinslaken.
Once across the river, we had to get into same houses because the Germans were dropping mortars on us. , will never forget the house we were in.
There was a little old lady who was frightened. We tried to calm her down, but
she couldn't be made to understand that we were not going to hurt her.
She had disappeared when someone asked where she had gone. Someone
said they saw her going down into the cellar. We went down looking for her. She
had gone into a room in the cellar and locked the door. We finally got the door
opened, but it was too late, she had hung herself. Hitler had told all the civilians
how cruel the Americans were and how bad they would treat the people.
We finally started to move on across open fields, when we looked up and
saw about two hundred big airplane bombers coming towards us. But they were
our planes coming back from a bombing mission. We started to advance again
when we looked off about 200 yards in front of us, there were about 200 Germans coming towards us . As they came nearer, we could see that they were
guarded by two GI's. The Germans were glad to have been captured. They were
being sent back to the river to be put in POW camps.
We stopped for a break and there was another company on our right. I
heard someone call my name. I asked my sergeant of my squad if it was ok to go
see who was calling me. He said yes. I went over and found that it was a fellow
that I had taken basic training with. His last name was Rodenbaugh. He lived in
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Gloucester,
NJ he was telling me that they had captured some German women
soldiers. He said that they were really tough looking women.
We moved out again and about on hour later we came upon a railroad
line on top of a hill about twenty feet in the air. So, we stayed behind the hill. We
knew the Germans could not see us there. Some Second Lieutenant went up towards the top of the hill to check a dead German. The Germans saw him. We
were lying back against the hill. I looked back about 200 yards and saw a mortar shell land and then another about 100 yards back. The next one was louder.
Right away four or five mortar shell landed among us. Seven or eight men
wounded. Luckily, no one was killed. All this because that Lieutenant went up to
look at the dead German soldier. We stayed there behind the hill until dusk and
then we were sent ahead on a night attack to capture a factory about two or
three miles ahead.
We started out and soon we were walking through a corn field. About
that time a German fighter plane must have seen us. He came over and strafed
us with his machine guns. Luckily, no one was hit. He only mode one pass and
then left.
We moved into the factory without much resistance and in less than on
hour it was ours. We dug in for the night and didn't get much sleep. Everyone
was pretty nervous. We didn't know what would happen during the night. The
next morning we ate a delicious K ration breakfast and prepared to move out. As
we started through the factory, I saw a sight that I will never forget. There was a
row of about thirteen women laid on the ground side by side. There were all
dead. They must have been factory workers. We advanced quite a bit that day
and ended up in some woods, captured a German dugout with a series of trenches. We set up there for the night. That night the sergeant sent me and Bill Lunsford, a new replacement, about fifty yards ahead of the company. We set up a
listening post to warn the squad if any Germans were coming our way. We were
there for a couple hours, when we heard some Germans talking. They were moving a tank and getting ready to pull out. Bill asked me if we should dig a fox
hole. I said we better be as quiet as possible so the Germans wouldn't know we
were there. The rest of the night went uneventful. The next day, the Germans
starting shelling us with “Screaming Meemies”, (rockets). They sounded just
like a woman screaming. They had a lot of concussion. You laid on the ground
and cushioned your head on your arms, so you nose wouldn't start bleeding. We
also prayed a lot. Shortly after the shelling, we moved out. Some things that I
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write
about are not exactly in sequence. After fifty years it's hard to remember
things exactly. I do remember when we were dug in on the Rhine Herne Canal. We were on one side and the Germans were on the other side of the canal. It was sort of a waiting moment Things began to happen. We were in a
room on the second floor of a house that we were staying in. Four of us were
looking out the window and a fellow named Frank Jones, from Saint Louis,
Missouri was sitting on a table. Just then, a sniper shot through the window
and the bullet hit Jones in the leg. A million dollar wound. It didn't hit any
bones, just the fleshy port of the leg. He was taken away in a jeep and sent
home for good. The next morning, I stepped outside the back door to go to the
bathroom. Suddenly, the sniper shot and hit the bricks on the house just above
my head. Dirt from the bricks went down my neck. Needless to say, I ran back
into the house, realizing that I could have been killed. When the sniper shot
Frank Jones, a bazooka man, I don't recall his name, said "I am tired of that
sniper". We didn't know what he meant exactly. We all went downstairs after
Jones was shot. A short time later we heard an explosion. We thought the
house had been hit by a bomb.
What really happened was that the bazooka man went upstairs with
his bazooka. He closed the door and opened the window towards the direction
of the sniper that had been shooting at us. He saw the sniper hiding in a
smoke stack.
The bazooka man fired his bazooka and hit the stack, but he also set
the room on fire, burned off his eyebrows and part of his hair. He was lucky
he wasn't killed. Needless to say that sniper didn't bother us anymore.
One day we were moving up through a little town and fighting was
pretty heavy. We had a tank moving in front of us for protection. When we
come to the main intersection in town, coming down the street was a German
ambulance. Everybody stopped firing to let the ambulance go through. When
the ambulance started through the intersection the back doors opened and
two Germans opened f ire with a machine gun, spraying bullets everywhere.
The tank lowered its gun and put shell right in the ambulance. That took core
of the Germans with their machine gun.
As the war continued, we kept advancing. One night as we were digging in. a tank destroyer dug in with us. That night it come over their radio
that President Franklin Roosevelt had died. What a feeling we all had. Our
leader had died. What were we going to do? What a sad moment.
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The next morning we assembled, ready to move out. About four or
five of us were in a circle packing up our gear, when a white phosphorus
shell landed in the middle of us. The good Lord was with us, because no one
was hit.
As the war grew near its end, we moved into the Ruhr Valley, The
German prisoners started pouring in. They told us there were probably only
about 65,000 to 70,000 Germans in the Ruhr pocket. I think that there were
closer to 250,000 German troops.
About a week before the war was over, they took us off the front lines.
We were token to a city called Dortmund where we relieved some British
troops that were taking care of a Russian D. P. (displaced persons) camp.
The Germans had taken them prisoner and they were in bad shape. There
was a lock of food and they just didn't have anything.
We set up food kitchens and started feeding them. They were staying
in big apartment sized buildings and the food had to be carried back to each
building where the food was distributed out to the people. The Russians carried the food back in large pots and we went along as guards.
One day they had trouble in one of the buildings. A German 5th Columnist was causing trouble. So, our First Lieutenant went into the building
with his 45 pistol drown Pretty soon we heard two shots from the smaller
caliber pistol and then two shots from the Lieutenant's 45 pistol. All of a sudden the German jumped out of the ground floor window and ran straight at
me. I raised my rifle to defend myself, because he still had his pistol in his
hand.
He screamed out "Nit Shootsin". (Don't Shoot). Blood was streaming
out of his side and his arm was squirting blood all over. He threw down his
pistol, which was covered with blood, I picked it up and thought I finally got
myself a luger pistol, but the lieutenant came over and said "Sergeant, I'll
take the pistol." So, I lost it in a hurry.
Not long after that, they shipped our outfit bock into France to start
training for the invasion of Japan. They told us we were going to get thirty
days leave after we got back to the states. Then we would be sent to Japan
and that we would be in the first wave which was expected to have at least
one million casualties. What a terrible feeling. We just got through one war
and now we were going to be sent to another one, possible to be killed.
After training in France, President Harry Truman had the atomic
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bomb
dropped on Japan. Shortly, afterwards, the war in the Pacific come to an
end. I don't know if it was right or wrong to drop the bomb, but I feel that a lot of
American lives were saved and that I considered President Harry Truman my
hero.
It wasn't long before they sent us back to Germany for occupation duty.
We pulled duty in several towns. Our job was to protect the German towns from
the Russians. We had to keep the Russian soldiers from coming into the towns
and beating up the men, raping the women and stealing their food.
After doing occupation duty, our outfit was sent to Nuremberg, Germany
in March 1946 to serve at the war trials. I served there until June 1946. I was
then sent home to be discharged. While at the trials, my first job was to guard
the prisoners in their cells. We had to look through a little window to watch every move they made, so they couldn't do anything to harm themselves. We had to
work two hours on and four hours off. It was a rather stressful job. My friend
Don Radel from Minnesota became a courtroom guard.
Shortly after that they made me Sergeant of the Corridor Guard. Our job
was to escort the lawyers to talk to the criminals, which included Goering, Hess
and the rest of their group of criminals remember that there was a small room
set up as a theater. They showed all of the German prisoners and witnesses the
horror films the Germans had taken of the Concentration camps. They showed
the atrocities they committed against the Jews, such as putting them into the ovens alive and gassing them to death in the buildings they had made up for that
specific purpose. I was being sent home in June 1946. We were sent to La Horve,
France and then sent home from there.
When we arrived at Le Horve, German POW's were practically running
the camp. They ran the PX and the chow lines. I was so glad to get on the ship to
come home. It took us five days to cross the ocean. We arrived in New York harbor. After we docked, our company was put on buses and token to Camp Kilmer,
NJ. At camp Kilmer, we were unloaded and given places to sleep and then taken
to the mess hall. Boy what a feast, steaks and the whole works.
After a couple of days at Camp Kilmer, we were all lined up and were about to
go our different ways to go name. What a sad time after being together with a lot
of these fellows, which we would probably never see again. Everyone was crying
and nudging each other.
I was sent to Fort Dix and then to Philadelphia, Pa. then I caught another bus from Philadelphia to Penns Grove, NJ. I arrived in Penns Grove on July
3, 1946. Boy, it was hot.
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I then got a cab at Brown's Cab. Joe Santos was the driver. He took me
home. When I walked into the house, my mom started to cry. I can remember
that my youngest brotner Alan was 14 months old and I hod never seen him. He
looked at me and then at my mom. Finally, he put his arms out to me and let me
hold him.
Later, my pop come home from work. I hid in the next room and when he sot
down I came out. He couldn't believe I was home either. After supper, he took
me up to Bunco Bar for a beer. The following September 1946,
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my youngest brother Alan was 14 months old and I had never seen him. He
looked at me and then at my mom. Finally, he put his arms out to me and let me
hold him.
Later, my pop come home from work. I hid in the next room and when he
sot down I came out. He couldn't believe I was home either. After supper, he
took me up to Bunco Bar for a beer. The following September 1946, they hung a
lot of the war criminals and some went to jail. The Third Reich was ended and
the world was at peace.
I look back now and realize how terrible war was with men trying to kill
each other for what they think was right. What a waste of life. I always think how
many generations were affected by this.
I think of having to sleep in slit trenches, eating K rations, going without
a bath for days or weeks, laying on the ground and being so afraid when German rockets and shells would be falling around us, walking along a road and
seeing dead Germans and GIs alike. These things never leave you. I thought I
would throw up.
I thank God it is all over and I hope none of my children have to go
through a terrible thing like this. I guess God had a plan for me. Because He got
me home safe. -The End
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John Saunderlin
U. S. Navy
1942 – 1946
·
·
·
·
·
TOURS OF DUTY
Aug. 22, 1941 to Sept. 28, 1942 – Reported
Naval Training Station – Newport, RI
Sept. 28, 1942 to Oct. 2, 1942 – Transferred
to Receiving Station, Norfolk, VA - USS
Murphy (DD603)
Oct. 2, 1942 to Dec. 6, 1943 – Destroyer
Pool in Norfolk, VA
Nov. 1, 1943 – Promoted to Seaman First
Class
Dec. 6, 1943 to Jan. 26, 1944 – Boston - USS
HL Edwards (DD663)
BATTLES & CAMPAIGNS
· Nov 8, 1942 – Invasion of North Africa.
Objective – Fadelia
· July 10, 1943 – Invasion of Sicily
Objective – Gila
· June 15, 1944 – Invasion of Saipan
Objective – Screened
· July 1944 – Invasion of Tinian
Objective – Bombardment
· October 24, 1944 – Sea Battle of Suirgao
Strait
Objective – Torpedo attack on Japanese Fleet
· Oct. 17, 1944 - Bombardment and Invasion
of Palaus, Leyte
· Sept. 11, 1944 – Peleliu
· Jan. 6, 1945 – Linguyen
· April 1, 1945 – Okinawa
· March 21, 1945 – Kerrman Retto
· July 1945 – Le Shima & Kume Shina &
Occupation of Ominato, Hachinoke,
Yokosuko & Yokohoma of Japan.
COMMENTS
193
SERVED
U.S. Navy
August 22, 1942 – 1946
DEPLOYED
Europe
AWARDS
European Theater Ribbon (2
Stars)
Pacific Theater Ribbon (6 Stars)
American Theater Ribbon, Victory Medal, Good Conduct Ribbon & Philippine Liberation (2
Stars)
194
Lester Saunderlin
U. S. Navy
1941 – 1947 & 1951 - 1952
Tours of Duty
· Naval Training Station – Newport, RI
Boot Camp Co. 81 (11/41 – 12/41)
· Naval Operating Base – Newport, RI
Radio Station NAF (12/41 – 7/43)
· USS Henrico APA 45 (8/43 – 4/45)
Participated in D-Day Normandy June 6, 1944
Invasion of South France – August 15, 1944
Liberation of the Philippine Islands February & March
1945
Capture of Okinawa – Phase 1 & Phase 2 – March 23
thru April 26, 1945
SERVED
U.S. Navy
November 1941 – April 1947
January 1951 – April 1952
DEPLOYED
U.S.S. Henrico (APA45)
Worldwide
· On Board USS Sarasota APA 204
Com Trans Div 50 Staff (4/45 – 11/45)
· Naval Teletype School, San Diego, CA
Teletype Operating & Maintenance
(2/46 – 5/46)
· Joint Communication Activities, Guam
Radio Station NPN Teletype Maintenance (5/46 – 2/47)
· Recalled to Active Duty January 1951
· U.S.S. Hugh Purvis DD709 – Active Chief Radio Man
(1/51 – 4/52)
U.S.S. Sarasota (APA204)
U.S.S. Hugh Purvis (DD709)
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195
William Saunderlin
U. S. Navy
1945 – 1946
SERVED
U.S. Navy
February 22, 1945 – June 11, 1946
DEPLOYED
Shanghai, China on LSM 363
AWARDS
Occupational Service, World War
II, American Campaign, Asiatic Pacific Campaign, China Service Asia
Bar & 7 others.
Lester, John & William
Saunderlin
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196
LEWIS M. SCHNEIDER
U.S. NAVY
1944-1946
Lewis M. Schneider
SERVED
U.S. Navy
August 24, 1944 thru June 19, 1946
DISCHARGE RANK
Radarman Third Class
DEPLOYED
USS Lake Champlain (CV-39)
AWARDS
WWII Victory Medal
American Theater Medal
European Theater Medal
USS Lake Champlain (CV-39)
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197
GEORGE F. SCHRUFFER
U.S. NAVY
1943 – 1945
George F. Schruffer
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1943 – November 6, 1945
DISCHARGE RANK
Motor Machinist Mate First
Class
DEPLOYED
Europe
AWARDS
WWII Victory Medal
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198
Edward J. Seibert
U.S. Marine Corps
1944 – 1947
Edward J. Seibert
June 23, 1954 thru June 22, 1958
DEPLOYED
U.S.S. Arkansas
Participated in US Naval Bombardment of
Iwo Jima, Okinawa Gunto, Philippine Island
Area.
POSITION
Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun Crewman
DISCHARGE RANK
Private First Class
AWARDS
Pfc. Seibert witnessed the American Flag being
raised on Mount
Suribachi, Iwo Jima.
Good Conduct Medal;
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199
Joseph W. Seibert
U.S. Army
1942 – 1946
Joseph W. Seibert
August 29, 1942 thru January 7, 1946
POSITION
nd
132 Army Air Force Base Unit
Training Aircraft Tow Target and Reel Operator
DEPLOYED
Cuba
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
AWARDS
American Campaign Medal;
Good Conduct Medal;
WWII Victory Medal
SCHOOLING
Training School at Buckley Field, CO.
199
DAVID EARL SIMPKINS
200
U. S. MARINES
1943 – 1945
SERVED
U.S. Marines
May 15, 1943 – November 29,
1945
DEPLOYED
Okinawa – Asiatic Pacific
AWARDS
Certificate of Satisfactory Service
TITLE
Mr. David Earl Simpkins was a
Rifle Sharpshooter and a Special
AA Machine Gun Crewman.
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201
David Earl Simpkins
U. S. Marines
1943 - 1945
David Simpkins Jr.
Mr. David Earl Simpkins Jr. was born April 3, 1925, to David
Allen and Clara Mae (Smith) Simpkins in Alloway, New Jersey.
David grew up on a farm on the corner of Cobbs Mill Road
and Earnest Garton Road and attended Alloway Township
School where he was known as “Buddy” to his friends.
Obsessed with joining the U.S. Marine Corps, he did not graduate from Woodstown High School, but his senior year convinced his mother to sign enlistment papers for him since he
was underage.
David entered to United States Marine Corps on May 15, 1943.
When he enlisted, he was 67-1/2 inches high with blue eyes,
brown hair and ruddy complexion.
While in the service, he qualified as a rifle sharpshooter and AA
Machine Gun Crewman. His service included the Asiatic Pacific area from December 2, 1943 to November 8, 1945. He
participated in action against the enemy at Okinawa from April
7, 1945 to June 8, 1945.
SERVED
U.S. Marines
May 15, 1943 – November 29, 1945
DEPLOYED
Okinawa – Asiatic Pacific
DISCHARGE RANK
Private First Class
AWARDS
Certificate of Satisfactory Service
David received the Certificate of Satisfactory Service and was
honorably discharged as a Private First Class (Line) from the
M.B. Naval Training Center in Bainbridge, Maryland from the
United States Marine Corps Reserve on November 29, 1945.
(Continued on next page.)
When discharged he received a monthly rate of pay of $54.00
and five cents per mile from Bainbridge, MD to Salem, NJ
($5.10) and was paid $188.79 at the time of discharge.
David returned to his family home then located on Carpenter
Street in Salem, New Jersey where he met and married his wife,
201
TITLE
Mr. David Earl Simpkins was a Rifle
Sharpshooter and a Special AA Machine Gun Crewman.
202
David Earl Simpkins
U. S. Marines
1943 - 1945
David Simpkins Jr.
When discharged he received a monthly rate of pay of $54.00 and five cents
per mile from Bainbridge, MD to Salem, NJ ($5.10) and was paid $188.79 at
the time of discharge.
David returned to his family home then located on Carpenter Street in Salem,
New Jersey where he met and married his wife, Ruth Ellen Blanning, on February 22, 1947 at the Pentecostal Church in Salem. He worked briefly for the
Congoleum-Nairn, Inc. company in Salem then on to the Smokeless Powder
Plant of the Dupont Company at Carney’s Point, NJ.
David was also a student pilot under the G.I. training program studying for a
commercial pilot’s license. He held a private pilot’s license, land and sea rating. On March 6, 1948, David and his friend, Walter D. Muhs of Salem,
leased a Fairchild training plane from Albert Peacock of the Salem County
Flying Service located at the Penns Grove Airport and departed at 4:45 p.m.
for a routine training flight. Approximately one hour later, the plane crashed
on the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Line at Alloway Junction during aerobatics at low altitude killing both passengers.
At the time of the accident, David’s wife, Ruth, was pregnant with twin girls,
Kathleen and Christine, who were born approximately 3 weeks later.
Funeral services with full military honors for David Earl Simpkins Jr. were
held at the Newkirk funeral home on Walnut Street in Salem followed by his
internment in the Salem Baptist Church Cemetery in Salem, New Jersey.
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203
George H. Smith, Jr.
U.S. Army Air Force
1943 – 1946
George H. Smith, Jr.
March 20, 1943 Thru April 16, 1946
BRANCH OF SERVICE
U.S. Army Air Force
DISCHARGE RANK
SGT.
DEPLOYED
Central Burma
AWARDS
American Campaign WWII; Asiatic Pacific
Campaign Medal; World War II Victory
Medal
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HARRY Y. SMITH
U. S. ARMY
1942-1945
Harry Y. Smith
SERVED
U.S. Army
April 8, 1942 – October 14, 1945
DEPLOYMENT
North Africa
SPECIALTY
Tractor Driver
DISCHARGE RANK
Tec 4
AWARDS:
Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal; Good Conduct
Medal; Philippines Liberation Ribbon W/1
Bronze Star
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FREDERICK E. SNOWDEN
(KIA)
U.S. Army
1943-1944
Frederick E. Snowden
Served: U.S. Army
May 22, 1943 to August 5, 1944
RANK
PFC
DEPLOYMENT
Central Europe
AWARDS
Purple Heart
The following is a reprint of a newspaper
article printed in The Elmer Times Thursday, August 24, 1944.
FIRST ELMER YOUTH TO
DIE OVERSEAS
Pfc. Frederick E. Snowden is the
first Elmer youth to pay the supreme sacrifice in overseas action,
although Elmer had previously lost
one of its beloved airmen, when
Staff Sergeant Freddie C. Eifert was
killed in a plane crash in Arizona,
March 11, 1943, after returning
from a long period of antisubmarine patrol duty.
(Continued on next page)
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FREDERICK E. SNOWDEN
(KIA)
U.S. Army
1943-1944
The following is a reprint of a newspaper article
printed in The Elmer Times Thursday, August 24,
1944.
FIRST ELMER YOUTH TO
DIE OVERSEAS (Cont.)
Pfc. Snowden had been overseas only a short
time, having left England June 4th of this
year. He had spent Mother’s Day, May 14th,
in Elmer with his family and entered the
Army, May 20, 1943. He trained with an
infantry unit at Camp Shelby, Mississippi and
his wife had been there with him until recently. They were married on March 1,
1941, his bride being the former Charlotte
Dorothy Davis, daughter of Mr. & Mrs.
Robert Davis, of Elmer. She lives on Front
St. and has been employed by Watson’s 5¢ to
$1.00 store.
In addition to his wife and parents, PFC
Snowden is survived by one brother, John
O. , who lives in Pitman, and two sisters,
Mrs. Anna Charlesworth and Mrs. Dorothy
Adams, both of Elmer. He was born in
Camden, September 30, 1921 and was working at New York Ship previous to entering
the Army. Prior to that, he had been employed at the Iles and Shimp Garage, Elmer,
at the same time as Chester Snyder (of Centerton also KIA on August 1, 1944) was also
working there.
The sympathy of the entire community flows
out the bereaved families of these fine young
men who have made the supreme sacrifice in
defense of their country.
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FREDERICK E. SNOWDEN
(KIA)
U.S. Army
1943-1944
He was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously for military merit and wounds received in action resulting in death.
Frederick E. Snowden
Served: U.S. Army
May 22, 1943 to August 5, 1944
PFC FREDERICK E. SNOWDEN
The first Elmer war hero to give his life in
overseas action during WWII was laid to rest
today, Thursday, in Chestnut Grove Cemetery, Elmer.
Military funeral services for Pfc. Frederick E.
Snowden, son of Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Snowden were held from the Christy Funeral
Home, at 2P.M., with Rev. Carmault E. Jackson of Elmer officiating.
Business houses were closed during the service and flags were displayed throughout the
community.
Members of the Frank D. Sayre Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars, of Elmer, accorded full
military honors and acted as pall bearers.
The soldiers remains arrived in Elmer Tuesday for reburial from a European cemetery at
the request of his next of kin. Interment was
made in the veterans plot at the cemetery.
Stationed in France with the Army Infantry,
the last word received from Fred was written
August 1, 1944. A War Department message
dated August 21st informed that he was
“killed in action” somewhere in France on
August 5th.
207
The word of his death came on the same
day as that of PFC Chester Ogden Snyder
of Centerton, who also lost his life in action
in France four days previous. The same
announcement reported Pvt. Lester Hopkins, of Monroeville, as missing in action.
He was later found to be safe. The day was
indeed a sad one for this area bringing
home the tragedy of war with a crushing
blow.
PFC Snowden had been overseas only a
short time before he made the supreme
sacrifice. He entered the Army May 23,
1943. Prior to this he had been working at
New York Ship in Camden.
The popular young man trained with an
infantry unit at Camp Shelby, Mississippi,
and was later transferred to Fort George
Meade, Maryland, before going overseas to
England in June 1944.
He was born September 30. 1921 at Camden, and later attended Elmer Public
School. For a time he was employed at the
Iles & Shimp Garage in Elmer. He married
the former Charlotte Dorothy Davis, of
Elmer, March 1st, 1941.
In addition to his wife, who has since remarried, and his parents, the soldier is survived by a brother, John O. Snowden, of
Pitman, and two sisters, Mrs. Anna Charlesworth and Mrs. Dorothy Adams, of Elmer.
208
FREDERICK E. SNOWDEN
(KIA)
U.S. Army
1943-1944
Frederick E. Snowden
Served: U.S. Army
May 22, 1943 to August 5, 1944
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209
JOSEPH T. SORBELLO
U.S. ARMY
1942-1945
Joseph T. Sorbello
Served: U.S. Army
November 20, 1942 to October 31,
1945
DEPLOYMENT
Normandy, Northern France & Rhineland
AWARDS
Bronze Star Medal, Good Conduct
Medal, American Campaign Medal,
European-African-Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal w/three Bronze Battle Stars, World War II Victory Medal,
Combat Infantry Badge & WWII Honorable Service Lapel Button.
RANK
PFC
Joseph was a
WWII Veteran of the
US Army.
He served in
the
101st
Airborne
Division, C Company 506th
Parachute Infantry Regiment
as a Light Machine Gunner.
He participated in the following Battles & Campaigns: Normandy, Northern France and
Rhineland.
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Charles D. Sparks
U.S. Navy Seabees
1940 - 1945
Charles D. Sparks
October 16, 1942 Thru November 9, 1945
DEPLOYED
The Aleutian Islands
DISCHARGE RANK
Electrician’s Mate Second Class
Aleutian Islands Campaign
The Aleutian Islands Campaign was a struggle over the Aleutian Islands, part of the Alaska Territory, in the
Pacific campaign of World War II starting on 3 June 1942. A small Japanese force occupied the islands of
Attu and Kiska, but the remoteness of the islands and the difficulties of weather and terrain meant that it
took nearly a year for a far larger U.S./Canadian force to eject them. The islands' strategic value was their
ability to control Pacific Great Circle routes. This control of the Pacific transportation routes is why U.S.
General Billy Mitchell stated to the U.S. Congress in 1935, "I believe that in the future, whoever holds
Alaska will hold the world. I think it is the most important strategic place in the world." The Japanese reasoned that control of the Aleutians would prevent a possible U.S. attack across the Northern Pacific. Similarly, the U.S. feared that the islands would be used as bases from which to launch aerial assaults against
the West Coast.
The battle is known as the "Forgotten Battle", due to being overshadowed by the simultaneous Guadalcanal
Campaign. In the past, many western military historians believed it was a diversionary or feint attack during
the Battle of Midway meant to draw out the U.S. Pacific Fleet from Pearl Harbor, and was in fact launched
simultaneously under the same overall commander, Isoroku Yamamoto. However, historians Jonathan
Parshall and Anthony Tully have made an argument against this interpretation, stating that the Japanese
invaded the Aleutians to protect the northern flank of their empire and did not intend it as a diversion.
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GEORGE P. SPARKS
U.S. ARMY (KIA)
1944 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. ARMY
July 1944 – January 1945
The Elbe River Crossing
DEPLOYED
Germany
George entered the service in
July of 1944 and was shipped
overseas. He was killed in the
Elbe River crossing near
Madgeburg, Germany. He
served with the Heavy Artillary
in “The Hell On Wheels Division”
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Chester Spicer
U. S. Navy
1942-1945
Chet received a personal commendation for
helping to locate the bodies of six marines and
one officer who drowned when a landing craft
overturned in rough seas while on training
maneuvers at night for the Okinawa Invasion.
His personal feelings at the time: “As an 18year old sailor, I was very angry with Japan and I
wanted to get into the service to help protect the United
States and its people from Germany and Japan.”
SERVED
Stationed at U.S. Navy Repair Base at Noumea, New Caledonia, US Navy Repair Base at
Wellington, New Zealand, USS George Clymer APA27 Amphibious Personal Attack
Transport.
Sept. 20,, 1942 thru Oct. 11, 1945
Participated in the Following Invasions:
South Pacific
Bougainville, Nov. 1, 1943 – 3rd Marine Raiders
Guam, July 21, 1944 – U.S. Marines
AWARDS
Battle Ribbons & Battle Stars from War
with Japan in the South Pacific
Leyte Gulf, October 20, 1944 – U.S. Army
RATE
Okinawa, April 1, 1945 –
1st
&
6th
Marines
U.S. Navy
DEPLOYED
U.S. Navy Ship Fitter 1st Class
SHIP NAME & TYPE
USS George Clymer APA27
Amphibious Personal Attack Transport
212
213
FRANK W. STUBBINS, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1943 - 1945
Frank W. Stubbins, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Army
January 30, 1943 thru
December 31, 1945
DEPLOYED
Europe – 878th Airborne Engineers
DISCHARGE RANK
Sergeant (TEC4) Technician 4th Gr.
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal; American Campaign
Medal; European-African-Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal; WWII Victory Medal
Marksman M1 Carbine & Glider Badge
213
214
Geraldine Suchocki
U. S. Coast Guard
COMMENTS (Cont.)
SERVED
U.S. Coast Guard
February 3, 1944 – February 19, 1945
DEPLOYED
Out of New York City (Stateside Only)
COMMENTS
The Navy had its women called WAVES. The Army had
theirs call WACS. The Coast Guard was the next to open up
and ask for volunteers. The posters showed the girls wearing
beautiful blue uniforms. I pictured myself wearing one of
those. The Coast Guard Women were known as SPARS.
November 9, 1943 is a date I will always remember. New
Jersey had no recruiting office but I found the nearest one in
Philadelphia. At the time I was living in a rented room on
Kings Highway in Swedesboro. I had to flag down a Greyhound Bus so I could get to Philadelphia to enlist. Once I
arrived a long interview took place before I was given a
physical exam. Next was the aptitude testing which was a
breeze? My mind had me already marching in formation and
overflowing with patriotism, but some snags began entering
the process when I was asked to show proof of age.
My birth, for whatever reason, had never been recorded.
An old expired Prudential Insurance Policy was allowed. I
assumed I was in, but hold on… Snag No. 2 grabbed me.
Apparantly the proof of birth showed me at age 19 and
I was infrormed that the minimum age requirement was
age 21. That set me off. “The heck you say! That’s
ridiculous!” I argued my point. “Let me tell you…I think
that I am better able to take care of myself than your 21
year olds who have never had to support themselves.
My mother died in 1939 and my father passed long
before that. My sisters & brothers moved to Cleveland
and I was left to fend for myself. I kept up my
attendance at Woodstown High School until I graduated
with the Class of 1942.. I found a job as a Mother’s
Helper earning $3.00 a week plus room & board. In
November The DuPont Chemical Works in Deepwater,
NJ hired me as a Lab Techniytion, where I am now
working to support myself. Please consider my plea.
The Coast Guard must have use for me somewhere.”
I was sent home that day not knowing what the
outcome would be. Lo & behold, a letter came in the
mail informing me that I would be allowed to enter one
year sooner as I turned 20. January 10, 1943 was my
20th birthday. I dressed up and pinned a red rose in my
hair, took the bus to Philly in great anticipation. I
walked in a said, “Here I Am!” The officer in charge
pulled my records and said “All we need now is your
Oath of Allegiance.” She called a photographer to take
my picture as I held up my right hand. From that
moment on I belonged to Uncle Sam for the duration of
World War II.
214
215
PAUL B. THOMAS
U.S. AIR FORCE
1940-1945
Paul B. Thomas
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
September 15, 1940 thru November 12, 1945
DISCHARGE RANK
SGT
DEPLOYED
Central Europe – 338th Bomb Squad (H)
European Theater of Operations
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal
American Service Medal
American Defense Service Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal
Pistol Marksman Ribbon
215
216
Charles C. Timberman
U. S. Navy
1943-1946
SERVED
U.S. Navy
April 13,, 1943 thru March 9, 1946
DEPLOYED
Pacific Theater
AWARDS
Asiatic Theater Medal, American
Theater Medal, Victory Medal
RATE
U.S. Navy Signal Man
216
217
JOHN W. TOMS
U.S. ARMY
1944 - 1947
John W. Toms
SERVED
U.S. Army
April 21, 1946 To October 2, 1947
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC
DEPLOYED & POSITION
Pacific Theater
Light Truck Driver
AWARDS
Marksman M-1 Rifle
WWII Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal - Japan
217
218
IVAN L. TOUCHSTONE, JR
U. S. NAVY
1946 - 1951
Ivan L. Touchstone, Jr.
Served: U.S. Navy
September 1946 - August 1951
DEPLOYMENT
USS Valley Forge Aircraft Carrier CV-45
USS Boxer Aircraft Carrier CV-21
DISCHARGE RANK
Aviation Machinist’s Mate
U.S.S. Valley Forge (CV-45)
U.S.S. Boxer (CV-21)
218
219
Frank A Waluska
U. S. Marines
1945 - 1947
SERVED
U.S. Marine Airwing
Flying Tigers
November 1945 – November
1947
DEPLOYED
Midway, Pieping China, Okinawa, Guam, Asiatic Pacific Area
ASSIGNMENT
U.S.M.C VMF218
AWARDS
Honorable Service Lapel Button, USMC Honorable Discharge Button & Good Conduct Medal
219
220
JOHN H. WEBER
U.S. NAVY
1943-1946
Served: U.S. Navy
February 6, 1943 – March 7, 1946
DEPLOYMENT
Atlantic Theater
DISCHARGE RANK
Electrician’s Mate First Class
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal, Victory Medal,
American Theater Medal
STATIONED
NTS – Bainbridge, MD; RS Boston,
MA; USS PC 1085; USNH NOB Norfolk, VA; USS APL 56; RS NOB Norfolk, VA
USS PC1085
220
221
HARRY WEIBLE
U. S. ARMY AIR CORPS
1945
SERVED
U.S. Army Air Corps
1945
DEPLOYED
Philippines, Shang Hai & China
RANK
Sergeant
221
222
Fred Weiss, Sr.
U. S. Navy
1944-1946
Typical PT Boat
SERVED
U.S. Navy
June 6, 1944 thru June 8, 1946
DEPLOYED
South Pacific
AWARDS
Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal
RATE
U.S. Navy Signal Man
222
Charles E. Wentzell
223
U. S. Army Air Corps
1942-1945 & 1950 – 1953
World War II
Korean War
SERVED
U.S. Army Air Corps
May 16, 1942 thru September 4,
1945
January 16, 1951 thru March 31,
1953
DEPLOYED
WWII-England & Korean War
AWARDS
Distinguished Flying Cross, Air
Medal, 5 Oak Leaf, POW Medal,
Purple Heart, European Defense,
Korean Service Medal, Distinguished
Military Service Medal with Silver
Star from Korea, WWII Victory
Medal, and Korean Defense Service
Medal.
223
224
WILLIAM (MIKE) J. WETZEL
U.S. ARMY
1944 – 1946
William (Mike) J. Wetzel
SERVED
U.S. Army
November 28, 1944 to December 2, 1946
DISCHARGE RANK
Private First Class (PFC)
DEPLOYED
Pacific
Served as a Radio Transmitter, relaying
messages from a forward observation
post to units in the Pacific Sector for 13
months with 621st Aircraft Control and
Warning Battalion
224
225
IRVING WOOD
U. S. ARMY
1943 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Army
1943 – 1945
DEPLOYED
Europe
AWARDS
Purple Heart, 4 Battle Stars, Good
Conduct Medal
NEWS
From Salem Standard & Jerseyman
June 28, 1945
Sergeant Irving S. Wood, son of Mrs. Maude
Wood of Salem, Tank Commander Co. D,
749th Battalion, has been awarded the Purple
Heart. He participated in campaigns in Normandy, Northern France & Germany.
225
226
JOHN T. WOOD
U. S. NAVY CBS
1942 - 1945
SERVED
U.S. Navy
Seabees
1942 – 1945
DEPLOYED
Iceland, England & France
AWARDS
Asiatic Theater
226
227
WALTER ZARIN
U. S. ARMY
1944 - 1946
COMMENTS
Walter Zarin was drafted into the U.S.
Army while working on the family farm in
Penton at the age of 20. Upon completion
of basic training at Camp Blanding in
Jacksonville, FL, Walter was ranked as a
Private. He was immediately deployed to
the European Theater where he served as a
“L Company” Rifleman in the 104th Infantry Regiment of the 26th Yankee Division. He still recalls walking w3ith his
company continuously through France and
germany and sleeping in open fields with
only 2 sets of clothing, no meals for days at
a time and no facilities for months. L
Company, which consisted of 110 soldiers,
suffered many losses from bombings and gun
battles. It was completely replaced 3 times
over a 4 month period.
SERVED
U.S. Army
1944 - 1946
DEPLOYED
Germany & France
AWARDS
Purple Heart & Bronze Star
227
228
749th Tank Battalion
Fights 194 Days in
Succession
749th
COMMENTS
Tank Battalion Fights 194 Days in Succession
The 749th Tank Battalion holds what is believed to be an all time record
for an armored unit, 194 Days in Combat. The men of the Battalion
traveled more than 2,000 Miles with their tanks in France & Belgium
after landing on Utah Beach on June 28, 1944.
Following their landing in Normandy with the First Army, this unit
spearheaded the attack on La Haye du Puits and led the combat teams
which later liberated Fougeres, Laval and Le Mans. Swinging northward
early in August, the Tank Battalion then in Patton’s Third Army, participated in closing the Falaise Gap. The Battalion advanced to MantesGassicourt on August 20, 1944 and was the first tank unit to cross the
Seine River. Continuing north again as part of Patton’s Third Army, the
Battalion was among the first tank units to reach Belgium.
In the early part of September 1944, the 749th Tank Battalion was given
the mission of protecting the right flank of Gen. Patton’s Third Army
and advanced to the vicinity of Joinville. This unit also spearheaded the
attach on Foret de Parroy during the German breakthrough in November 1944, the 749th aided in the destruction of a large enemy force defending the Bois de la Garenne and went on to flank Vaucourt. During
the drive to seize the Saverne Gap, the towns of Avricourt, Maussey,
Autrepierre, Reichcourt, St. George and Faulrey were liberated. Sarrebourg was liberated on November 20th, 1944 and the tanks of the Battalion then supported the assult to the northeast to crumple the Maginot
Defenses and press on to the Siegfried Line in Germany. The first reorganization of the Battalion came on January 14, 1945 after 194 days of
continuous combat.
228
229
229
230
230
231
231
232
SALEM COUNTY
WORLD WAR II
VETERANS
20TH REUNION
1962
Photo Submitted by Lester Emery
232
233
SALEM COUNTY
WORLD WAR II
VETERANS
SPECIAL
FLAG DAY LUNCHEON
JUNE 14, 2013
LEFT to RIGHT: Ed
Crispen, Earl Moore, Ty Ayars, Lester Emery,
Sandy Wentzel, Roland Davis, Dave Drummond, Earl Graham &
Donald Hyson.
Photo Taken By Paul Reed
233
234
KOREAN WAR
JUNE 25, 1950 – JULY 27, 1953
AND THE 1950’S
THANK YOU.
Two little words can mean so much, but two words is
not enough to express our gratitude for your service.
The sacrifices you have made, as well as those who
gave the last full measure of devotion can and will
never be forgotten!
THANK YOU ALL!
234
235
KOREAN WAR
VETERAN’S LUNCHEON
SEPTEMBER 15, 2014
Left To Right: Robert Chevreuil, Vincent A. Torchio, Jr., Charles
“Sandy” Wentzell, Paul Lamenteer, Richard L. Villec, Willard Guth,
James Temmermand, Bob Mitchell, Lester Emery, Eugene Slavoff,
John M. Spargo, and Arnold Shelton
235
ANTHONY ARCIDIACONO
236
U.S. ARMY
MARCH 1951 – DECEMBER 1952
Anthony Arcidiacono
March 1951 Thru December 1952
DEPLOYED
Germany
.
Korean War Memorial – Washington, D.C.
236
237
GEORGE ATWELL
U. S. MARINE CORPS
1951-1954
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
April 1951 to April 1954
DEPLOYED
Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC
AWARDS
Korean Service Medal, National Defense
Service Medal, United Nations Medal;
Good Conduct Medal; Sharp Shooter;
Sea School
237
238
CHARLES N. BEATTY, SR.
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1952-1954
Charles N. Beatty, Sr.
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
January 21, 1952
thru
January 20, 1954
RANK
Lance Corporal
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Sharpshooter Medal
Sharpshooter Medal
National Defense
Service Medal
238
239
JAMES BILLINGS
U.S. ARMY
1953 – 1955
James Billings
January 1953 Thru January 1955
DEPLOYED
Camp Pickett, VA
Fort Meade, MD
rd
U.S. Army 3 Armored Calvary Regiment
.
239
240
JOSEPH C. BRACALE, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1951-1953
Joseph C. Bracale, Jr.
Served: U.S. Army
October 23, 1951 – October 9, 1953
DEPLOYMENT
Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal (T)
AWARDS:
Korean Service Medal w/3 Bronze Service Stars; United Nations Service Medal
240
241
KENNETH F. BURDEN
U. S. ARMY
1948 - 1952
SERVED
U.S. Army
1948 to 1952
DEPLOYED
Japan; Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
Cpl
AWARDS
Bronze Star; Occupation Medal
(Japan); Good Conduct Medal;
Korean Service with Four (4) Bronze
Campaign Stars
241
Kenneth F. Burden
U.S. Army
242
1948 – 1952
COMMENTS
Kenneth F. Burden
1948 thru 1952
DEPLOYED
Japan
st
Battery B, 31 Field Artillery, 7th Division
.AWARDS
Bronze Star, Good Conduct & Korean Service
with 4-Bronze Campaign Stars
242
Corporal Kenneth F. Burden,
Artillery, United States Army entered the military service from the
State of New Jersey. While a member of Battery B, 31st Field Artillery,
distinguished himself by meritorious
achievement in connections with
operations against an armed Enemy
at Chuchon, Korea on 22 February
1951. On this date after every effort had been made to establish wire
communications across a wide, fastflowing river, including use of the
rocket launcher. Corporal Burden,
unhesitatingly, volunteered to swim
the river and carry the wire across.
Twice in the crossing, Corporal
Burden was submerged by the swiftness of the current. After reaching
the far shore, he made a return trip,
carrying another line back. The
establishment of wire communications across the river was the only
means of communications that the
forward elements of the 7th Infantry
Division Artillery had with its rear
elements. Corporal Burden’s meritorious achievement on this occasion was an inspiration to his comrades and reflects great credit on
himself and the military service.
243
Ivan R. Canaday
U.S. Army
1958 – 1961
Ivan Russell Canaday
July 7, 1958 thru June 9, 1961
DEPLOYED
Oakland, CA & Okinawa, Japan
DISCHARGE RANK
SP-4, E-4, T
AWARDS
Parachutist Badge
Marksman (Rifle)
Sharpshooter (Pistol)
Good Conduct Medal
243
244
ROBERT C. CHEVREUIL
U.S. ARMY
1946 – 1949 & 1951
Robert C. Chevreuil
SERVED
U.S. ARMY
6/20/1946 to 4/12/1949 &
January thru September 1951
INACTIVE RESERVES
May 1949 thru May 1952
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
DEPLOYED
Vienna & Salzburg, Austria
63rd Signal Battalion
(1951) Korea
229th Signal Operation Co.
AWARDS
Army of Occupation Medal
World War II Victory Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Korean Service Medal
244
245
JOHN F. CHRUSTOWSKI
U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS
1936-1968
Served: U.S. Army
Army Air Corps 1936 –1945
US Air Force Reserves 1945 - 1968
DEPLOYMENT
China, Burma, India, US, Cuban Missile Crisis
AWARDS
SSBN Deterrent Patrol Insignia
DISCHARGE RANK
Lt. Col.
245
246
KENNARD C. COLEMAN
U.S. ARMY
1959 - 1962
Kennard Cornelius Coleman
SERVED
U.S. Army
June 5, 1959 to June 4, 1962
DISCHARGE RANK
SP-4 (E4) (T)
DEPLOYED & POSITION
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
Ordnance Supply Specialist
246
247
WILLIAM COOMBS
U.S. ARMY
1950 – 1951
Served: U.S. Army
October 1950 – December
1951
RANK
st
1 Lieutenant
Deployment:
Pyongyang, North Korea
Seoul, Taego, South Korea
AWARDS
Bronze Star
247
248
Stewart A. Cross
U.S. Navy
JULY 1950 – JULY 1954
Stewart Andrew Cross, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Navy
July 27, 1950 to May 11, 1954
DEPLOYED
Western Pacific, Pacific Fleet,
34-Months in Korean Waters, South China Sea,
Philippine Sea & Japan
DISCHARGE RANK
FP-3
Surface Warfare Clasp
248
249
STEWART A. CROSS, JR.
U.S. NAVY
1950 - 1954
Stewart Andrew Cross, Jr.
DEPLOYED
SERVED
U.S. Navy
July 27, 1950 to May 11, 1954
U.S.S. O’Brien DD-725
U.S.S. Walke (DD-723)
U.S.S. Carpenter DD-825
AWARDS
United Nations Service Ribbon w/Korean Clasp; Korean Service Ribbon w/4-Bronze Campaign Stars; Navy Occupation Ribbon
w/Asian Clasp; R.O.K. Korean War Service Ribbon; National Defense Service Ribbon; China Service Ribbon; American Defense
Commendation Ribbon; National Guard N Reserve Commemorative Ribbon; National Guard Combat Action Ribbon; CIVILIAN
AWARD – N. J. Distinguished Service Medal from Gov. Christine Todd Whitman; Navy Commendation Ribbon; Korean Presidential
Unit Citation; Surface Warfare Clasp (Pg.-248).
249
250
EDWARD DARE
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1951 – 1953
Edward Dare
Served: U.S. Marine
Corps
1953 to 1954
250
251
Lewis S. Davis, III
U. S. Army
1951 - 1953
Lewis S. Davis, III
SERVED
U.S. Army
December 7, 1951 – February 26, 1953
DEPLOYED
Bad Kissingen, Germany
TITLE
Mr. Lewis Davis was a Radio Dispatcher
and to be one of many who patrolled the
outbound road at that time
RANK
Corporal
251
252
BENJAMIN J. DECINQUE
U.S. ARMY
1952 – 1954
Benjamin Joseph DeCinque
Served: U.S. Army
September 25, 1952 to September 9, 1954
DEPLOYED
KOREA
DISCHARGE RANK
1st Lt.
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal, Korean
Service Medal, United Nations Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Bar
252
253
JOHN H. DILKS
U. S. NAVY
1952 - 1956
Served: U.S. Navy
U.S.S. Gilbert Islands
DISCHARGE RANK
Seaman SN (E-3)
John H. Dilks, life member of the Joseph P.
Toulson VFW Post 253, Elsinboro. Served
as Commander from 1972 to 1973
“Oooooh! And some leather is exchamged for canvas!”
John Dilks, Boxing on board the U.S.S. Gilbert Islands.
253
254
JOHN H. DILKS
U. S. NAVY
1952 - 1956
John H. Dilks
Served: U.S. Navy
March 25, 1952 – April 11, 1956
DEPLOYMENT
Atlantic, Pacific, Caribbean & Mediterranean
U.S.S. Gilbert Islands
DISCHARGE RANK
Seaman SN (E-3)
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Korean Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal
Left to Right: John’s brother
Bill Dilks, His Mother Nelda &
John Dilks
254
255
WILLIAM “SMOKE” G. DILKS
U. S. NAVY
1952 - 1956
William “Smoke” G. Dilks
Served: U.S. Navy
February 13, 1952 – February 9, 1956
DEPLOYMENT
USS Hyman DD732
DISCHARGE RANK
Radioman RN3
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Navy Occupation Service Medal
(European Clasp)
L to R: William “Smoke” Dilks, (his Dad) Bill
Dilks & (His Brother) Jack Dilks
U.S.S. Hyman (DD732)
255
256
KARL J. DONELSON
U.S. ARMY
1950 - 1953
Karl John Donelson
SERVED
U.S. Army
March 21, 1950 thru March 20, 1953
DISCHARGE RANK
SGT (T)
DEPLOYED & POSITION
73rd Engineering Group
Korea
Heavy Equipment Operator
AWARDS
256
257
KAY H. DORRELL
U.S. AIR FORCE
1953 - 1957
Kay Horace Dorrell
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
April 8, 1953 to April 7, 1957
DISCHARGE RANK
S/SGT(T)
DEPLOYED
851st AC&W Sq. NAHA Air Force Base,
OKINAWA
727th AC&W Sq. Myrtle Beach, SC
AWARDS
Korea Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Med-
257
258
JOSEPH J. DYER, SR.
U.S. NAVY
1948 - 1952
Joseph J. Dyer, Sr.
Served: U.S. Navy
August 3, 1948 thru March 7, 1952
DEPLOYED
USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31)
USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47)
DISCHARGE RANK
RD-2
SPECIALTY
Radar-man
AWARDS
Korean Service Medal; United Nations Ribbon;
Navy Occupation Service (Asia Clasp); Good
Conduct Ribbon; China Service Ribbon
258
259
JOSEPH J. DYER, SR.
U.S. NAVY
1948 - 1952
USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31)
USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47)
259
260
E. LARRY ERDNER
U.S. ARMY
1954 – 1956
Earl Larry Erdner
Served: U.S. Army
May 27, 1954 to May 15, 1956
DEPLOYED
Korea
Army Security Agency
DISCHARGE RANK
SP-3 (T)
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal & National Defense Service Medal
CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT
For Demonstration of Superior Ability in Handling His Infantryman’s Weapon Receiving a Score of 217 on Range .No. 18
Winter accommodations while stationed in Korea.
260
261
GEORGE EVANS
U.S. AIR FORCE
1949 - 1954
George E. Evans
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
January 11, 1949 To November 24, 1954
DISCHARGE RANK
Airman First Class
DEPLOYED & POSITION
Japan – Teletype Operator
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
Korean Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal (Korea)
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
NDSM – GCM - AOOM
ROK-PUC
KSM
261
UNSM(K)
262
CLARENCE M. EVERINGHAM
U. S. NAVY
1951 - 1955
Clarence M Everingham
SERVED
U.S. Navy
March 1, 1951 thru
February 24, 1955
DEPLOYED
Greece, Italy, Portugal & The
Pacific
DISCHARGE RANK
ME-2 (E-5)
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal & National
Defense Medal
USS Vulcan (AR-5)
262
263
JAMES M. EYLER
U. S. ARMY
1956 - 1958
James M. Eyler
Served: U.S. Army
September 5, 1956
To
September 5, 1958
DEPLOYMENT
Chinon, France
DISCHARGE RANK
Pvt. 2
USNS Buckner - U.S. Army Transport Ship
263
264
JAMES FIELD
U.S. ARMY
1951 – 1953
SERVED
U.S. Army
1951 to 1953
U.S. Army Reserve
1953 to 1959
AWARDS
United Nations Ribbon
Korean Service Ribbon
Bronze Star
264
265
ALLEN FINLAW
U.S. ARMY
1953 – 1954
SERVED
U.S. Army
January 1953
to
December 1954
265
266
ALBERT W. FISHER
U.S. NAVY
1947-1951
Served: U.S. Navy
August 12, 1947 – August 10, 1951
DEPLOYMENT
Mediterranean Sea, Far East (South China Sea,
& Korea
USS Manchester (CL-83)
AWARDS
Korean Service Medal
DISCHARGE RANK
MM2 (E5)
MEDITERRANEAN (1947-1949)
The USS Manchester completed her shakedown cruise in the Caribbean and returned
to Boston, her home port, March 26m
1947. There she was equipped with an experimental plastic cover for her bridge to be
tested on her first transatlantic crossing.
On April 18, she steamed for the Mediterranean to lend visible support to the Truman
Doctrine of march 12th. Returning to the
east cost in June, she conducted a Naval
Reserve training cruise out of Newport, RI.
She then resumed her Mediterranean Cruise
on June 25th, returning to Boston on November 30th. The USS Manchester completed two more deployments with the 6th fleet
(February 9th to June 26th, 1948 & January
3rd to March 4th, 1949) before departing
Philadelphia on March 18th for assignment
with the Pacific Fleet.
(USS Manchester CL83)
266
(Continued on Next Page)
267
ALBERT W. FISHER
U.S. NAVY
1947-1951
FAR EAST (1949)
The USS Manchester arrived at
Long Beach on April 3, 1949 and
departed two weeks later for the
politically volatile Far East. Entering
the harbor at Tsingao, China on
May 5th. The cruiser operated in the
Yellow, East China and South China Seas until returning to Long
Beach on November 28th.
Inchon-Seoul transport complex, she
moved north to bombard North Korean
troop concentrations on Tungsan Got,
while aircraft from her strike force hit
the railroad at Ongjin on September
27th. This action effectively slowed reinforcement of Communist forces in the
south by disrupting their supply lines
and keeping their troops occupied in
defensive action.
During this time, the National Chinese Forces, having suffered extreme setbacks, had begun their
withdrawal to the island of Taiwan
on July 16th and the People’s Republic of China had been proclaimed at Peiping, October 1, 1949.
The Manchester then steamed with her
task group around the peninsula to support the invasion at Wonsan. On December 3rd, the cruiser rejoined TF77
and steamed to Hungnam to support the
complete evacuation of that port and the
demolition of its facilities. Completing
this operation, the task force continued
to defend UN Units, affecting their safe
withdrawal from untenable positions.
KOREAN WAR (1950-1951)
The Manchester arrived at Sasebo, Japan, in early September and joined
Task Force 77. As part of a carrier
group, she commenced operations in
the Yellow Sea, supporting United Nations Forces air efforts against the elongated Communist communications
lines by coastal patrol, blockade and
bombardment. On September 15th, the
Manchester provided fire support for
the landings at Inchon. After the establishment of major control of the
267
She continued to conduct shore bombardment activities along the northeast
coast, primarily at Wonsan and Songjin,
for the remainder of her first Korean
combat tour.
On June 1st, the USS Manchester departed Korean waters for Yokosuka en route
back to Long Beach, arriving in California on June 15th.
268
RUSSELL FITHIAN
U.S. ARMY
1953 – 1955
Russell Fithian
Served: U.S. Army
January 21, 1953 to
January 20, 1955
DEPLOYED
Company “B” 1st Battalion, 3rd
Armored Calvary Regiment
DISCHARGE RANK
CPL (T)
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
268
269
HARRY J. FRANCESCHINI
U.S. ARMY
1957 TO 1959
Harry J. Franceschini
SERVED
U.S. Army
April 2, 1957 – April 1, 1959
DISCHARGE RANK
SP-4
DEPLOYED
AIT – Ft. Benning
Ft. Sill Oklahoma
POSITION
COOK & BAKER
I had my Basic Training in Fort Benning,
GA and received additional training for
Cooking & Baking. Following my training
I was transferred to Ft. Sill, OK as a Cook
& Baker for the Heavy Artillery School
Officers. I met some wonderful people
while at Ft. Sill and have many fond memories of those years.
Ft. Sill Welcome Center
Harry Franceschini
269
JOHN FRANCESCHINI
270
U.S. ARMY
1950—1956
John Franceschini
(Far Left)
November 1950 Thru November 1956
DEPLOYED
Germany
.
270
271
OAKFORD H. GANDY
U.S. ARMY
1953 – 1955
Oakford Horace Gandy
Served: U.S. Army
January 21, 1953 to
January 20, 1955
Discharge Rank
Cpl (T)
DEPLOYED
Korea
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal,
United Nations Service Medal
Korean Service Medal
KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL
271
272
WALTON L. GIBSON, JR.
U. S. NAVY
1957 - 1959
Walton Louis Gibson, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Navy
November 28, 1957 thru
October 27, 1959
DEPLOYED
U.S.S. Witek (EDD 848)
U.S.S. WITEK
DISCHARGE RANK
FN (E3) Fireman
272
273
FRANKLIN W. GREEN
U.S. NAVY
1953 - 1957
Franklin William Green
SERVED
U.S. Navy
September 9, 1953 to September 11, 1957
DISCHARGE RANK
SM2
DEPLOYED & POSITION
KOREA
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
273
274
GROVER G. GREEN - KIA
U.S. ARMY
1951 TO 1952
Grover G. Green
SERVED
U.S. Army
October 23, 1951 to October 23, 1952
Killed in Action
RANK
PV-2
DEPLOYED
KOREA
AWARDS
Purple Heart
NJ Korean War Commemorative Medal
274
275
JOSEPH GROSSO
U.S. ARMY
1949 – 1953
Served: U.S. Army
November 1949 to August 1953
Korean War Memorial—Washington, DC
275
276
WILLARD N. GUTH
U.S. ARMY
1952-1954
Served: U.S. Army
July 21, 1952 – July 13, 1954
DEPLOYMENT
Korea
AWARDS
Korean Service Medal w/ Bronze
Star; United Nations Service Medal;
National Defense Service Medal
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
Comments
“After completing basic training and
wheeled vehicle mechanic school at
Ft. Knox, KY, I served with the 24th
Infantry, 19th Regiment, 3rd Battalion
in Korea from early 1953 until July of
1954as a vehicle mechanic for my
battalion.” “ In September 2012, my
wife, Donna, and I were able to revisit Korea under the Korean Revisit
Program, a fantastic program by a very
appreciative people. I received the
“Ambassador For Peace” award
along with a medal.
Photo Taken after Boot Camp
Ambassador For Peace
Medal
Photo Taken during Korean Service
276
277
DONALD F. GUTHRIE
U.S. ARMY
MARCH 1951 – MARCH 1953
Donald F. Guthrie
Served: U.S. Army
March 20,1951
Thru
March 5, 1953
DEPLOYED
KOREA
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC
AWARDS
Korean Service Medal with 1-Star
United Nations Service Medal
277
278
BELFORD HARRIS, JR.
U.S. AIR FORCE
1949-1973
Belford Harris, Jr.
Served: U.S. Air Force
1949 – 1973
DEPLOYMENT
U.S.; Spain; Thailand; Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
Master Sgt.
AWARDS.
278
279
EDWARD E. HASSLER, SR.
U. S. NAVY
1951 - 1954
Edward E. Hassler, Sr.
SERVED
United States Navy
August 27, 1951 to June 4, 1954
DEPLOYED
Korea and China
AWARDS
Korean Service Medal with 3 Silver Stars, China
Service Medal, Korean Presidential Medal, United Nations Medal, Cold War Victory Commemorative Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation
Commemorative Medal.
COMMENTS
I enlisted in the Navy in August of 1951 at the age of 17. I shipped out to Korea
on a tin can, The USS Radford, and spent the next 3-years on board. I became a
radioman & traveled from the Pacific to the Arctic & to Antarctica. My home port
was Pearl Harbor which provided many fine memories.
My squadron was designated for the security of the Hydrogen Bomb (Operation
Ivy in 1952). Ten days later I was positioned just 1-mile from the detonation of the
A-Bomb. My squadron was later withdrawn from Korea to assist in preventing the
Communist Chinese from invading the Formosa Straits. Our goal was to protect
Chiang Kai-Skek, The President of National China.
One fond memory of my time in the service was on board ship sharing a Thanksgiving meal with children from a Chinese orphanage. Later that evening we used a sheet
to serve as a movie screen and enjoyed a movie with the children. We laughed as
they ate ice cream & we watched Mickey Mouse.
279
280
WILLARD E. HEMPLE
U. S. NAVY
1952 - 1956
Willard Edward Hemple
Active: March 11, 1952 thru March 2, 1956
USNR: March 2, 1956 to March 10, 1960
DEPLOYED
USS Roanoke (CS-145)
DISCHARGE RANK
Machinist Mate Third Class (MM3)
AWARDS
Navy Occupation Service Medal - Europe
National Defense Service Medal
USS Roanoke (CS-145)
280
281
GROVER S. HERRMAN
U.S. NAVY
1950 – 1952
Grover S. Herrman
1950 thru 1952
DEPLOYED
Korea
.AWARDS
Korean Service Medal, Republic of
Korean War Medal, United Nations
Service Medal
281
282
WILLIAM HILL
U.S. ARMY
1952 TO 1954
William Hill
SERVED
U.S. Army
October 14, 1952 – September
21, 1954
DISCHARGE RANK
SGT (T)
DEPLOYED
Korea
AWARDS
Korean Service Medal with 1Bronze Service Star
United Nations Service Medal
National Defense Service Medal
282
KENNETH L. HOMAN
283
U.S. NAVY
1951 – 1956
Kenneth Lee Homan
SERVED
U.S. Navy
May 28, 1951 to June 7, 1956
DEPLOYED
Submarine Service
USS Greenfish (SS-351)
USS Wahoo (SS-565)
DISCHARGE RANK
Fire Control Technician—First Class
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
United Nations Service Medal
USS Greenfish (SS-351)
USS Wahoo (SS-565)
283
284
WILLARD J. HUMPHRIES
U.S. ARMY
DECEMBER 1952 – OCTOBER 1954
Willard Humphries
December 1952 Thru October 1954
DEPLOYED
Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal (T)
AWARDS
Combat Infantry Badge, Korean Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Republic of
Korea Presidential Unit Citation Badge.
To My “Thunderbirds”
With the signing of the Armistice Agreement and the subsequent cease fire order, the bitter fighting of the past 3-years has
been suspended. It must be thoroughly understood by all of us that this suspension in the fighting does not necessarily mean that
the war is over. It does mean, however, that both sides have agreed to cease fire for an interval to allow the representatives of the
United Nations and the Communists to attempt a peaceful settlement of the Korean problems by means of political conferences.
With this pause in the fighting, I extend my heartiest congratulations to each & every Thunderbird for the magnificent job you
have done. The combat record established by the 45th Infantry Divisions one in which you, our army and our country, can well be
proud. From that bitter winter day in December 1951 when advance units of the Division first entered combat until the cease fire at
2200 hours 27 July 1953, the Thunderbirds have blazed their way across the Korean front with brilliant actions in seizing suc h now
famous terrain features as Old Baldly and Eerie and in the gallant defense of Sandbag Castle, Heartbreak Ridge and Christmas Hill.
Whenever we met these international communist gangsters along the front we clobbered them. Because of this they developed a
deep rooted fear of those who wear the thunderbird patch.
The political conference (The word itself tells you as much about it as I could tell you in many words) is very simply two si des
conferring. When there are two sides, there is always a possibility of disagreements to be resolved. The United Nations Representatives, with God’s help, will be able to accomplish this, if the Communists really desire peace. If not, we must be ready to counter
vigorously and decisively any of their hostile actions.
And it is for that possibility that we must now prepare ourselves. The period
ahead is marked with uncertainty for we have learned through bitter experience that we must be on guard against the changeable
policies of the Communists. In these days of watchful waiting we are going to concentrate on readying ourselves and our equipment
so that, if called again, we can take off and keep going with the ultimate goal of complete defeat of the Chinese Laundrymen and
their North Korean Stooges whose attempted aggression we have defeated.
At this proud and hopeful moment, I ask you to join me in a tribute to those Thunderbirds who gave their lives here in Korea.
We will always cherish their memory. Their names will join those of Thunderbird heroes of other wars who gave the same measure
of unselfish devotion. Our Mothers and Fathers and all of our loved ones who have lived, worked and have been happy in our great
country, know as only Americans can how, the meaning that Freedom for which you have been fighting.
Brigadier General
P. D. Ginder
284
285
ROBERT E. HUNTER
U.S. ARMY
1955 - 1958
Robert E. Hunter
SERVED
U.S. Army
June 20, 1955 to June 16, 1958
DISCHARGE RANK
SP3
DEPLOYED
Ft.
Riley
285
286
DONALD JOHNSTON
U.S. ARMY
1953 TO 1955
Donald Johnston
SERVED
U.S. Army
1953 - 1955
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
DEPLOYED
Korea
POSITION
Signal Corp
286
287
WILLIAM C. JONES, JR.
U.S. AIR FORCE
1948-1952
William C. Jones, Jr.
October 11, 1948
Thru
August 1, 1952
DEPLOYED
Japan and Korea
26th Radio Squadron
DISCHARGE RANK
Airman First Class
AWARDS
Japan Occupation Medal
Korean Service Medal
Merit Unit Commendation
Good Conduct Medal
287
288
NICHOLAS J. KUHAR
U.S. ARMY
1953 - 1957
Nicholas John Kuhar
SERVED
U.S. Army
July 26, 1949 to September 22, 1952
DISCHARGE RANK
Sgt (T)
DEPLOYED
KOREA
AWARDS
Purple Heart, United Nations Service Medal, Silver Star, Korean Service Medal with 5
Bronze Service Stars, Republic of Korea
Presidential Unit Citation
288
289
ANTHONY LABRIOLA
U.S. ARMY
SEPTEMBER 1949 – OCTOBER 1952
Anthony Labriola
U.S. Army
September 6, 1949 THRU
October 1, 1952
DEPLOYED
Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
Sergeant
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal
Presidential Unit Emblem
National Defense Service Medal
Korean Service Medal w/ Bronze Star
United Nations Service Medal
289
290
PAUL C. LAMANTEER
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1951-1954
Paul Charles Lamanteer
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
March 5, 1951 thru March 4, 1954
DISCHARGE RANK
Sergeant
DEPLOYED
KOREA – Fox Co. 2nd BN 1st MAR DIV
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal; United Nations Service Medal; Korean Service Medal w/3-Stars; Purple
Heart; Combat Action Ribbon; Navy/Marine Corps
Presidential Unit Citation; Korean Presidential Unit
Citation; United Nations Ribbon; ROK WSR
(Republic of Korea War Service Ribbon)
290
291
Alan Craig Light
U.S. Army
1946-1947
Alan Craig Light
Served: U.S. Army
June 25, 1946 – October 29, 1947
DEPLOYMENT
Ft. McClellan, AL
Camp Stoneman, CA
Yokohama, Japan
POSITIONS
Airplane & Engine Mechanic
188th Para Glider Infantry
AWARDS
World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal (Japan)
In 1945-46 while in High School, Craig was a
volunteer in the Civil Air Patrol Cadets, Penns Grove
Squadron. They met weekly at the Pershing School on
Shell Rd. While in High School he worked at the
Penns Grove Airport. Rather than being paid, in exchange for his work Craig received Flying Lessons and
in April of 1946 completed the required hours and
training to receive his Private Pilot License.
In 1946 he enlisted in the Army for 46 months
beginning with his Basic Training at Ft. McClellan, AL.
In September he went to Camp Stoneman in California
and from there to Yokohama, Japan for the occupancy
of Japan. During his stay in Yokohama, he volunteered in the 11th Airborne Division and eventually was
assigned to the 188th Para Glider Infantry at Camp
Schimmelpfennig in Sendai, Japan. He was sent to
Yamoto for Jump School and Glider training and in
January of 1947 was transferred to Lanier Field near
Sendai. This was the drop field for Paratroop Training
and all observation planes were kept there. He was a
member of the ground crew. October of 1947 he was
transferred back to Camp Stoneman for discharge.
291
292
Thomas M. Luff
U.S. Army
1952 - 1955
Thomas M. Luff
SERVED
U.S. Army
June 17, 1952 thru June 16, 1955
DEPLOYED
Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
AWARDS
 Good Conduct Medal
 Expert Marksman
 Korean Service Medal
 United Nations National Defense
 United Nations Military Service
 Korean Presidential Citation
 Distinguished Service Medal
 Korean Service Medal (from Korea)
 Military Service Medal
 Combat Medicine Badge
292
293
CHARLES W. MAGONAGLE, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1952
Charles W. Magonagle, Jr.
Served: U.S. Army
1952
DEPLOYED
Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
293
294
VICTOR MAJOR
U.S. AIR NATIONAL GUARD
1951-1954
Victor Major
SERVED
Reserve of the U.S. Air Force
January 13, 1951 – January 12, 1954
DEPLOYED
142nd Fighter Bomber Squadron.
Delaware Air National Guard
POSITION HELD
Sr. Aircraft Mechanic
DISCHARGE RANK
Airman Second Class
294
295
GEORGE MAJOR
U.S. AIR FORCE
1951 – 1952
VICTOR MAJOR
U.S. AIR FORCE
1952
FRANK MAJOR
U.S. AIR FORCE
1952
United States Air Force
295
296
THOMAS MCKEE
U. S. ARMY
1955-1957
SERVED
U.S. Army
February 15, 1955 to February 15,
1957
DEPLOYED
Camp Gordon, GA; Ft. Jackson,
S.C.; Ft. Hood, TX
DISCHARGE RANK
E-4
Thomas spent 11 weeks in basic training in Camp Gordon, Georgia; Temporary Duty for 14 weeks with the
101st Airborne in Ft. Jackson, SC in
Radio School. Transferred to 1st Armored Division Headquarters Combat
Command “A” at Fort Hood, TX and
attended (NCO) Non-Commissioned
Officer Training School. Following
his graduation Thomas returned to his
company.
(See Richard McKee in Back of Book)
296
297
JAKE MEHAFFEY
U.S. COAST GUARD
1957-1961
Edward Jacob Mehaffey
Served: U.S. Coast Guard
March 19, 1957 – March 17, 1961
DEPLOYMENT
Sandy Hook Lifeboat Station;
Coast Guard Cutter “Campbell”
DISCHARGE RANK
2nd
Class Boatswains Mate
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal
USCGC Campbell
297
298
DONALD W. MILLER, SR.
U. S. MARINE CORPS
1948-1952
Served: U.S. Marine Corps
February 18, 1948 – February 17, 1952
DEPLOYMENT
USS Okanogan
SPECIALTY
Machine Gun Unit Leader
DISCHARGE RANK
T Sgt.
AWARDS:
Honorable Discharge Button;
US Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal
Embarked the USS Okanogan at
Morehead City, NC then to Norfolk, VA. From Norfolk they
sailed to Argentina and Newfoundland & participated in “Cold
Weather Operation”.
298
299
THEOPHILUS MITCHELL
U.S. ARMY
1949-1952
Theophilus “Bob” Mitchell
SERVED
U.S. Army
January 24, 1949 thru June 10, 1952
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
DEPLOYED
JAPAN & KOREA
AWARDS
Army of Occupation (Okinawa); (1) Overseas Bar; Combat Infantry Badge; Korean
Service Medal w/3 Bronze Service Stars
Bob Mitchell, Left
299
300
JAMES R. MONTAGNA
U.S. ARMY
1950 – 1953
James R. Montagna
SERVED
U.S. Army
1950 to 1953
DEPLOYED
Korea
SERVED
U.S. Army Reserve
1954 to 1960
DEPLOYED
Armory, New Market St. – Salem, NJ
AWARDS
Korean Service Metal w/Bronze Star
NJ Senate/General Assembly Citation
NJ Korean War Medal
Salem County Military Service Medal for
Honorable Service
United Nations Service Medal
Distinguished Service Medal
Korean War Service Medal (Awarded on
the 50th Anniversary from Leader of South
Korea.)
300
301
JOSEPH V. MONTAGNA
U.S. ARMY
1948 - 1952
Joseph V. Montagna
Served: U.S. Army
1948 – 1952
DEPLOYMENT
Fort Bragg, NC; Camp Hood, TX; Okinawa;
Ft. Sill, OK
RANK
PFC
Ft, Sill, OK
301
302
ROBERT E. MONTAGNA
U.S. NAVY
1951 - 1955
Robert Eugene Montagna
Served: U.S. Navy
May 23, 1951 – May 17, 1955
DEPLOYMENT
USNTC- Bainbridge, MD; USS Midway;
USS Antietum
DISCHARGE RANK
DKSN (Disbursing Clerk Seaman)
AWARDS
National Defense Service Metal
Navy Occupation Service Metal w/ European Clasp
Good Conduct Metal
U.S.S. Antietam (CV-36)
302
U.S.S. Midway (CV-41)
303
HARRY A. MOORE
U.S. ARMY
1955 – 1959
Harry Allen Moore
SERVED
U.S. Army
3rd Armored Division
Jan. 11, 1955 to Dec. 29, 1956
U.S. Army Reserves
Dec. 30, 1956 to Jan. 10, 1959
DEPLOYED
Germany
DISCHARGE RANK
SP-2
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal
303
304
KARL R. MORGAN
U.S. AIR FORCE
1950—1953
Karl Rodney Morgan
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
May 31, 1950 to December 31, 1953
DEPLOYED
China HEA
K-10 Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
Airman Second Class
AWARDS
Korean Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal
National Defense Medal
Korean Memorial—Washington, DC
304
305
ALVIN MYERS
U.S. ARMY
1949 – 1952
Served: U.S. Army
Infantry Division
January 1949 to January
1952
2nd
DEPLOYED
Korea
AWARDS
Combat Infantry Badge
PUC
United Nations Service Medal
Korean Service Medal w/ 5Bronze Stars
Bronze Star V
305
306
JESSE C. NELSON, SR.
U. S. ARMY
1953 - 1955
SERVED
U.S. Army
July 1, 1953 to July 10, 1955
DEPLOYED
Germany
DISCHARGE RANK
Sergeant
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal;
Overseas Deployment Ribbon
306
FLOYD D. NEWKIRK
307
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1950 – 1955
Served: U.S. Marine Corps
DEPLOYED
Korea
AWARDS
Combat Action Ribbon USN/CSMC
1st Marine Division Presidential Citation
Navy United Commendation USN/USMC
Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Medal
Korean Service Medal w/ 3-Stars
United Nations Korean Service Med307
308
JOHN C. PANKOK
U. S. NAVY
1950-1954
Served: U.S. Navy
July 31, 1950 – May 19, 1954
DEPLOYMENT
Boston, Key West, Norway
DISCHARGE RANK
Damage Control DC-2
AWARDS:
N.T.C. Honor Man of Company #238
National Defense Service Medal; Navy Occupational
Service Medal (Europe)
The education that I received during my tour of duty
was very helpful to me when I left the service and
returned to work as a civilian.
U.S.S. Petersen (DE-152)
308
309
THOMAS A. PANKOK
U.S. NAVY
1951 – 1955
Thomas A. Pankok
March 1951 thru March 1955
DEPLOYED
Around the World
1951-1953 Stationed at Green Cove
Springs Naval Station aboard the USS
ARD 14
1953-1955 Stationed aboard the USS
Mellette APA 156 out of Norfolk, VA.
.AWARDS
European Occupation, Good Conduct
& National Defense
309
310
THOMAS A. PANKOK
U.S. NAVY
1951 – 1955
Served: U.S. Navy
March 19, 1951 – March 15, 1955
DEPLOYMENT
USS ARD 14; USS Mellette APA-156
DISCHARGE RANK
Damage Control DC-2
AWARDS:
Good Conduct Metal
National Defense Service Medal;
Navy Occupational Service Medal (Europe)
I loved being in the U.S. Navy. I went halfway around the world and was able to go to
Rome where I had an audience with Pope
Pius XII.
U.S.S. Mellette (APA-156)
310
311
GEORGE PARRIS
U.S. ARMY
1953 – 1955
George Mundell Parris
SERVED
U.S. Army
1953 to 1955
DEPLOYMENT
Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC (T)
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal,
Korean Service Medal,
United Nations Service Medal,
National Defense Service Medal
311
312
FLOYD N. PENNAL, JR.
U.S. NAVY
1950 – 1954
Floyd N. Pennal, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Navy
Dec. 27, 1950 to Oct. 19, 1954
DEPLOYED
USS Whetstone
DISCHARGE RANK
BM-3
AWARDS
Korean Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal
Good Conduct Award
National Defense Medal
312
HOWARD M. ROBERTS
(KIA)
313
U.S. ARMY
1948 – 1950
Youth Killed in Korea
Had Three Brothers in
W o r l d
W a r
I I
Penns Grove – Pvt. Howard Roberts is
Salem County’s first casualty in the
Korean War. His parents, Mr. & Mrs.
Theodore M. Roberts of Auburn Pennsville Rd., received a telegram
last weekend informing them that their
son was killed in action July 24 in
Korea.
Further details, the telegram
said, would follow in a letter.
Shocked by the news of their son’s
death, the DuPont pensioner and his
wife were torn between disbelief and
the fact that the telegram had all the
markings of an official message from
the
adjutant
generals
office.
As friends and relatives gather
around to console them they were constantly aware of the ironic fact that
three other sons came through World War
II unscratched, while their youngest
son (who celebrated his 20th birthday
on Christmas Day)had been snuffed out
among the first casualties in the curr e n t
m i n o r
s k i r m i s h .
In his last letter he said “I can’t
tell you where I am but you can guess.”
He had been in Northern Japan with the
77th Infantry Division, as his parents
knew that he must have been sent to the
K o r e a n
B a t t l e
f r o n t .
The former Regional High School
Student Enlisted in the Army July 15,
1948 for a three-year hitch.
He was
the youngest of eight children.
His brother John, who is now living
at home, served with the Army Ordinance
Department in Algeria during World War
II.
Lenny, who lives on Wiley Road,
was in thick of the European fighting
in Patton’s Army; and Kenneth, whose
address is 15 Bordon Beach in Penns
Grove, was a MP with the Air Force in
England. A fourth brother, Calvin, who
lives at 50 Maple Avenue, Central Park,
is a carpenter at the DuPont Chambers
W
o
r
k
s
.
The young serviceman is also survived by three sisters. Mrs. Gertrude
Lilley of 18 Maple Ave. Central Park;
Mrs. Florence Ida Brown of Trenton; and
Mrs. Doris Walker of Salem
Howard M. Roberts
(KIA)
DEPLOYED
July 15,1948 Thru July 24, 1950
Howard Roberts with his (3) Brothers
John, Lenny & Kenneth
313
314
HOWARD M. ROBERTS
(KIA)
U.S. ARMY
1948 – 1950
August 14, 1950
THIS REGION’S FIRST KOREAN
WAR CASULTY HAS BEEN RECORDED
IN THE DEATH OF PVT HOWARD ROBERTS, THE 20 YEAR OLD SON OF MR.
AND MRS. THEODORE ROBERTS OF
AUBURN PENNSVILLE ROAD.
MRS. ROBERTS REVEALED TODAY
THE RECEIPT OF A TELEGRAM FROM
THE WAR DEPARTMENT INFORMING
HER OF THE DEATH OF HER YOUNGEST SON. THE TERSE COMMUNICATION FIXED DEATH OF THE YOUNG
INFANTRYMAN AS OF JULY 24.
ENLISTING IN THE ARMY TWO
YEARS AGO, PRIVATE ROBERTS WAS
SENT TOJAPAN AFTER BASIC TRAINING
IN THE STATES. HOW LONG HE HAS
BEEN IN THE KOREAN FIGHTING IS
NOT KNOWN, BUT HIS LAST LETTER
HOME WAS WRITTEN IN A FOXHOLE
ON JULY 16.
WORKED AT DEEPWATER
ATTACHED TO THE 77TH DIVISION, THE VICTIM WORKED FOR A
SHORT TIME FOR THE AIR REDUCTION
CORPORATION’S DRY ICE PLANT AT
DEEPWATER BEFORE ENTERING THE
SERVICE.
HE ATTENDED PENNS
GROVE HIGH SCHOOL. THREE OTHER
SONS OF THE UPPER PENNS NECK FAMILY SERVED IN WORLD WAR II, ALL
SEEING OVERSEAS DUTY. THEY WERE
JOHN, LENNY AND KENNETH.
IN ADDITION TO HIS PARENTS
AND THREE VETERAN BROTHERS, THE
VICTIM IS SURVIVED BY ONE OTHER
BROTHER, CALVIN ROBERTS; THREE
SISTERS, MRS. GERTRUDE LILLEY, CENTRAL PARK; MRS. FLOENCE BROWN,
WOODSTOWN; AND MRS. DORIS WALKER, SALEM.
314
Howard M. Roberts
(KIA)
DEPLOYED
July 15,1948 Thru July 24, 1950
Howard Roberts with his (3) Brothers
John, Lenny & Kenneth
ROBERT ROBINSON
315
U.S. MARINES
1949 – 1957
Served: U.S. Marine Corp
1949 to 1957
DEPLOYMENT
Korea
AWARDS
Purple Heart
315
316
THOMAS ROMANSKY
U.S. ARMY
1953 – 1955
“I volunteered for the draft at the
Salem Draft Office in October of 1953.
After completing my physical in Newark
in November 1953, I was taken to Ft.
Meade, MD, placed in a holding company
and issued some army clothing and in
about two weeks I was sent to Camp
Pickett, VA.
At Camp Pickett I had eight weeks
of basic training and eight weeks of advanced infantry training. After the sixteen
weeks of training, I was sent to Brooke
Army Hospital at Ft. Sam Houston, in
Austin Texas for my training as an Army
Medic.
After my medical training, I went to
treat wounded soldiers coming back from
Korea. After several months, I was transferred to Ft. Hood Army Hospital where
we also treated wounded soldiers coming
back from Korea. Sometimes I worked in
the Emergency ward treating injury cases
from accidents, etc. While on an ambulance run, I almost had to deliver a baby in
the ambulance, but we made it to the
hospital in time. A month later, while on
leave, I did help a neighbor girl deliver her
baby on her front porch. This was a wonderful experience for me that I will never
forget.
Again, after several months at the Ft.
Hood Hospital, I was transferred to the
46th Armored Battalion, 4th Armored Division, where I worked in a Mash Hospital
Unit. We received a lot of good experience in that unit.
On November 3, 1955 I was honorably discharged from the Army, but I never
discharged the Army from my heart.
Being in the Army at this time helped me
grow up quickly and to become a better
man from my experiences.”
Thomas Romansky
316
Thomas Romansky
November 4, 1953 Thru November 3. 1955
DEPLOYED
Newark, NJ; Ft. Meade, MD; Camp Pickett,
VA; Ft. Sam Houston, TX; Ft. Hood, TX
46th Armored Battalion, 4th Armored Division Mash Hospital Unit
.AWARDS
Medical Badge, American Theater, Good
Conduct Ribbond & Presidential Unit Citation
317
DONALD L. RUSH
U.S. NAVY
1954 – 1957
Donald L. Rush
SERVED
U.S. Navy
January 18, 1954 to April 12, 1957
DISCHARGE RANK
Fireman FN (E-3)
DEPLOYED
U.S.S. Allagash (AO-97)
Commandant Fourth Naval District
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Naval Occupational Service Medal
USS ALLAGASH
317
318
WILLIAM SEEHOUSZ
U.S. AIR FORCE
1949 – 1952
William Seehousz
January 1949 thru October 1952
DEPLOYED
Johnson Air Force Base, Japan
.AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal, Distinguished Service
Medal, Commemorative Medal, Special
Senate Recognition Salem County Military
Service Medal for Honorable Active Service
in the US Air Force & Special Congressional Recognition
318
319
JOHN L. SEENEY
U.S. NAVY
1952 TO 1955
John L. Seeney
SERVED
U.S. Navy
February 13, 1952 to August 29, 1955
DISCHARGE RANK
(SA) Seaman Apprentice
DEPLOYED
USS Gwin
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Navy Occupation Service Medal
Jack Seeney, III with Uncle Joe Seeney & PopPop John (Jack) L. Seeney
319
320
Harry H. Seibert
U.S. Air Force
1954 – 1958
Harry H. Seibert
June 23, 1954 thru June 22, 1958
DEPLOYED
Continental United States; Newfoundland and Canada
DISCHARGE RANK
Airman First Class
AWARDS
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award;
Good Conduct Medal;
National Defense Service Metal
320
321
ARNOLD S. SHELTON
U.S. ARMY
1952 - 1954
Arnold Seay Shelton
SERVED
U.S. Army
July 21, 1952 thru April 27, 1954
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal (T)
DEPLOYED & POSITION
SVC Co. 224th Infantry
Korea
Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic
AWARDS
Combat Infantry Badge
National Defense Service Medal
Korean Service Medal w/2 Bronze Stars
United Nations Service Medal
321
322
WILLIAM E. SHIPMAN
U.S. COAST GUARD
1957-1961
Served: U.S. Cosat Guard
January 13, 1957 – January 13, 1961
DEPLOYMENT
3rd District, Tarumitao Point, Phillipine Island
DISCHARGE RANK
ET-1
AWARDS.
322
323
RUSSELL SINCLAIR
U.S. NAVY
1952 – 1955
Served: U.S. Navy
July 1952 to July 1955
DEPLOYED
Norfolk, VA
Great Lakes
USS Ajax
Japan
San Diego
Brooklyn, NY
AWARDS
National Service Medal
U.S.S. AJAX
323
324
EUGENE V. SLAVOFF
U.S. ARMY
1951 - 1953
Eugene V. Slavoff
SERVED
U.S. Army
September 18, 1951 to August 25,
1953
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC(T)
DEPLOYED
Germany
6th
Armored Calvary Regiment
AWARDS
Army of Occupation Medal - Germany
324
325
HAROLD M. SMITH
U.S. AIR FORCE
1948 – 1952
Enlisted in the Air Force in October 1948 with dear friend
Howard Hopkins.
“I went
to school in Colorado for Primary Armament, which contained things such as bombing
systems, rocket systems, all
types of bombs, guns, fuses, etc.
June of 1950 the Korean War
was started and in October of
1950 I was put in a B-26 Bomber wing, 452 BM Wing, 730
Bomb Squadron.”
Harold M. Smith
1948 Thru 1952
Deployed
Japan
“I had a crew of (8) Air
Force men and (8) Japanese
men who loaded planes with
ammo, 50 caliber bombs of all
sorts, and napalm in our wing.
Most of it came from World
War II. We had 15 planes per
squadron with a total of 45
planes. We lost many planes
and crews with low level bombing.”
“Looking back, I am honored to have served my country”
Harold M. Smith
325
326
HAROLD M. SMITH
U.S. AIR FORCE
1948 – 1952
Harold Marvin Smith
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
October 19, 1948 to August 25, 1952
DEPLOYMENT
Korea
DISCHARGE RANK
Staff Sergeant (T)
AWARDS
Korean Service Medal with 3-Bronze Stars
326
327
JAMES H. SMITH
U.S. ARMY
1957
JAMES H. SMITH
Served: U.S. Army
May 5, 1957 – October 28, 1957
DEPLOYMENT
Ft. Knox, KY
DISCHARGE RANK
PVT-2
AWARDS
Sharpshooter (Rifle)
327
328
JOHN M. SPARGO
U.S. ARMY
1953 – 1955
John Martin Spargo, III
SERVED
U.S. Army
February 26, 1953 to January 31, 1955
DEPLOYED
Korea
G&C 23rd Infantry Regiment
2nd Infantry Division
DISCHARGE RANK
SGT (T)
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
United Nations Service Medal
Korean Service Medal
328
329
George P. Sparks, Jr.
U.S. Navy
1958 - 1962
George P. Sparks, Jr.
1958 to 1962
DEPLOYED
Mediterranean aboard
U.S.S. Des Moines
U.S.S. Enterprise (Inaugural Crew)
DISCHARGE RANK
Electronic Technician 2nd Class
U.S.S Des Moines
U.S.S. Enterprise
329
330
James E. Temmermand
U.S. Army
JUNE 1948 – MAY 1952
James E. Temmermand
SERVED
U.S. Army
June 1948 to May 13, 1952
DISCHARGE RANK
SGT
DEPLOYED
KOREA
AWARDS
Combat Infantry Badge
Purple Heart
330
331
LEROY H. THOMPSON
U. S. ARMY
1955-1958
Served: U.S. Army
August 12, 1955 – July 31, 1958
DEPLOYMENT
West Germany & Berlin
SPECIALTY
Counter Measure Search Specialist
DISCHARGE RANK
SP5, (E-5) (T)
AWARDS:
Commendation Ribbon;
Army of Occupation of Berlin Medal; Good
Conduct Medal
331
332
LAURENCE F. TIMBERMAN
U.S. NAVY
1951-1954
Laurence F. Timberman
SERVED
U.S. Navy
January 16, 1951 thru December 1954
DISCHARGE RANK
Engineman 2nd Class
DEPLOYED
Atlantic & Pacific
Patrolled Strait of Formosa (Taiwan) During Conflict
AWARDS
Korea Service Medal, China Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal (NJ), Good Conduct Medal,
National Defense Service Medal
On the morning of July 26, a United States Navy air search partly composed of thirteen planes was scouring the high seas 15 miles east of
Chinese communist-held Hainan Island. Object of the search was to spot
survivors of the ill-fates British airliner that had been shot out of the skies
by Chinese Red aircraft just 3-days before. At approximately 1010- hours
two strange fighter planes “painted mottled olive drab with Chinese communist markings” attacked the search group’s topmost three-plane division
from seaward. Reaction was instantaneous. With orders to “hit hard if
attacked” still fresh in their minds, the US Navy pilots wheeled to meet the
unprovoked red onslaught. As group leader commander George C. Duncan later described it: “It was one big ball in
the air”. The “Ball” lasted only 2 or 3 minutes. When it was over, both communist fighters had been “splashed in
the sea.” The full details surrounding this “hottest of Cold War” incident were released for the first time on Saturday
morning when, during a press conference held on board the carrier USS Hornet, local newsmen obtained firsthand
accounts of the air battle.
332
333
VINCENT A. TORCHIO, JR.
U.S. ARMY
1953 - 1955
Vincent Augustine Torchio, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Army
May 11, 1953 – April 22, 1955
DISCHARGE RANK
CPL (T)
DEPLOYED
KOREA - 1309 7th Signal Company
AWARDS
Korea Service Medal; Good Conduct
Medal; United Nations Service Medal;
National Defense Service Medal
333
IVAN L. TOUCHSTONE, JR
334
U. S. NAVY
1946 - 1951
Served: U.S. Navy
September 1946 - August 1951
DEPLOYMENT
USS Valley Forge Aircraft Carrier CV-45
USS Boxer Aircraft Carrier CV-21
DISCHARGE RANK
Aviation Machinist’s Mate
U.S.S. Valley Forge (CV-45)
U.S.S. Boxer (CV-21)
334
335
WILLIAM VANDERSLICE
U.S. ARMY
1951 – 1952
William Vanderslice, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Army
Jan. 1951 to Dec.30, 1952
DEP:LOYED
Germany
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC (T)
AWARDS
Army of Occupation Medal
Germany
335
336
RICHARD L. VILLEC
U.S. ARMY
1953-1955
Richard L. Villec
SERVED
U.S. Army
June 10, 1953 thru April 20, 1955
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
DEPLOYED
GERMANY – 237th Engineering Battalion
AWARDS
Army of Occupation Medal – Germany
National Defense Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
336
337
Charles E. Wentzell
U. S. Army Air Corps
1942-1945 & 1950 – 1953
World War II
Korean War
SERVED
U.S. Army Air Corps
May 16, 1942 thru September 4,
1945
January 16, 1951 thru March 31,
1953
DEPLOYED
WWII-England & Korean War
AWARDS
Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, 5 Oak Leaf, POW Medal, Purple
Heart, European Defense, Korean
Service Medal, Distinguished Military
Service Medal with Silver Star from
Korea, WWII Victory Medal, and
Korean Defense Service Medal.
337
338
Charles E. Wentzell
U. S. Army Air Corps
1942-1945 & 1950 - 1953
CITATION FROM THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA
In recognition and appreciation of his exceptionally meritorious service, I take
great pleasure, in accordance with the authority delegated to me by the Presidential Order No. 2 in awarding the Wharang Distinguished Military Service
Medal with Silver Star to:
Corporal Charles E. Wentzell, United States Army
Corporal Charles E. Wentzell, United States Air Force, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry & intrepidity at the risk of his life about and
beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy in Korean Front during his
assignment to the 7th BOK Infantry Regiment as a member of the Tactical Air
Control Party. During that period from 25 June 1950 and 15 September 1950,
Cpl. Wentzell contributed immeasurably to the success achieved by the seventh Infantry Regiment in its effort to annihilate the North Korean Army in
various parts of the South Korea. Since the United Nations Forces’ counteroffensive began on 16 September 1950, Cpl. Wentzell assured the success of the
military operations for which the 7th Infantry Regiment was renowned because of superb combat efficiency.
While the 7th Infantry Regiment was withdrawing from the OHO-San on
the Yalu River to Ku-Jang because of the Chinese Invasion, the regiment was
met with the heavy enemy opposition on the afternoon of 30 October 1950.
On the night of 30 October 1950, the regiment was completely defeated and
scattered. At this time, Cpl. Wentzell, with his four American Soldiers, gathered a small force of stragglers from the defeated regiment in order to hold off
the enemy while the remaining members of the regiment were making their
way back to friendly lines. The enemy, in their four attempts to destroy the
position held by Americans, was well supported with various firearms and
succeeded in killing three and wounded the remaining two Americans. At this
time Cpl. Wentzell was wounded and captured by the Chinese and escaped
from their control on 11 December 1950. The heroic action displayed by Cpl.
Wentzell was undoubtedly instrumental in allowing the remainder of the 7th
Infantry Regiment to return to friendly lines.
338
339
DONALD R. WILLIAMS
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1953 - 1956
Donald Richard Williams
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
October 16, 1953 to October 15, 1956
U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
October 16, 1956 to October 15, 1961
DISCHARGE RANK
Private First Class
DEPLOYED & POSITION
KOREA
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Service Medal
339
340
GEORGE E. WILLIAMS
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1952 - 1954
George E. Williams
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
May 21, 1952 to May 20, 1954
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal
SPECIAL TRAINING
USMC SS
AWARDS
National Defense Service Ribbon
340
341
GRANVILLE WILLIAMS
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1952 – 1955
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
1952 to 1955
AWARDS
Korean Service w/1-Star
United Nations Service Medal
KOREAN PUC
National Defense Service Medal
341
MILTON F. ZANE, JR.
342
U.S. NAVY
1949-1953
Milton F. Zane, Jr.
U.S. Navy
June 24, 1949 to June 23, 1953
DEPLOYED
Atlantic, Arctic, Caribbean & Mediterranean Oceans
AWARDS
European Theater, National Defense
Service, European Occupation & Good
Conduct Medal
342
343
William Zarin, Jr.
U.S. Army
1956 – 1958
William Zarin, Jr.
December 4, 1956 thru December 8, 1958
USAR Until December 3, 1962
DEPLOYED
Germany & Ft. Dix, New Jersey
33rd Armored Division
Co. “C” 1st MED TR BN APO 39
DISCHARGE RANK
SP-4 (T) E-4
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal
|
343
344
WAR IN VIETNAM
NOVEMBER 1, 1955 THRU
APRIL 30, 1975
U.S. COMBAT INVOLVEMENT
1965 THRU 1975
344
345
JAMES A. ALSTON
U.S. ARMY
1962-1968
James A. Alston
Served: U.S. Army
July 19, 1962 thru June 7, 1968
DEPLOYMENT
Europe & Vietnam
DISCHARGE RANK
Captain
AWARDS:
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Combat Medal w/Device
Overseas Service Bar
345
346
CHARLES LEWIS BALDWIN
U. S. ARMY
1971-1972
SERVED
U.S. Army
1971 thru 1972
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
1st Air Calvary Squadron
Rank: Private E-1
USAR Control Group
AWARDS
Vietnam Service Medal
RVNCM W/60 Dev.
2 – O/S Bars
MKM M-16
346
347
ROBERT BALDWIN
U. S. ARMY
1966-1967
SERVED
U.S. Army
1966 - 1967
DEPLOYED
Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay
347
348
JOHN L. BANCO
U.S. NAVY
1961 - 1965
JOHN L. BANCO
SERVED
U.S. NAVY
November 13, 1961 Thru January 8, 1965
DEPLOYED
U.S.S. Independence CVA-62
Gibraltar; Palma Majorca, Spain;
Barcelona, Spain
DISCHARGE RANK
E-3
USS INDEPENDENCE CVA-62
348
349
LARRY G. BELL
U.S. NAVY
1966 – 1969 (KIA)
Larry G. Bell
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1966 – August 28, 1969
DISCHARGE RANK
Third Class Petty Officer
Hospital Corpsman
DEPLOYED
Da Nang, South Vietnam
AWARDS
Purple Heart; Navy Commendation Medal; National
Defense Medal; Vietnam Service Medal w/Bronze
Star; Vietnam Military Merit Medal; Gallantry Cross
with Palm; Vietnam 25th Anniversary Commerative
Medal; Senate & General Assembly Citation from the
State Of New Jersey; Distinguished Service Medal
from the Office of the Governor of the State of New
Jersey
349
350
ROBERT (BOB) BENDER
U. S. ARMY
1968-1970
SERVED
U.S. Army
1968 thru 1970
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
4th Division
Central Highlands of Vietnam
AWARDS
Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal, Distinguished Unit
Citation, Combat Medics Badge,
Vietnam Service Award, Good
Conduct Medal & The American
Spirit Honor Award
350
351
DAVID W. BERRY
U.S. AIR FORCE
1967 - 1988
AWARDS
Meritorious Service
Ribbon, Air Force
Achievement with Two
Devices, National Defense Ribbon, Good
Conduct Ribbon,
P.M.E. Ribbon, Long
Tour Ribbon, Short
Tour Ribbon, Missile
Badge & Security Force
Badge
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
May 1967 – September 1988
DEPLOYED
Europe & CONUS
RANK
E-7 Master Sgt.
351
352
DAVID W. BERRY
U.S. AIR FORCE
1967 - 1988
While stationed at Lajes Field in the Azores between the years 1975 – 1977, we saved a
boys life who fell from a rock wall. Lajes Field, in the Azores was a refueling depot for the
military aircraft that was crossing the Atlantic Ocean from the east coast (McGuire AFB, NJ )
to Rhein Main Air Base in Germany. It was just another day on the job. I was the NCOIC
(SSgt) of Fleet Service and was occupied with the duties as a supervisor and doing the inventory of in-house supplies and the supplies for the transient aircraft. The only inbound aircraft
was a C-141 Starlifter from McGuire AFB, NJ with some passengers and a couple of cargo pallets.
The C-141 touched down and taxied to a space in front of the Air Freight Terminal
where the passengers were met and welcomed. The freight was being off-loaded and all was
going as usual. We started up the load process of the cargo pallets for Rhein Main Air Base in
Germany. The aircraft was loaded with 10 pallets of cargo. Once loaded the aircraft taxied out
to the end of the runway revving its engines and disappeared into the sky. We relaxed and
returned to our normal routine. In case of an emergency, the normal turn-around time for an
aircraft heading for Europe is 2-hours. The aircraft had been gone for 1-3/4 Hrs. when we received a call from Base Operation who told us that the aircraft was being turned back to us. A
young boy had fallen from a stone wall and suffered head trauma. The landscape was dotted
with volcanic rock which separated the farmers fields for cattle and agricultural.
The C-141 touched down and taxied to the Air Freight terminal. We asked for concurrent permission to refuel the aircraft while we downloaded the cargo, which was granted. A
well choreographed maneuver took place while the cargo was being pushed out of the rear of
the aircraft while at the same time the fuel was going into the wing-tips. The aircraft was being
reconfigured for a Med-Evac. The listed stanchions and medical supplies were placed in PP-1
and PP-3 pallet positions. The boy was transferred into the aircraft and the crew made ready as
we secured the aircraft for take-off. The aircraft was given the OK, taxied to the end of the run
way at full throttle and took off. The entire turn-around operation took 45 minutes to complete.
After a week or so the M-Sgt, T-Sgt & me the S-Sgt received a letter of gratitude from
the father of the boy, a Lt. Commander from Base Operations thanking us for our actions. Just
another day in the line of many in the USAF………. Just doing our jobs.
352
353
JAN J. BLITHE
U. S. ARMY
1968-1970
SERVED
U.S. Army
1968 thru 1970
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Bronze Star
353
354
Charles W. Bobb
U.S. Navy
1968 – 1976
Charles W. Bobb
August 20, 1968 to October 22, 1976
DEPLOYED
USS Sunbird ASR-15, USS Kilauea AE-26, USS
Procyon AF-61 & USS Zelima AF-49
Pacific Ocean, Off Coast of Vietnam,
USN Submarine Base Groton, CT
DISCHARGE RANK
IC-2; E-5
U.S.S. Sunbird
U.S.S. Kilauea
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal;
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
U.S.S. Procyon
U.S.S. Zelima
354
355
ROBERT P. BOON
U.S. NAVY
1962 - 1966
SERVED
U.S. NAVY RESERVES
January 1962 – January 1964
USN Active Duty
January 1964 – January 1966
DEPLOYED
USS Soley (DD707)
USS Newport News (CA-148)
DISCHARGE RANK
Seaman (SN – E-3)
USS Newport News (CA-148)
355
356
ROBERT P. BOON
U.S. MARINE CORPS
1971 - 1979
AWARDS
National Defense Medal, Good Conduct Medal (3) ,
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.
SERVED
U.S. MARINE CORPS
July 7, 1971 – July 6, 1979
DEPLOYED
Marine Corp Headquarters
Washington, DC
Admin. Chief Recruiting Station
Philadelphia, PA
RANK
Staff Sgt.
356
357
FRANK BRITTON
U. S. MARINE CORPS
1962-1968
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
1962 thru 1968
DEPLOYED
Okinawa
RANK
Sgt. E-5
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal
US Marine Base at Okinawa
357
358
EVERETTE W. BROWN
U. S. NAVY
1964-1968
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1964 thru 1968
DEPLOYED
Vietnam, Mediterranean, North
Atlantic & West Pacific
Gemini Space Capsule Recovery
AWARDS
USS Hawkins—DD873
National Defense Medal, Vietnam
Service Medal
STATIONED
U.S.S. Hawkins DD873
RANK
BT2 / E5
358
359
WILLIAM P. BROWN
U.S. ARMY AIR NATIONAL GUARD
1969 – PRESENT
William P. Brown
SERVED
U.S. Army
1969 – PRESENT
DISCHARGE RANK
Master Sergeant
DEPLOYED & POSITION
1970 – 1971 Vietnam – Helicopter Mechanic & Crew Member
1972 – 1981 – Army Reserve Combat
Engineer
1981 – Present Panama, Germany, Honduras, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates & Canada – Structural
Supervisor
359
360
DENNIS R. BUTLER
U. S. MARINE CORPS
1963 - 1967
Dennis R. Butler
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
January 8, 1963 – January 6, 1967
DEPLOYED
Vietnam & Japan
DISCHARGE RANK
Sergeant E-5
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal; Good
Conduct Medal; Rifle Marksmanship Badge
(M-14); Viet Nam Service Medal; Republic
of Viet Nam Campaign Metal w/Device
360
361
WILLIAM CARPENTER
U. S. AIR FORCE
1970-1971
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
1970 thru 1971
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
Phu Cat, AB RVN, Danang AB,
RVN
AWARDS
Vietman Service Medal, National
Defense Medal & Air Force Commendation Medal
361
362
JAMES E. CARTER, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1970-1971
JAMES E. CARTER, Jr.
Served: U.S. Army
March 4, 1966 – March 3, 1968
DEPLOYMENT
Vietnam
DISCHARGE RANK
E-4
AWARDS
The Air Medal for Meritorious Achievement
while Participating in Aerial Flight; The Air
Medal for Heroism while Participating in
Aerial Flight (Twice); The Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; Distinguished Service Medal
362
363
JOHN R. CHRUSTOWSKI
U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS
1960-1963
John (Jack) R. Chrustowski
SERVED
Army Air Corps
101st Airborne Division
June 1960 thru June 1963
DEPLOYMENT
Fort Campbell - Kentucky
AWARDS
SSBN Deterrent Patrol Insignia
DISCHARGE RANK
Sgt.
363
364
HOWARD CLARK
U. S. MARINE CORPS
1966-1969
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
1966 thru 1969
DEPLOYED
Khe Sanh
Requiem at Khe Sanh
AWARDS
Purple Heart
The Battle of Khe Sanh was conducted in northwestern Quang Tri Province, Republic of
Vietnam (South Vietnam), between 21 January and 9 July 1968 during the Vietnam
War. The belligerent parties were elements of the United States (U.S.) III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF), 1st Cavalry Division (United States), the U.S. Seventh Air
Force, minor elements of the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) against two to three
division-size elements of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA).[
364
365
EDWARD R. COLE
U. S. ARMY
1966 - 1970
SERVED
U.S. Army
1966 - 1970
DEPLOYED
Vietnam Binn Phoue Base Camp
AWARDS
Bronze Star-“V”, Purple Heart
and Combat Infantry Badge
365
366
David F. Conover
U.S. Navy
1968 – 1972
David F. Conover
February 11, 1969 thru December 8, 1972
USNR until October 28, 1974
DEPLOYED
USS Saratoga & USS Intrepid
Mid-Atlantic; Caribbean; Mediterranean; NorthAtlantic
DISCHARGE RANK
PC-3; E-4
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal;
U.S.S. Saratoga
U.S.S. Intrepid
366
367
ALEXANDER COOKER
U. S. ARMY
1966 - 1969
SERVED
U.S. Army
1966 thru 1969
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
1967-1968
AWARDS
Combat Infantryman Badge, Bronze
Star, Presidential Unit Citation, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallentry Cross w/Palm, The
Republic of Vietnam Civil Action
Honor Medal.
367
368
WILLIAM C. COOKSEY
U. S. NAVY
1960 - 1964
William Carroll Cooksey
Served: U.S. Navy
September 14, 1960
To
September 4, 1964
DEPLOYMENT
USS Independence
DISCHARGE RANK
Seaman E-3
USS Independence
368
369
DAVID B. COUTCH
U.S. AIR FORCE
1965 – 1969
DAVID B. COUTCH
SERVED
U.S. AIR FORCE
November 29, 1965 Thru July 5, 1969
DEPLOYED
Bitburg Air Base, Germany
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal, Air
Force Commendation Medal
Bitburg Air Base, Germany
369
370
DONALD CRANE
U. S. ARMY
1968 - 1969
SERVED
U.S. Army
1968 thru 1969
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
Quan Tree, Pleiku & Chu Lai
370
371
KENNETH R. DENNIS
U. S. ARMY
1967 - 1969
SERVED
U.S. Army
May 1967 – May 1969
DEPLOYED
Vietnam Dau Tieng
CBTRY 2/77th Artillery 25th Division
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal,
Vietnam Service Medal w/2 Bronze
Service Stars, Republic of Vietnam
Campaign Ribbon, Marksman
Badge w/Rifle Bar, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/Palm Unit
Citation, Army Commendation
Medal w/”V” Device for Valor, Army Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service.
371
372
KENNETH R. DENNIS
U. S. ARMY
1967 - 1969
weapons fire, the local soldier maintained his
position inflicting heavy casualties upon the enemy. He later raced through a hail of enemy fire
to personally carry ammunition to the howitzers.
Dennis is a fire direction center computer in Battery C, 2nd Battalion, and entered the Army in
May, 1967, arriving in Vietnam in October, 1967.
A graduate of Penns Grove High School, class of
65, he was employed at the Penns Grove Post
Office prior to entering the service.
Memoirs by Kenneth R. Dennis
Army Specialist 4, Kenneth R. Dennis, of
Carneys Point (above right) receives the Army
Commendation Medal from Brig. Gen. William T. Gleason, acting commanding general
of the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam, for
heroic action during enemy combat in Vietnam.
REPRINTED FROM TODAYS SUNBEAM
A Carneys Point Soldier was cited for
heroism in Vietnam recently in risking his
life in action against enemy forces January
2.
Spec. 4 Kenneth R. Dennis, son of Mr. &
Mrs. Samuel B. Dennis of Bay St., was
presented with the Army Commendation
Medal for his actions while serving with
the 77th Artillery of the 25th Infantry Division on a combat operation near Dau
Tieng.
According to the citation, Dennis, 21, immediately assumed a position on the battalion perimeter when the battalion was attacked by a huge enemy force. Under
heavy mortar, rocket and automatic
372
While we endured many mortar
and rocket attacks throughout my time
in Vietnam, the most “memorable”
was January 2, 1968 which everyone
knows as the “Tet Offensive”. We
had convoyed to a position in order to
conduct “search & destroy missions”
as part of a large contingency. The
Fire Support Base (Burt) was set up
and operations had been going onfor a
few days. After midnight on January
2nd we began receiving an intense mortar barrage followed by an attack on
our perimeter by what we determined
later to ne two Viet Cong (VC) Divisions.
My unit was a 105mm Howitzer
Battery and my position was in the
Fire Direction Control where we plotted the coordinates given to us by Forward Observers with the infantry.
This was plotted on a map where we
373
KENNETH R. DENNIS
U. S. ARMY
1967 - 1969
got direction, elevation and distance
which was then relayed to the battery
as a fire mission to provide both cover
fire for them during patrols or fire on
suspected enemy positions. That night
my team was “Off Duty” and sound
asleep but not for long. After the initial
mortar attack and the onset of the
ground attack our First Sergeant gathered us together and we headed for the
perimeter where one of our guns had
been disabled. The noise and sight of
tracers, explosions as howitzers, tanks
and other small arms were all mingled
together, seemed to be like something
out of a Hollywood Movie. To put it
mildly, I WAS SCARED! Since our
position was being attacked, our howitzers were firing directly into the attack using beehive and high explosive
rounds. Our job was to take all of the
ammunition from the disabled howitzer
and distribute it to the others. Afterwards, we took a position on the perimeter with our M16’s and were engaged
until early morning when an airstrike
was called in. The jets were about 100
to 150 yards in front of us dropping
napalm. What a sight that was! By
daybreak the attack had ended. The
visions that are entrenched in my mind
to this day were the survivors of the
listening posts in front of us. The Viet
Cong came in so fast and quiet, that
those men had no time to
373
move and had to play dead. What
they had to endure during the battle was something that I cannot
begin to imagine. As they were
brought in on stretchers, I remember their faces were as white as
white can be. We lost one man
that night and I was one of the four
men who carried him in a blanket
to the rear. He had only six days
left before he was to return home.
It didn’t impact me then but as I
married and had children I thought
about it often.
As I look back on that year, it has
made me appreciate more and
more what we have as citizens of
the United States and the willing
sacrifices our men and women in
the Armed Services are making
every day.
Kenneth R. Dennis
374
Patrick Dickson
U. S. Marine Corp
1966 - 1969
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
1966 thru 1969
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Purple Heart (2), United Nations Service, Combat Action
Ribbon, Republic of Vietnam
Campaign Medal, Marine Corps
Commendation Medal & National Defense Service Medal.
374
375
EDWIN E. DILKS
U.S. NAVY
1963 - 1966
EDWIN E. DILKS
Served: U.S. Navy
September 1963
thru
June 1966
DEPLOLMENT
Vietnam Coast, USS Coral Sea & USS Oriskany
DISCHARGE RANK
ASET 3rd Class
AWARDS
Vietnam Service Medal; Meritorious Service
Unit Commendation
USS Coral Sea
USS Oriskany
Edwin Earl Dilks toured Vietnam aboard the aircraft
carrier Coral Sea. It was from the Coral Sea that the
first sea-launched plane struck at the enemy. The
Coral Sea won a unit commendation for Meritorious
Service during eight months of combat duty off
Vietnam. After his 8-month tour on the Coral Sea,
he was reassigned to the USS Oriskany. On June 5,
1966, while on leave, he was killed in an unfortunate
accident.
375
376
JAMES H. DILKS
U.S. NAVY
1959 - 1960
Served: U.S. Navy Reserves
1959 – 1960
DEPLOYMENT
U.S.S. Sigourney
DISCHARGE RANK
E-2
LIFE MEMBER OF THE JOSEPH
P. TOULSON VFW POST 253,
ELSINBORO
U.S.S. Sigourney
376
377
JAMES H. DILKS
U.S. ARMY
1960 - 1963
James H. Dilks
Served: U.S. Army
February 8, 1960 – February 4, 1963
DEPLOYMENT
Hanau, Germany
Service Battery 2nd Rkt How Battalion 73rd
Artillery
DISCHARGE RANK
SP-4
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal,
Marksman (Rifle M-14)
Salem County Service Medal
377
378
RAYMOND F. DILKS, JR.
U. S. AIR FORCE
1966-1972
Served: U.S. Air Force
March 22, 1966 – March 21, 1972
DEPLOYMENT
Langley Field, VA;
Ubon Air Force Base, Thailand
SPECIALTY
Vehicle Operator (PAFSC)
DISCHARGE RANK
Technician 4th Grade
w/Three Overseas Bars
AWARDS:
National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam
Service Medal w/Bronze Service Star; Air
Force Good Conduct Medal; Republic of
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Raymond was assigned to the
8th TAC Fighter Wing, 8th Support Group. Supporting air
operations over North &
South Vietnam, Cambodia and
Laos during 1968 & 1969.
378
379
WILLIAM J. DOUGHERTY
U.S. ARMY
1969 – 1972
William J. Dougherty
SERVED
U.S. Army
1969 – 1972
DISCHARGE RANK
Staff Sergeant
DEPLOYED & POSITION
Vietnam
379
380
JAMES A. DOUGHTY, SR.
U.S. ARMY
1967 – 1970
James A. Doughty, Sr.
SERVED
U.S. Army
1967 – 1970
DISCHARGE RANK
Specialist 4th Class
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Vietnam Service Medal
Purple Heart (2)
Vietnam Campaign Medal
National Defense Service Medal
380
381
CHARLES J. DURR
U. S. ARMY
1960 - 1984
SERVED
U.S. Army
1960 thru 1984
DEPLOYED
HQ MACV
Republic of Vietnam
AWARDS
Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal (1-OLC), Army
Commendation Medal (2-OLC), Joint
Service Commendation Medal, Good
Conduct Medal (7 Awarded), Vietnam
Civil Actions Honor Medal (2nd Class),
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal,
NCO Professional Development Ribbon (5).
381
382
DAVID EASTLACK
U.S. AIR FORCE
1970—1974
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
1970 thru 1974
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
Cam Ranh Bay
AWARDS
National Defense Medal, Air Force
Good Conduct Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, The A/F Small Arms Ex-
Air Strip at Cam Ranh Bay
382
383
ROY G. FLANNIGAN, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1965-1971
Served: U.S. Army
1965—1971
DEPLOYMENT
Ft. Dix, NJ; Ft. Hood, TX; Ft. Devens, MA
SPECIALTY
Army Security Agency
Clerk Typist
DISCHARGE RANK
PVT E-2
383
384
Robert N. Frankos
U.S. Marine Corps
1968 – 1970
Robert N. Frankos
June 27, 1968 thru February 10, 1970
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
DISCHARGE RANK
LCPL E-3 (Lance Corporal)
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Service Medal;
Combat Action Ribbon;
Vietnam Campaign Medal;
Rifle Sharpshooter Badge;
Good Conduct Medal
384
385
PAUL FREDRICKS
U.S. ARMY
1970-1971
SERVED
U.S. Army
1970 thru 1971
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Vietnam Service Medal
385
386
RUSSELL E. GARDINER
U.S. NAVY
1967-1970
Served: U.S. Navy
February 7, 1967 thru
November 2, 1970
DEPLOYMENT
San Juan, GITMO & Caribbean Sea during the
Cuban Missile Crisis.
DISCHARGE RANK
E-3
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
HC-4
Helicopter Squadron
USS Raleigh LPD-1
386
Russ and his Cherry Hill
Shipmate
387
DAVID GLADING
U. S. ARMY
N.J. NATIONAL GUARD
1968 - 1971
SERVED
U.S. Army
N.J. National Guard
1968 thru 1971
DEPLOYED
Vietnam & Germany
387
388
CHARLES C. GOSLIN
U. S. ARMY
1965 - 1967
Charles C. Goslin
SERVED
U.S. Army
December 7, 1965 – November 1967
DISCHARGE RANK
SPC 4th Class
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal;
Overseas Bar;
Vietnam Service Medal;
Vietnam Campaign Medal;
Expert M-14 Rifle
388
389
WILLIAM B. HALL
U. S. ARMY
1959 - 1967
SERVED
U.S. Army
1966 thru 1967
POSITION
Airplane Mechanic
389
390
JOSEPH J. HANNAGAN, JR.
U. S. MARINE CORPS
1961-1964
Joseph J. Hannagan, Jr.
Served: U.S. Marine Corps
July 20, 1961 – July 17, 1964
DEPLOYMENT
Camp LeJeune, NC
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal (E-4)
AWARDS:
Good Conduct Metal
Marksmanship Rifle Badge
I joined the US Marine Corp during my Junior Year of High
School and was immediately sent to Parris Island, SC for
basic training as soon as I graduated from Salem High
School the following year. After Basic Training I was selected to attend school in Ft. Sill, OK for Ballistic Meteorology,
and for the rest of my enlistment was attached to the Headquarters of the Fleet Marine Force, assigned to a Nuclear
Rocket, Division of the 2nd Field Artillery Group in support
operations for our troops. I am considered a “Vietnam Era”
Veteran, since my Military Occupation did not require deployment to a combat area.
390
391
JAMES E. HANNAH
U.S. ARMY
1967 TO 1968
James E. Hannah
SERVED
U.S. Army
1967 - 1968
DISCHARGE RANK
Specialist 4th Class
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
POSITION
2nd
391
Armored Division
RALPH L. HARRIS
392
U.S. NAVY
1967-1972
Ralph Leon Harris
Served: U.S. Navy
September 13, 1967 – June 2, 1972
DEPLOYMENT
Vietnam
USS Saratoga
DISCHARGE RANK
Boatswain’s Mate Third Class
E-4
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
USS
SARATOGA
392
393
RALPH E. HEWITT
U. S. MARINE CORPS
1963-1967
Served: U.S. Marine Corps
January 8, 1963 – March 2, 1967
DEPLOYMENT
Vietnam
SPECIALTY
Machine Gunner
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal E-1
AWARDS:
Vietnam Service Medal; Vietnam Campaign
Medal with device;National Defense Service
Medal; Purple Heart; Good Conduct Medal
393
394
VERNON L. HITCHNER
U. S. ARMY
1953-1973
SERVED
U.S. Army
1953 thru 1973
RANK
SP-7
394
395
FRANK C. HUBLER
U.S. AIR FORCE
1962 – 1965
FRANK CARL HUBLER
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
September 18, 1962 to September 17,
1965
DISCHARGE RANK
E-4
AWARDS
AFLSA (Longevity Service Award)
AFGCM (Good Conduct Medal)
NDSM (National Distinguished Service
Medal)
TRWG (Training Wing)
395
396
JOSEPH W. HUMPHREYS
U.S. ARMY
1962 - 1964
Joseph W. Humphreys
SERVED
U.S. Army
March 5, 1962 to March 4, 1964
DISCHARGE RANK
SP-4 E-4 (T)
DEPLOYED
Ft. Ord-Cal California
4th Battalion;41st Infantry
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal;
Sharpshooter M-14 Rifle; Expert M-1 Rifle; First Class Gunner (4.2M) 2nd Class
Gunner (81mm) 1st Class Gunner (106 RR)
SPECIALTY
112.10 Heavy Weapons Infantryman
396
397
WILLIAM L. HURLEY
U. S. ARMY
1968-1971
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1964 thru 1968
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal,
Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam
Campaign Medal
STATIONED
Camp Evans
Camp Evans, South Vietnam
397
398
TOM IANNOTTI
U. S. ARMY
1968 - 1970
SERVED
U.S. Army
1968 thru 1970
AWARDS
The Bronze Star
398
399
JACK KUGLER
U. S. NAVY
1966 - 1970
SERVED
U.S. Navy
Seabees – MCB10
DEPLOYED
North I Corp Area, Republic of
South Vietnam, Quangtri,
Khesang, Dong Ha, Camp Evans
& Cuaviet.
AWARDS
Distinguished Service Award &
The Distinguished Unit Award
Camp Evans
399
400
JAMES P. LEONARD, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1966 - 1972
Hue, Vietnam
SERVED
U.S. Army
First Air Calvary
1966 thru 1972
DEPLOYED
Hue, Vietnam
AWARDS
Purple Heart
400
401
GEORGE LESTER LEWIS
U. S. ARMY
1966-1968
George Lester Lewis was employed by Sea-
SERVED
U.S. Army
1966 thru 1968
DEPLOYED
Ft. Sheridan, IL
AWARDS
Expert Infantry Medal, Parade Medal
& Sp. 5 Medal
brook Farms in the Accounting Department. On
Christmas Eve, December 24, 1965, he received his
orders. At first George got a good chuckle from the
orders since they said “Greetings” and not “Season
Greetings” like all of the other cards that he received. George had one brother, Bob, who also
received his orders on the same day. They both left
on the same bus for Ft. Dix, NJ on January 5, 1966.
After Ft. Dix George was stationed at Ft. Sheridan,
IL for the remainder of his military service career
and was in accounting, payroll & finance. His
brother Bob went to Texas for training and then he
was off to Vietnam.
Following their military service both brothers
arrived home safely and were employer at the
DuPont Chambers Works from January of 1968
until they retired.
George was always very patriotic and proud of
his country, The USA! He has always proudly
displayed the American Flag in front of his house
with a light shining on it.
Fort Sheridan, IL
401
402
JOHN W. LOWERY, JR.
U.S. AIR FORCE
1964 TO 1968
John W. Lowery, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
July 14, 1964 to July 13, 1968
CORROSION CONTROL
For Aircraft
John Lowery, Jr. was a young airman on his first assignment out of technical training, who eventually became a corrosion control specialist in the 436th Field Maintenance
Squadron (FMS) at Dover AFB, DE in the summer of 1966.
Some of those working with him were Billy G. Wright, Garry
Cooke & Curt Cariker. The corrosion control shop was
headed by TSgt. Joe MacCalley, and faced the problems of a
mixed fleet that included C-124, C-133, & C-141 Aircraft.
For the C-133, one of the main problems was exfoliation
corrosion. This was a situation where portions of the affected metal would peel or flake off. On the C-133, these areas
could be quite large in skin with a thickness approaching ½”.
Lowery and his colleagues would locate affected areas, grind
out all of the corrosion and fill the hole with special compound. They would then mark out the area and send a work
order to the sheet metal shop. The result was a heavy reinforcing plate that was installed over the area in question, to
maintain the necessary strength. Other areas with corrosion
problems included the cargo deck and elsewhere on the skin.
Lowery said that the corrosion control shop was usually the
last to finish after the 100-hour inspection.
Lowery’s time at Dover was during the Vietnam Era,
when trained maintenance personnel were constantly moving
on to Vietnam. This left stateside maintenance units persistently shorthanded. At Dover they were able to get augmentation of 20-30 people from other maintenance specialties.
His small crew taught these men the basics and the easy stuff,
keeping the difficult, more technical tasks for themselves.
The new men caught on quickly and helped maintain quality
work until a permanently assigned and qualified staff was
reestablished.
402
403
JOHN W. LOWERY, JR.
U.S. AIR FORCE
1964 TO 1968
John W. Lowery, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
July 14, 1964 to July 13, 1968
RANK
SSgt – E5
DEPLOYED
Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX
McGuire AFB, NJ
Dover Air Force Base Dover, DE
Mick Lowery & Twin Brother John
(Beeb) W. Lowery
John was an airframe mechanic
and corrosion control specialist,
working on the C-124, C-133 &
newly Arrived C-141 Starlifter.
He was in cargo, supporting air
bases in Vietnam & Thailand.
C-124 Globemaster
C-133 Cargomaster
C-141 Starlifter
403
HAROLD (HAL) S. LOWE, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1967 - 1970
404
SERVED
U.S. Army
1967 thru 1970
Motion Picture Combat Photographer
AWARDS
Joint Service Commendation Medal
404
405
CLAUDE W. MCBRIDE
U.S. ARMY
1952 - 1963
Claude W. McBride
SERVED
KIA
U.S. Army – Special Forces
GREEN BERET
Company “B”, 2nd Battalion
1952 thru August 23, 1963
DISCHARGE RANK
Staff Sgt.
DEPLOYED & POSITION
73rd Engineering Group
Korea
Heavy Equipment Operator
Vietnam
AWARDS
Silver Star - Purple Heart
Claude W. McBride enlisted in the military service prior to his graduation from Salem High School. In
the National Guard he won his battalion’s Outstanding Soldier Award in 1951.On his 17 th birthday he
journeyed to Philadelphia to enlist in the US Army. He spent the next seven out of eleven years overseas,
married a British woman and they had a son. Claude served with The Green Berets in Co. B, 2 nd Battalion,
1st Special Forces Group (Airborne). He arrived in Vietnam early in 1963 and served as the detachment’s
engineer and medical sergeant. He was killed in action by a Viet Cong sniper on August 23, 1963, being
the first casualty in Salem County killed in the Vietnam Conflict. McBride’s name is among the 18 fallen
Special Forces troopers whose names were chosen to mark the streets and buildings of the training compound in Fort Lewis, Washington.
405
406
(ART) JULES C. MCNISS
U.S. NAVY
1969 TO 1969
Jules Clifford (Art) McNiss
SERVED
U.S. Navy
June 20, 1969 to July 14, 1969
DISCHARGE RANK
Seaman Recruit
DEPLOYED
Special Operations
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
406
407
EDWARD J. MESCHI
U. S. ARMY
1965-1967
Edward JosephMeschi
Served: U.S. Army
November 16, 1965 – November 5, 1967
DEPLOYMENT
Vietnam
DISCHARGE RANK
Corporal (E-4)
AWARDS:
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
407
408
MIKE MESSICK
U. S. ARMY
1968 - 1969
SERVED
U.S. Army
1968 thru 1969
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Bronze Star; AR Com
w/”V”;Vietnam Service
Medal with (3) Bronze
Stars; Vietnam Campaign
Medal
408
409
JOHN W. MILLER, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1967 - 1969
SERVED
U.S. Army
1967 thru 1969
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Purple Heart
Good Conduct Medal
409
410
HARRY T. MONROE
U. S. ARMY
1961 - 1966
SERVED
U.S. Army
1961 thru 1966
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Vietnam Service Medal; Good
Conduct Medal; Rifle Expert
410
ALFRED (FRED) MONTAGNA
411
U. S. ARMY
1965 TO 1967
SERVED
U.S. Army
1965 - 1967
DEPLOYED
Vietnam from Ft. Lewis, WA
RANK
Staff Sgt.
AWARDS
National Defense Service
Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Overseas Service Bar
Good Conduct Medal
Expert Rifle
411
412
FESTUS MORRIS
U. S. ARMY
1968 - 1970
SERVED
U.S. Army
April 1968 thru 1970
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal;
412
413
CHARLES H. MUSSER
US NAVY & US NAVY RESERVE
1966 - 1975
Charles H. Musser
SERVED
U.S. Navy
September 30, 1966 – June 29, 1969
U.S. Navy Reserve
June 1969 thru March 1975
DEPLOYED
1968-69 - NAS Whiting Field, Milton, FL
7/7/69 thru 3-17-75 - NAS Willow Grove, PA
7/73 – Fleet Intelligence Center Atlantic (Norfolk)
DISCHARGE RANK
LT
AWARDS
National Service Medal
PROGRESSION
Jan. 7, 1966 signed up for Aviation OCS & reported to
Pensacola AOCS July 13. 1966. Commissioned Ensign,
USNR 9/30/66; Lt. Jr. Gd. 3/30/68; Lt. 10/01/69.
ASSIGNMENTS & SPECIALTIES
Public Affairs Officer for Training Squadron Three (VT-3)
Personnel Officer for VF-34 W1
Naval Air Reserve Intelligence Unit (NAIRU-W1)
VAIRU-W1 Strategic Briefing Team Specializing in the
Persian Gulf
413
414
CHARLES H. MUSSER
US NAVY & US NAVY RESERVE
1966 - 1975
NAVAL AIR TRAINING COMMAND CHOIR
PENSACOLA, FL
(1966 – 1967)
DIRECTOR, LT. DARRYL (BUTCH) ENGWELL
ASST. DIRECTOR, LT. CHARLES H. MUSSER
414
415
HARRY A. (SANDY) MYERS, JR.
U. S. MARINE CORP
1967-1970
Harry A. “Sandy” Myers, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
1967 thru 1970
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Vietnam Campaign Medal, National Defense Medal, RVN Defense Commendation Medal,
Vietnam Service Medal, Combat
Action Ribbon,Purple Heart,
Presidential Unit Citation, &
Marine Corps Good Conduct
Harry participates Annually in “The
Rolling Thunder in Washington, DC
and Memorial Day Weekend
415
416
RAYMOND G. NIPE
U. S. AIR FORCE
1965 - 1969
AWARDS
SERVED
National Defense Service Medal; AFM 900-3; AFOUA S
W-10LC; DAF;
U.S. Air Force
September 3, 1965
N.D.S.M.
thru
AFM 900-3
LEADERSHIP
January 17, 1969
DEPLOYED
Travis Air Force Base
RANK
SGT
SPECIALTIES
Aircraft Mechanic
Mechanical Technician
Jet Aircraft
DAF
416
AFOUA
Air Force
Outstanding Unit
Award
417
PATRICK J. O’CONNELL, JR.
U.S. MARINE CORP
1966 - 1970
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corp
1966 – 1970
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Combat Action Ribbon, Navy
Achievement Medal, Navy Unit
Citation, Good Conduct Medal,
National Defense Service Medal,
Vietnamese Campaign Medal, Vietnamese Service Ribbon.
2012
ELSINBORO VETERAN OF
THE YEAR
417
Charles (Chick) Osborn
418
U. S. Army
1968 - 1969
SERVED
U.S. Army
April 1968 thru 1969
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
CIB Air Medal; Purple Heart,
Vietnam Campaign Ribbon
418
419
ERNEST ARTHUR PATTON, JR.
U. S. MARINE CORPS
U.S. ARMY RESERVES
1977 - 1995
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
U.S. Army Reserves
1977 thru 1995
DEPLOYED
Okinawa “Operation Frequent Wind”
Fall of Saigon
SMX1- US President’s Helicopter
Squadron from Marines/550th Military
intelligence Battalion at Pedricktown,
NJ For US Army Reserves
AWARDS - USMC
Navy Commendation Medal & Award
Citation, Combat Aircraft Wings, Meritorious Mast, National Defense Service
Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy Unit
Citation, Rescue Citation in Recognition
of Meritorious Service.
AWARDS – US ARMY RESERVE
Army Acheivement Medal, Armed
Forces Reserve Medal, Army Reserve
Component Achievement Medal, Army
Avation Progress, National Defense
Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal,
Letter of Commendation.
419
420
Samuel (Jack) Pratta, Jr.
U.S. Air Force
1960 - 1964
Samuel John “Jack” Pratta, Jr.
Served: U.S. Air Force
August 19, 1960 – August 18, 1964
DEPLOYMENT
Andrews Air Force Base, Washington, DC
Lackland Air Force Base (8/60-10/60)
Ramstein Air Force Base, Ramstein, Germany – 7030th Air Police Squad (11/6011/63)
Delaware Air National Guard (DANG)
7/71-3/73)
DISCHARGE RANK
E-2 (A3C)
”Jack & Armin”
AWARDS
AFLSA Air Force Longevity Service
Award.
420
421
ELWOOD B. ROBINSON, III
U. S. ARMY
1970-1971
SERVED
U.S. Army
1970 thru 1971
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
Bronze Star & Army
Commendation with “V”
421
422
STEPHEN RODGERS
U. S. NAVY
1971 - 1972
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1971 thru 1972
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
CIB Air Medal; Vietnamese Cross
of Gallantry w/Silver Star; Combat
Action Ribbon
422
423
WILLIAM “CHIP” SCHIFFBAUER
U. S. MARINE CORPS
1968 - 1972
William “Chip” Schiffbauer
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
1968 thru 1972
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam
Service Medal, Combat Action Ribbon,
423
424
Raymond C. Seibert
U.S. Army National Guard
1960 – 1963
Raymond C. Seibert
March 21, 1960 thru March 20, 1963
DEPLOYED
Fort Knox, Kentucky
Armored Division
POSITION
Company “B” 5th Battalion
Armor Crewman
DISCHARGE RANK
Private (P) E-2
AWARDS
Marksman – Rifle
424
425
WALTER SIMPKINS
U. S. ARMY
1968—1969
SERVED
U.S. Army
March 8, 1968 to October 9, 1969
DEPLOYED
Quang Tri Province I-Corps, South Vietnam
DISCHARGE RANK
SP4 (P)
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal, Meritorious Unit Emblem,
National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service
Medal w/4 Stars, Republic of Vietnam Campaign
Ribbon, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross
w/Palm Unit, Citation Badge, Expert Marksman
with Rifle Bar.
425
426
HARRY E. SPRINGER
U.S. ARMY
1963 – 1964
SP-4 Insignia
SERVED
U.S. Army
1963 thru 1964
DEPLOYED
South Korea DMZ
DISCHARGE RANK
SP-4
AWARDS
Korean Defense Medal, General’s Citation, Military Service
Medal
Korean Joint Security Area in the
426
427
DOUGLAS STRANG
U. S. NAVY
1971 - 1975
SERVED
U.S. Navy
September 16, 1971
thru
December 2, 1975
DEPLOYED
USS Basilone DD824
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
USS Basilone DD824
427
428
FRANK W. STUBBINS, III
U. S. ARMY
1966 - 1968
Frank W. Stubbins, III
SERVED
U.S. Army
November 18, 1966 – October 29, 1968
DEPLOYED
Germany
DISCHARGE RANK
Sergeant (T) E-5
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Good Conduct Medal
Army Commendation Medal
428
429
HAROLD N. THOMPSON
U. S. ARMY
1961-1963
Served: U.S. Army
October 1961 – September 1963
DEPLOYMENT
Germany
SPECIALTY
Military Police
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC
429
430
ANDRIS UZDANOVICS
U.S. ARMY
1965 - 1967
Andris Uzdanovics
SERVED
U.S. Army
May 11, 1965 to February 12, 1967
DISCHARGE RANK
SP4 (T)
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam
Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal
430
431
MALCOLM L. VANATTA, JR.
U.S. NAVY
1973-1977
Served: U.S. Navy
September 22, 1973
thru
September 22, 1977
DEPLOLMENT
California & Far East
(Japan, Guam, Korea, Adak Alaska)
DISCHARGE RANK
AO-3
AWARDS
SERE School; P-3 Flight School; Aircrew; Nuclear
Weapons Loading; Battle Efficiency “E”; National
Defense Service Medal
Larry in the Pilot’s Seat
431
Misawa, Japan 1976
432
DALE G. VAN NAMEE
U. S. COAST GUARD
1966 - 1968
SERVED
U.S. Coast Guard
1966 thru 1968
POSITION
Seaman Recruit
Motion Picture Operator
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal; Coast Guard Good Conduct
Medal
Dale Passed away New
Years Day 1998
432
433
DONALD H. VAN NAMEE
U. S. NAVY
1962 - 1966
SERVED
U.S. Navy
U.S. Navy Reserve
1962 thru 1966
DEPLOYED
Long Beach, California
AWARDS
Armed Forces Expeditionary
Medal - Vietnam
Donald Passed Away
October 2009
433
434
JOSEPH C. VENUTO
U. S. MARINE CORP
1964—1968
Joseph Casper Venuto
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corp
December 28, 1964 to December 9, 1968
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
DISCHARGE RANK
SGT—E5
AWARDS
Rifle Sharpshooter Badge
Vietnam Service Metal w/1-Star
National Defense Service Metal
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal w/(1960-)
Good Conduct Medal
SAM & JOE VENUTO
434
435
SAMUEL D. VENUTO
U. S. MARINE CORP
1964—1967
Samuel Duncan Venuto
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corp
December 27, 1964 to December 6, 1967
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
DISCHARGE RANK
SGT—E5
AWARDS
Rifle Marksmanship Badge; Vietnam Service Metal
National Defense Service Metal; Vietnam Campaign Medal; Good Conduct Medal
Sam & Joe Venuto
435
436
John M. Waters, Jr.
U.S. Marine Corps
1967 – 1972
John M. Waters, Jr
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
June 4, 1967 to April 27, 1972
DISCHARGE RANK
1st Lt.
DEPLOYED
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – USS
North Hampton
AWARDS
NDSML (National Defense Service
Metal)
436
437
MARVIN LEROI WATSON
U. S. MARINE CORPS
MAY 1969 - JUNE 1969
Marvin’s tour in Vietnam began
on May 28,1969 and the casualty
was on June 17, 1969. Marvin
SERVED
died 21 days after he was deU.S. Marine Corps
May 28, 1969 thru June 17, 1969
ployed. His body was recovered.
Killed in Action
Marvin’s death was said to be a
DEPLOYED
hostile, ground casualty from arQuang
Nam, Vietnam
tillery, a rocket or mortar round.
PFC – E2
Marvin was awarded the purple
Marine Corps First Platoon
heart, the bronze star and the Vi- Company “C” – First Marine Division
AWARDS
etnam Service Medal.
Purple Heart, Bronze Star & Vietnam
Service Award
437
438
SOLOMON B. WATSON, IV
U. S. ARMY
1966 - 1968
SERVED
U.S. Army
1966 thru 1968
DEPLOYED
In Run – 9th Infantry Division
POSITION
Military Police Corps – MP6
AWARDS
Army Commendation; Bronze
Star Medal for Service
438
439
C. BARRY WEISER
U. S. ARMY
1968 - 1971
SERVED
U.S. Army
1968 thru 1971
DEPLOYED
Phu Bai Vietnam
POSITION
82nd Airborn Military Police
AWARDS
Combat Infantry Badge;
Bronze Star Medal
439
440
ISAAC “MICKEY” WELCH, SR.
U. S. ARMY
1966 - 1967
Isaac was known to everyone as
“Mickey”. He left for war at
age 19. Isaac was married to
Anna May Thomas upon his
return home from Vietnam.
SERVED
U.S. Army
1966 thru 1967
Isaac had 4 children,3-Girls &
1-Boy and was married to Anna for 41 years at the time of his
death from cancer on June 25,
2009.
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
He is survived by 8 grandchildren in Pennsville & 1 great
granddaughter who he never met.
He is sadly missed by his family.
440
441
WILLIAM R. WENTZELL, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1964 - 1967
William Russell “Skip” Wentzell, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Army
August 14, 1964 thru August 15, 1967
DEPLOYED
Vietnam
DISCHARGE RANK
SGT (T) E-5
AWARDS
Vietnam Service Medal|
National Defense Service Medal
441
442
JAMES M. WENTZELL
U. S. MARINE CORPS
1961 - 1966
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Medal
James M. Wentzell
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corps
September 1961 to January
1966
DEPLOYED
Okinawa, Camp Pendleton,
CA & Quantico, VA
DISCHARGE RANK
CPL
442
443
BRUCE E. WILLIAMS
U. S. COAST GUARD
1960-1964
Served: U.S. Coast Guard
July 27, 1960 – July 24, 1964
DEPLOYMENT
USCGC MAGNOLIA (WAGL-328)
Boston; Alaska (Lighthouse Duty); California
SPECIALTY
Motion Picture Operator
DISCHARGE RANK
E-4 DC3
AWARDS:
Good Conduct Medal
USCGC Magnolia WAGL-328
Coast Guard Air Detachment
Annette, Alaska
Christmas 1961
Tree Point Light - Alaska
443
444
EDWARD G. WILTSEY
U.S. ARMY
1967 - 1968
Edward George Wiltsey
SERVED
U.S. Army
September 1, 1967 To June 17, 1968
DISCHARGE RANK
Private E-2
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
444
445
DILLARD WOODY
U. S. MARINE CORP
1959 - 1963
SERVED
U.S. Marine Corp
1959 thru 1963
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medal & National Defense Service Medal
445
446
WAYNE WRIGHT
U. S. AIR FORCE
1962 - 1985
Wayne Warren Wright
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
1962 thru 1985
DEPLOYED
Guam , Okinawa & Thailand
AWARDS
Distringuished Flying Cross Air
Medal w/2 Silver & Bronze Clusters, Air Force Outstanding Unit
Award w/Valor Device & 4-Oak
Leaf Clusters, Combat Readiness
Medal w/1-Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritoroius Service Medal w/ 1-Oak
Leaf Cluster, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service
Medal w/1-Silver Service Star & 2Bronze Service Stars, Air Force
Commendation Medal w/1-Oak
Leaf Cluster, Small Arms Expert
Marksmanship Ribbon, Republic of
Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/Palm
Device and 1-Oak Leaf Cluster and
The Republic of Vietnam Campaign
Medal.
446
447
1975 thru Present
Post Vietnam War
THIS SECTION IS DEDICATED TO THOSE MEN & WOMEN WHO DEDICATED
THEIR LIVES AND SERVICE TO THEIR COUNTRY SINCE THE VIETNAM WAR.
MAJOR CONFLICTS INCLUDED CONFLICTS IN THE MIDDLE EASTERN NATIONS, CENTRAL AMERICA, NORTHERN AFRICA, FAR EAST AND EUROPE.
GRENADA
US MILITARY REMOVES NORIEGA
DESERT STORM
IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS
IRAQ “SHOCK & AWE”
WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
447
448
BRIAN K. CONOVER
U.S. COAST GUARD
2001 – 2004
Brian K. Conover
SERVED
U.S. Coast Guard
2001 – 2004
DISCHARGE RANK
Seaman
DEPLOYED
448
449
STEPHEN R. CRAWFORD, JR.
U.S. NAVY
1989 – 1996
Stephen R. Crawford, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1989 – 1996
DISCHARGE RANK
Third Class Petty Officer
DEPLOYED
The Gulf War & Somalian
Hurricane Andrew Releif Effort
449
450
WILLIAM T. DOOLEY
U.S. NAVY
1997 – PRESENT
William T. Dooley
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1997 – Present
DISCHARGE RANK
First Class Petty Officer
Electrician’s Mate
DEPLOYED
Norfolk, VA
CAMPAIGNS
Operation Enduring Freedom, 9-11 &
Restoration of Mississippi following
Hurricane Katrina
450
451
JOHN P. EFELIS
U.S. ARMY
1991 – 2012
John P. Efelis
SERVED
U.S. Army
June 12, 1991 to September 12,
2012
DISCHARGE RANK
Sgt. E-5
DEPLOYED
Guatamala City, Guatamala, Iraq,
Bosnia
AWARDS
Army Commendation Medal, Army
Acheivement Medal, Army Superior Unit Award, Army Good
Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed
Forces Expeditionary Medal,
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on
Terrorism Service Medal,
Armed Forces Service Medal,
Humanitarian Service Medal,
Iraq Campaign Medal
w/Campaign Star, Army Service
Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Driver &
Mechanic Badge w/Driver, &
Wheeled Vehicle Clasp.
451
452
CHARLES F. FISHER
U.S. NAVY
1974-1980
Served: U.S. Navy
October 22, 1974 – October 21, 1980
DEPLOYMENT
Holy Loch Scotland, USS Stonewall Jackson (SSBN 634)
AWARDS
SSBN Deterrent Patrol Insignia
DISCHARGE RANK
ET1 (E6)
(USS Stonewall Jackson SSBN 634)
On April 7, 1971, USS Stonewall Jackson got underway
to Charleston for ballistic missile loading in preparation for her first post-conversion and first Atlantic
Deterrent patrol. I joined the Blue Crew in January
of 1977.
(USS Daniel Webster SSBN 626)
The Stonewall Jackson was based at Holy Loch, Scotland, for patrol duties until mid-1978. She returned
to the United States for an extensive overhaul at
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and was fitted with the
Trident C-4 missile system at Charleston Naval Shipyard in late 1980. Just prior to my discharge we test
fired a Trident C-4 missile while submerged.
SSBN Deterrent Patrol Insignia
The Daniel Webster was decommissioned on August
30, 1990 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register
the same day. She was converted to a moored training ship (S5W Prototype Facility) by Charleston Naval Shipyard at Charleston, SC. Upon completion
and designated MTS-626, she was towed upriver to
her permanent berth at the Naval Nuclear Power
Training Unit Charleston. I spent one patrol on the
Daniel Webster which is one on only two of the
original fleet of 41 not to be scuttled. I hope someday to take a trip back to Charleston and see if I can
get a tour for old time sake.
452
453
BRANDON L. GIBSON
U.S. NAVY
1991 - 1994
Brandon Lamont Gibson
SERVED
U.S. Navy
August 2, 1991 to September 30, 1994
DISCHARGE RANK
HT-2, E-5
DEPLOYED & POSITION
Long Beach, CA
USS Bolster (ARS 38)
Hull Maintenance Technician
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
45 Cal Pistol Marksmen Ribbon
Sea Service Deployment Ribbon
Naval Reserve Sea Service Ribbon
M14 Rifle Expert Medal
Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon
USS Bolster (ARS 38)
453
454
DAYLEN HEIL
U.S. AIR FORCE
1992 TO 2003
Daylen Heil
SERVED
U.S. Air Force
1992 - 2003
DISCHARGE RANK
Master Sergeant
DEPLOYED
Special Operations
454
455
SUSAN M. KOYE
U. S. NAVY
1979 - 1988
AWARDS
(2) U.S. Navy Commendation Medals
Susan M. Koye
SERVED
U.S. Navy
July 5, 1979 – March 1988
DEPLOYED
Holy Loch, Scotland, La Magdalena, Italy.
Submarine Bases - USS Fulton (AS-11) Atlantic Ocean & Mediterranean Sea
DISCHARGE RANK
Lt. Commander
U.S.S.
455
Ful-
456
Jennifer M. Lake
U.S. Air Force
2010 - Present
Jennifer M. Lake
December 20, 2010 thru Present
STATIONED
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Anchorage, Alaska
RANK
Captain
AWARDS
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
National Defense Service Medal
Air Force Training Ribbon
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Wing Staff Agency – Company Grade Office of the Quarter
456
457
GERALD R. MASON, JR.
U.S. NAVY
1989 - 1992
Gerald Richard Mason, Jr.
SERVED
U.S. Navy
March 20, 1989 To March 19, 1992
DISCHARGE RANK
Hospital Corpsman (E-2)
DEPLOYED & POSITION
Middle East – Navy Corpsman
OPERATION DESERT STORM
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal
Meritorious Unit Commendation
Southwest Asia Defense Medal
w/1-Bronze Star
FMF Ribbon
457
458
ROBERT M. MATHIAS, III
U. S. NAVY
1974-1979
SERVED
U.S. Navy Seal Team 1
1974 to 1979
DEPLOYED
Vietnam, Hong Kong,
Philippines
STATIONED
SAR Helocopter Squardon &
USS CVN Enterprize
AWARDS
Battle “E” Ribbon; Vietnam
Medal; Marksman; Purple
Heart; Good Conduct Medal
458
459
RICHARD L. MCKEE
U. S. AIR FORCE & NAVY
1984-2011
SERVED
U.S. Air Force & Navy
October 1984 to April 2011
DISCHARGE RANK
E-6
DEPLOYED
Comisair Sicily, Libya, Desert Storm, Desert
Shield, Haiti, Iraqi Freedom
AWARDS
Armed Forces Reserve Medal w/”M” Device, National
Defense Service Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal
w/ 1 Device, Armed Forces expeditionary Medal, Air
Force Outstanding Unit Award w/ 1 Device, NCO
Professional Military Education Ribbon & Air Force
Good Conduct Medal.
459
460
EDWIN R. NIBLOCK, JR.
U. S. ARMY
1980 - 1986
Edwin R. Niblock, Jr.
Served: U.S. Army
July 22, 1980 to July 21, 1986
DEPLOYMENT
Augsburg, Germany
Ft. Campbell, KY
DISCHARGE RANK
PFC – E-3
AWARDS
Overseas Service Ribbon
Marksman
Army Service Ribbon
Augsburg, Germany
460
461
THOMAS A. PANKOK, III
U.S. AIR FORCE
1998 - 2005
Thomas A. Pankok, III
Served: U.S. Air Force
December 17, 1998 thru June 17, 2005
DEPLOYMENT
AWARDS
Ali Al Salem; Al Dhafra, United Arab Emirates
DISCHARGE RANK
Airman First Class
E-5/Staff Sgt.
AWARDS
“Serving my country was the greatest
privilege anyone could ask for. I stood
side-by-side with the bravest and most
selfless men and women this country
has to offer. I would gladly do it again
to protect the freedoms my family holds
so dearly. Thank you for the honor”
Thomas A. Pankok, III
Air Force Commendation Medal; Air
Force Training Ribbon; National Defense Service Medal; Air Force Longevity Service Award; NCO Professional
Military Education Ribbon; Korean Defense Service Medal; Global War on
Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Global
War on Terrorism Service Medal; Air
Force Overseas Short Term Ribbon;
NATO Medal; Air Force Good Conduct Medal w/One Device.
461
462
GWYN PARRIS-ATWELL
U.S. AIR FORCE
1991 – PRESENT
Gwyn Parris-Atwell
RN, MSN, FNP-BC, CEN, FAEN
AWARDS
Meritorious Service Medal w/2 Oak Leaf Clusters;
Air Force Commendation Medal; Air Force
Achievement Medal; Army Commendation Medal
w/1 Oak Leaf Cluster; Army Achievement medal;
Iraq Campaign Medal; Afghanistan Campaign
Medal; NATO Metal; Global War on Terrorism
Expeditionary Medal.
Gwyn Parris-Atwell
SERVING
U.S. Air Force
Active Service 1991 to Present
RANK
Lt. Colonel
DEPLOYED
Balad Iraq Air Force Theatre Hospital,
Contingency Air Staging Facility
462
463
ANTHONY J. PITTS
U.S. NAVY
1983 - 1985
Anthony (Tony) J. Pitts
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1983 to December 1, 1985
RANK
Third Class Petty Officer
DEPLOYED
USS Pargo
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Bremerton Washington
Died from injuries received while scuba diving
in Windan Seapark, LaJolla, California.
463
464
JAMES D. REED
U. S. ARMY
1998-2005
SERVED
U.S. Army
June 18, 1998 to October 31, 2005\
DISCHAREG RANK
E-4 SPC
DEPLOYED
Korea & Ft. Meade, MD
SPECIALTY
Record Telecommunications Operator
AWARDS
Army Achievement Medal; Joint Meritorious
Unit Award; Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Army Service
Ribbon; Global War on Terrorism Service
Medal; Army Lapel Button
464
465
JOSEPH B. SEENEY
U.S. NAVY
1980 TO 1985
Joseph B. Seeney
SERVED
U.S. Navy
May 2, 1980 to April 29, 1985
DISCHARGE RANK
HTFN Hull Technition Fireman
DEPLOYED
USS McCloy
AWARDS
Sea Service Ribbons
Battle Efficiency “E” Award
Meritorious Unit Commendation
Joe B. Seeney
465
466
Adam C. Sparks
U.S. Navy
2002 - 2007
Adam C. Sparks
May 25, 2002 thru May 30, 2007
DEPLOYED
USS Cleveland (LPD-7) Iraqi Freedom
USS Enterprise (CVN-65) Enduring Freedom
DISCHARGE RANK
Lieutenant (LT-03)
AWARDS
Navy Achievement Medal (2); National Defense Service Medal; Global War on Terrorism
Expeditionary Medal; Sea Service with 1-Star;
Nuclear Qualified.
USS Cleveland (LPD-7)
USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
466
467
George P. Sparks, III
U.S. Marine Corps
1981 - 1985
George P. Sparks, III
1981 to 1985
DEPLOYED
Beruit, Lebanon
AWARDS
Expert Rifle Badge w/2nd Award, Marine Corps
Expeditionary Metal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal.
DISCHARGE RANK
E-4
467
468
Melanie L. Sparks
U.S. Army
2000 - 2008
Melanie L. Sparks
May 2000 thru May 2008
DEPLOYED
Lanstuhl Regional Medical Center in Lanstuhl,
Germany during Operation Iraqi Freedom;
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
DISCHARGE RANK
Captain
AWARDS
Army Commendation Medal (Water Reed
Medical Center; Army Commendation
Medal (Landstuhl Medical Center; Army
Achievement Medal; Overseas Service
Ribbon; Army Service Ribbon;
Parachutist Badge.
468
469
STACY R. TURNER
U. S. NAVY RESERVES
1989 - 1991
AWARDS
National Defense Service Medal;
Southwest Asia Campaign Medal;
Overseas Service Ribbon
Fleet Hospital 15 (FH-15)
Stacey R. Turner
SERVED
U.S. Navy Reserves
March 1989 – April 5, 1991
DEPLOYED
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia
DISCHARGE RANK
E-3
Seaman Apprentice Stacy R. Turner was administrative support for FH-15. Fleet Hospital 15 was deployed to Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Storm.
The facility was a 500-bed echelon-3 hospital located
near Al Jubail, which served the fleet marines from
February to April 1991. The medical staff of the department of medicine consisted of reserve medical
officers with a variety of backgrounds. The desert
environment, concern for endemic diseases, limitations of equipment, and the environment of conflict
presented challenges to the medical department that
required adaptation of civilian skills to this new environment. The hospital served as a community medical center, with 86% of the inpatient and outpatient
treatment provided for non-battle-related illness and
injury. Design considerations of fleet hospitals for
future deployments should include the likelihood of
treating a large number of non-battle-related injuries
and illnesses.
469
470
ROBERT J. WATERS
U. S. NAVY
1981-1988 & 1998-2013
SERVED
U.S. Navy
1981 to 1988 & 1998-2013
DEPLOYED
USS O’Bannon (DD987)
USS Goldsboro (DDG20)
Camp Patriot, Kuwait
DISCHARGE RANK
Gunners Mate 1st Class (E-6)
AWARDS
Navy Achievement Medal;
Global War on Terrorism
U.S.S. O’Bannon (DD987)
Robert spent two tours of duty in the Navy.
His first tour of duty he spent aboard the
USS O’Bannon & the USS Goldsboro. His
second tour of duty was spent in Iraq as
part of NAVELSG FWD DELTA. He was
the leading Petty Officer in charge of the
port facility armory at the point of entry for
“Operation Iraqi Freedom”.
U.S.S. Goldsboro (DDG20)
470
CHRISTOPHER M. WOLLET
471
U. S. ARMY
1993-1995
SERVED
U.S. Army
September, 1993 to September, 1995
DEPLOYED
Hawaii
DISCHARGE RANK
E-4
AWARDS
Army Commendation Medal; Army Achievement Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Army Service
Ribbon; Army Overseas Service Ribbon; Army
Presidential Unit Citation; Army Valorous Unit
Citation Award
471
472
Salem County’s Fallen Hero’s
World War II
1941 (1939) - 1945
Korean War
1950—1953
Vietnam War
1959 -1975
472
473
World War II
Service
Branch
Rank
WILLIAM P. ABBOTT
ARMY
(PVT)
CHARLES V AGNEW
NAVY
Third Class
FRANK A. ALLEN
ARMY
(PVT)
EARL S. BAKLEY
USMC
(PVT)
JAMES G. BARKLIE
ARMY
(PVT)
FLOYD T. BARKSDALE
ARMY
(PFC)
DONALD W. BECKETT
ARMY
(TEC5)
OAKFORD B. BENTLEY
ARMY
(SSGT)
RAYMOND L. BOARDMAN
ARMY
(2 LT)
H. R. BOULTINGHOUSE
ARMY
(PVT)
CARMEN C. BRIGANDI
ARMY
(PVT)
MILLARD E. BUCKINGHAM
ARMY
(TEC4)
ANTHONY J. CHECCHIA
ARMY
(SGT)
KENNETH AYRES CLARK
NAVY
SEAMAN First Class
WALTER J. CONINE Jr.
ARMY
(2 LT)
FRANKLIN M COOK
NAVY
MACHINISTS MATE SECOND
CLASS
Name
473
474
World War II
Service
Branch
Rank
MM
(Steward)
SAMUEL C COSSABOON
NAVY
SEAMAN SECOND CLASS
WALTER LEWIS COX
USMC
(SGT)
THOMAS R. CRANE
ARMY
(SSGT)
WILLIAM H. CROSSLAND
ARMY
(PVT)
HERBERT D. CURRIDEN
ARMY
(SGT)
HAROLD H. DANTINNE
ARMY
(PFC)
EVERETT S. DAVIS
NAVY
SEAMAN SECOND CLASS
ROBERT H. DAVIS
ARMY
2 LT
ROBERT H. DAVIS
ARMY
(2 LT
GEORGE L. DAWSON
ARMY
(TEC5)
RUSSELL S. DEGROTTO
ARMY
(PVT)
JOHN DONALD DEMPSEY
USMC
(2LT)
JAMES DIACHIN
NAVY
AVIATION MACHINISTS MATE 3rd
CLASS
ARCANGELO DICINQUE
ARMY
(CPL)
NEWTON B. DICKINSON
ARMY
(SSGT)
Name
CLARENCE E. CORBIN
474
475
World War II
Service
Branch
Rank
FRANK DIMARZIO
ARMY
PFC
JAY C. DOLBOW Jr.
ARMY
(CPL)
HAROLD LORN DOWNS
USMC
(PVT)
WILLIAM T. EASTLACK
ARMY
(TEC4)
HENRY P. EGERTON
ARMY
(SSGT)
FREDIE C. EIFERT
ARMY
(SSGT)
EURAL N. ELLIOTT
ARMY
(SGT)
WINFIELD C. ELWELL
ARMY
(1LT)
OTTO J. FARNEY
ARMY
(PVT)
WALLACE P. FLITCRAFT
ARMY
(TEC5)
PERCY M. GAMPBELL
ARMY
(TSG
CHARLES H. GENTEL
ARMY
(TEC5)
HARRY GODFREY
ARMY
(CPL)
EMANUEL GOLDBLATT
ARMY
(PVT)
FRANK PAUL GRIECO
NAVY
FIREMAN SECOND CLASS
JOHN C. GRISCOM
ARMY
(SGT)
Name
475
476
World War II
Service
Branch
Rank
ROBERT F. HELLER
ARMY
(PFC)
HOWARD E. HEWITT
ARMY
(1LT)
IRVING S. HOGLUND
ARMY
(SSGT)
JOHN JACKSON
ARMY
(PVT)
RUSSELL F. JONES
ARMY
(PVT)
ADAM KACEWICH
NAVY
MACHINISTS MATE SECOND
CLASS
JOSEPH KACHROSKY
ARMY
(SGT)
JULIUS KOLLAR
USMC
TECHNICAL SERGEANT
HERBERT L. LANNINC
ARMY
(PFC)
CARL B. LLOYD
ARMY
(PFC)
KARL R. LOESCHE
ARMY
(PVT)
HAROLD LOVELAND
ARMY
(CPL)
FRANK LUSENKO
ARMY
(SGT)
CHARLES HERBERT LUTZ
NAVY
SEAMAN FIRST CLASS
CRANVILLE S. MADDOX
ARMY
(PVT)
JOHN F. MARONEY
ARMY
(TSGT)
Name
476
477
World War II
Service
Branch
Rank
HARRY C. MATHIS
ARMY
(PVT)
CHARLES F. MCVAUGH
ARMY
(2LT)
JOSEPH MILLER
ARMY
(PFC)
NORMAN MILLER
ARMY
(SGT)
HENNING C. NEIDIG
ARMY
(SGT)
FRANK J. NIESSEN
ARMY
(PFC)
ROBERT LONG NISSLEY
NAVY
LIEUTENANT
LETTERIO A. PANARELLO
ARMY
(PVT)
CARL F. PANKOK
ARMY
(SGT)
HUGH S. PIERCE
ARMY
(PFC)
WILLIAM B. PLASKET Jr.
ARMY
(TSG)
LOUIS J PRIMAVERA
NAVY
MOTOR MACHINISTS FIRST
CLASS
ROBERT QUIRK
ARMY
(SSGT)
WILLIAM D. RALPH
ARMY
(1LT)
EMERSON M. RILEY
ARMY
(PFC)
HARRY R. ROBINSON
ARMY
(SSGT)
Name
477
478
World War II
Service
Branch
Rank
HERBERT D. ROWE
ARMY
(PFC)
LEAVITT O. SAMSING
ARMY
(SGT)
ALBERT T. SEENEY
ARMY
(PVT)
ROBERT SEIVARD
ARMY
(PFC)
CHARLES R. SELMES
ARMY
(PVT)
JOHN B. SERVICE
ARMY
(PFC)
WALTER ALLEN SHARER
NAVY
LIEUTENANT
OLIVER T. SICILIANO
ARMY
(PVT)
GUY J. SIMONELLI
ARMY
(PFC)
RAYMOND W. SLAPS
ARMY
(PVT)
FREDERICK E. SNOWDEN
ARMY
(PFC)
CHESTER O. SNYDER
ARMY
(PFC)
GEORGE P. SPARKS
ARMY
(PVT)
EMERSON SPEARS
ARMY
(TEC4)
EARL SPIEGEL
NAVY
MACHINIST MATE 2ND CLASS
WILLIAM L. SPRINGER
ARMY
(TEC4)
Name
478
479
World War II
Service
Branch
Rank
GEORGE T. STARCK
ARMY
(MAJ)
ALDO STEFANNICE
ARMY
(TEC5)
ROBERT C. STILES
ARMY
(FLO)
EDWARD J. SUPERNAVAGE
ARMY
(PVT)
FRANKLIN H. THODAY
ARMY
(SGT)
LAWRENCE J. TIGHE
ARMY
(PFC)
Name
HOWARD THOMAS TOULNAVY
SON
FIREMAN FIRST CLASS
STEWART M. TWEED
ARMY
(2LT)
ROLLIN J. VANBUREN
ARMY
(PFC)
CHARLES E. WATSON
ARMY
(PVT)
HOWARD E. WATSON
ARMY
(PFC)
JOHN FREDERICK WERNER
NAVY
AVIATION RADIOMAN 2ND
CLASS
ROBERT L. WHEATLEY
ARMY
(SSGT)
ARTHUR B. WILDE
ARMY
(PFC)
WILLIAM NMI WILLIAMS
ARMY
(PVT)
JOHN H. WILLS
ARMY
(PVT)
RAYMOND WILSON Jr.
ARMY
(TEC5)
479
Korea
480
Name
Date of
Death
Service Home
Branch Town
Rank
ROBERT EASTLACK
26-Sep-50
Army
Salem
PFC
KENNETH EISENHARDT
25-Nov-51
Army
Salem
PFC
ELWOOD R. ESSLER
29-Nov-50
Army
Salem
CPL
JOHN D. FRANKLIN JR.
18-Jul-50
Army
Salem
PVT
GROVER G. GREEN
23-Oct-52
Army
Salem
PVT
GEORGE I. MARCKS
1-Jan-51
Army
Salem
PVT
JERRY K. MAYNARD
11-Jun-51
Army
Salem
PVT
GERALD J. POULSON
2-May-51
Army
Salem
PFC
HOWARD M. ROBERTS
24-Jul-50
Army
Salem
PVT
EDWARD E. ROSLOF
27-Jul-50
Army
Salem
SGT
OSCAR RUBART JR.
25-May-51
Army
Salem
PVT
DONALD H. SIMONSON
22-Sep-50
Army
Salem
CPL
JOHN F. STONE
3-Jun-52
Army
Salem
CPL
WALLACE D. WITT
2-Sep-50
Army
Salem
CPL
GEORGE C. WOOD
24-Jul-53
Army
Salem
PVT
MERLE W. YOUNG
7-Sep-50
Army
Salem SGT 1ST CLASS
480
Vietnam
481
Name
Date of Service
Death Branch Home Town Rank
JOHN ATKINS
20-May-67
Army
Elmer
LARRY GENE BELL
28-Aug-69
Navy
Alloway
LARRY HANSEN BOWEN
7-Jun-69
USMC
Penns Grove PFC
GEORGE ALLAN CALLAN
5-Mar-69
Army
Pennsville 1LT
JOHN HERBERT CHEEKS
28-Apr-67
USMC
Penns Grove CPL
CHARLES FCOINER
3-Mar-66
USMC
Salem
PFC
ALEXANDER COLES Jr.
23-Jan-67
Navy
Salem
Hospitalman
ROBERT T FERRELLI
18-Mar-68
USMC
Salem
PFC
RUSSELL G. GARRISON
8-Sep-67
Army
Elmer
SP4
HENRY R HOCKNELL JR.
8-Nov-67
USMC Carneys Point LCPL
TONY HOWARD HUGHES
16-Apr-66
USMC
DONALD LEE HUNTER
27-Jan-68
USMC
MICHAEL JENNINGS
25-Jul-69
USMC
Penns Grove LCPL
ROY MORGAN JONES JR.
18-Apr-67
USMC
Penns Grove PFC
481
SP4
Hospital Corpsman
3rd Class
Woodstown PFC
Salem
PFC
Vietnam
482
Name
Date of Service
Death Branch Home Town Rank
THOMAS H JONES
11-Jun-68
Army
Salem
PFC
WILLIAM G KEELER
2-Dec-68
Army
Pennsville
PFC
ROBERT A LAYTON JR.
3-Jul-69
Army
DONALD LEE LEHEW
26-Aug-66
Army
Salem
SGT 1st Class
CLAUDE W MCBRIDE
23-Aug-63
Army
Salem
SSGT
ROBERT MOORE JR.
23-Nov-69
Army
Elmer
SP4
FRANCIS S RHOADES
19-Sep-68 USMC
Elmer
PVT
THOMAS S ROGERS
14-Jul-70
HUGH E SCHAVELIN
16-Apr-68 USMC
ALTON THOMAS JR.
9-Mar-68
USMC
Penns Grove CPL
GERALD R THOMPSON
5-Mar-67
Army
Penns Grove PFC
CHARLES A VARNER
13-Mar-70
Army
MARVIN L WATSON
17-Jun-69 USMC
CHARLES R WETZEL
4-Mar-66
482
Army
USMC
Carneys Point 2LT
Penns Grove WO
Norma
Hancocks
Bridge
LCPL
PFC
Woodstown PFC
Salem
PFC
INDEX
483
Last
First
MI
Accoo
William
H.
Agnew
Alston
Arcidiacono
Atwell
Avis
Ayars
Ayars
Thomas
James
Anthony
George
William
Arthur
Sherman
Bailey
Baldwin
Baldwin
Banco
Pierson
Charles
Robert
John
Beardsley
Beatty, Sr.
Edward
Charles
Belifanti
Bell
Bender
Bennett
Berry
Biddle
Mabel
Larry
Robert
Melvin
David
Floyd
Billings
Bishop
Blithe
Bobb
Nickname
Entry Year
Branch of Service
1942
Army Air Force
11
1943
1962
1951
1951
1942
1944
1941
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
USMC
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
13
345
236
237
14
15
16
L.
1944
1971
1966
1961
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
17
346
347
348
N.
1941
1952
U.S. Army
USMC
18
238
W.
C.
1943
1966
1968
1944
1967
1942
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
USAF
U.S. Army
20
349
350
21
351
22
James
Walter
Jan
Charles
J.
W.
1953
1941
1968
1968
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
239
23
353
354
Boon
Boston
Bracale, Jr.
Robert
Arthur
Joseph
P.
B.
C.
1962
1943
1951
U.S. Navy & USMC
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
355
24
240
Britton
Brown
Brown
Frank
Everette
Norman
W.
S.
1962
1964
1944
357
358
25
Brown
William
P.
1969
Brown, Jr.
Burden
Burden
Burden
Butler
Canaday
Cannon
Carpenter
Carrow
Carter, Jr.
Russell
Alfred
Calvin
Kenneth
Dennis
Ivan
Elton
William
William
James
D.
C.
F.
F.
R.
R.
C.
E.
1943
1944
1942
1948
1963
1958
1943
1970
1942
1970
USMC
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U.S. Army Air National Guard
Army Air National
Guard
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
USMC
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
USAF
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
Cheney
James
T.
1941
U.S. Army
32
A.
W.
D.
E.
Lewis
G.
Bob
Chuck
483
Page Number
359
26
27
28
241
360
243
30
361
31
362
INDEX
484
Last
First
MI
Chevreuil
Chevreuil
Chrustowski
Chrustowski
Robert
Robert
John
Peter
C.
F.
J.
Chrustowsky
Clark, Jr.
Clark, Jr.
Coffey, Jr.
John
Howard
James
William
R.
Cole
Coleman
Conklin
Edward
Kennard
William
R.
C.
Conover
Conover
Cooker
Cooksey
Brian
David
Alexander
William
K.
F.
Coombs
Coombs
Coutch
Crane
William
William
David
Donald
A.
Crawford, Jr.
Crispin
Cross
Dare
Stephen
Edmund
Stewart
Edward
R.
J.
A.
Davis
Davis
Davis
Davis, III
Robert
Roland
Wayne
Lewis
DeCinque
DeClemente
DeHart
Benjamin
Harry
John
DeHart
Dennis
Depew
Dickson
Robert
Kenneth
Ambrose
Patrick
Dilks
Dilks
Dilks
Dilks
Nickname
Entry Year
Branch of Service
Page Number
1946
1946
1936
1940
Army Signal Corps
U.S. Army
Army Air Force
U.S. Army
33
244
245
34
1960
1966
1942
1942
U. S. Army Air Corps
USMC
U. S. Navy
Army Signal Corps
363
364
35
42
1966
1959
1943
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
365
246
43
2001
1968
1966
1960
USCG
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U.S. Navy
447
366
367
368
1944
1950
1965
1968
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
USAF
U.S. Army
44
247
369
370
1989
1943
1950
1951
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
USMC
449
45
248
250
1943
1943
1942
1951
Army Air Force
U.S. Army
Army Air Force
U.S. Army
46
47
48
251
1952
1942
1917
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
252
49
8
E.
R.
1943
1967
1942
1966
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
USMC
50
371
51
374
Edwin
James
James
John
E.
H.
H.
H.
1963
1959
1960
1952
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
375
376
377
253
Dilks
Dilks
Dilks
Linwood
William
William
H.
Franklin
I.
1941
1944
1942
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
54
56
57
Dilks
William
G.
1952
U. S. Navy
254
F.
M.
Bud
C.
B.
E.
Wade
Smoke
484
INDEX
485
Last
First
MI
Dilks
Dilks, Jr.
Dilks, Sr.
Dilks, Sr.
Kenneth
Raymond
Leroy
Raymond
F.
E.
F.
Dilks, Sr.
Dominic, Jr.
Donelson
Dooley
William
Charles
Karl
William
F.
Dorrell
Dougherty
Doughty, Sr.
Nickname
Entry Year
Branch of Service
1943
1966
1941
1942
U. S. Navy
USAF
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
52
378
53
55
J.
T.
1918
1941
1950
1997
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
9
58
256
450
Kay
William
James
H.
J.
A.
1953
1969
1967
USAF
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
257
379
380
Drummond
Durr
Dyer, Sr.
Eastlack
David
Charles
Joseph
David
E.
J.
J.
1946
1960
1948
1970
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
USAF
61
381
258
382
Edwards
Efelis
Elliot
Emery
Clarence
John
E.
Lester
M.
P.
Charles
1942
1991
1942
1940
U.S. Army
U. S. Army
Merchant Marines
U.S. Army
62
451
63
65
England
Erb
Erb, Jr.
Erdner
Vincent
Lewis
Philip
E.
W.
H.
Larry
1943
1943
1943
1954
USMC
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
72
88
89
260
Evans
Everingham
Eyler
Fenton
George
Clarence
James
Albert
M.
M.
H.
1949
1951
1956
1942
USAF
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
261
262
263
90
Field
Finlaw
Fisher
James
Allen
Albert
W.
1951
1953
1947
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
264
265
267
Fisher
Fisher
Fithian
Flannigan, Jr.
Charles
Eugene
Russell
Roy
F.
1974
1942
1953
1965
U. S. Navy
Army Air Force
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
452
91
268
383
Flannigan, Sr.
Foster
Foster
Fowser
Roy
Albert
Milford
Elmer
G.
1939
1943
1942
1944
U.S. Army
Army Airborne
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
92
93
96
97
Franceschini
Franceschini
Frankos
Harry
John
Robert
J.
N.
1957
1950
1968
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
USMC
269
270
384
Fredricks
Paul
G.
1942
Army Signal Corps
98
G.
P.
485
Page Number
486
Last
First
MI
Fredricks
Paul
Gandy
Oakford
Gant
James
Gardiner
Russell
Gatanis
Helen
Gayner
John
T.
Gibson
Brandon
Gibson, Jr.
Walton
Githens
Nickname
Page Number
Entry Year
Branch of Service
1970
U.S. Army
385
H.
1953
U.S. Army
271
H.
1942
USAF
99
E.
1967
U. S. Navy
386
1944
U.S. Army
100
1943
U.S. Army
101
L.
1991
U. S. Navy
453
L.
1957
U. S. Navy
272
George
1943
Army Air Force
104
Glading
David
1968
N.J. National Guard
387
Goslin
Charles
1965
U.S. Army
388
Graham
Earl
1943
U. S. Navy
105
Green, Jr.
Franklin
W.
1953
U. S. Navy
273
Green, Jr.
Grover
G.
1951
U.S. Army
274
Green, Jr.
Jesse
H.
1942
U.S. Army
106
Griffith
Charles
N.
1942
U.S. Army
107
Grosso
Joseph
1949
U.S. Army
275
Guth
Willard
N.
1952
U.S. Army
276
Guthrie
Donald
F.
1951
U.S. Army
277
Haaf
Bessie
1943
Army Air Force
108
Hall
William
B.
1959
U.S. Army
389
Hancock
Alice
R.
1944
U.S. Army
109
Hancock
William
N.
1862
Union Army
Hannagan, Jr.
Joseph
J.
1961
USMC
390
Hannah
James
E.
1967
U.S. Army
391
Harris
Lester
1942
Army Air Force
110
Harris
Ralph
1967
U. S. Navy
392
Harris, Jr.
Be lford
1949
USAF
278
Hassler
Paul
1942
U. S. Navy
111
Hassler
Ralph
1944
U.S. Navy Air Corps
112
Hassler
Robert
A.
1943
U. S. Navy
113
Hassler, Sr.
Edward
E.
1951
U. S. Navy
279
Hassler, Sr.
Thomas
W.
1943
U. S. Navy
122
Haynes
Genevieve
E,
1945
USAF
123
Heil
Daylen
1992
USAF
454
Hemple
Willard
1952
U. S. Navy
280
Henderson
Howard
1943
USMC
124
Herrman
Grover
S.
1950
U. S. Navy
281
Hewitt
Ralph
E.
1963
USMC
393
Hill
Andrew
1861
Union Army
Hill
William
1952
U.S. Army
282
Hitchner
Vernon
1953
U. S. Army
394
C.
L.
Martell
E.
L.
486
6
5
487
Last
First
MI
Homan
Kenneth
Hubler
Frank
Humphreys
Hunter
Nickname
Entry Year
Branch of Service
L.
1951
U. S. Navy
283
C.
1962
USAF
395
Joseph
W.
1962
U. S. Army
396
Robert
E.
1955
U.S. Army
285
Hurley
Lloyd
F.
1943
Army Air Force
125
Hurley
William
L.
1968
U. S. Army
397
Hyson
Benjamin
C.
1942
U.S. Army
126
Hyson
Donald
P.
1943
U.S. Army
127
Iannotti
Tom
1968
U.S. Army
398
Jacobs
Forrest
V.
1944
U.S. Army
128
Johnson, Sr.
Kenneth
P.
1943
U.S. Army
129
Johnson, Sr.
William
1943
U.S. Army
130
Johnston
Donald
1953
U.S. Army
286
Jones
Edward
W.
1943
U.S. Army
131
Jones
James
L.
1943
Army Airborne
133
Jones
Theodore
F.
1942
U.S. Army
134
Jones
Virgil
L.
1942
U. S. Navy
135
Jones, Jr.
William
C.
1948
USAF
287
Kachrosky
Joseph
1941
U.S. Army
60
Kates
James
1942
U.S. Army
136
Keeler
John
1944
U.S. Army
137
Koye
Susan
1979
U. S. Navy
455
Kugler
Jack
1966
U. S. Navy
399
Kugler
William
1942
U. S. Navy
138
Kuhar
Nicholas
1953
U.S. Army
288
Labriola
Anthony
1949
U.S. Army
289
LaCount
Roger
1942
U. S. Navy
139
Lake
Jennifer
M.
2010
USAF
456
Lamanteer
Paul
C.
1951
USMC
290
Laury
G.
Benjamin
1942
Army Air Force
140
Lawless
John
F.
1945
U. S. Navy
141
Leonard, Jr.
James
P.
1966
U. S. Army
400
Lewis
George
Lester
1966
U.S. Army
401
Light
Allen
Craig
1946
U.S. Army
291
Linner
Dorothy
Levitsky
1944
U.S. Army
142
Lomax, Sr.
James
E.
1942
U.S. Army
143
Lopes
Stephan
B.
1943
U.S. Army
144
Lowe, Jr.
Harold
S.
1967
U.S. Army
404
Lowery, Jr.
John
W.
1964
USAF
402
Luff
Thomas
M.
1952
U.S. Army
292
Lutz
Charles
1943
U. S. Navy
145
Maconi
Joseph
1943
U.S. Army
146
Eddie
O.
M.
J.
Hal
L.
487
Page Number
488
Last
First
MI
Magonagle, Jr.
Charles
W.
Major
Frank
Major
George
Martell
Joseph
L.
Martell
Louis
W.
Martin
William
Mason, Jr.
Geraldine
Mathias, III
Nickname
Entry Year
Branch of Service
1952
U.S. Army
293
1952
USAF
295
1951
USAF
295
1944
U. S. Navy
147
1943
U. S. Navy
148
1943
U.S. Army
149
R.
1989
U. S. Navy
457
Robert
M.
1974
U. S. Navy
458
Mattson
Clark
F.
1942
U.S. Army
150
McBride
Claude
W.
1952
U. S. Army
405
McCurdy
Floyd
1945
USAF
151
McKee
Richard
1984
USAF
459
McKee
Thomas
1955
U.S. Army
296
McNiss
Jules
C.
1969
U. S. Navy
406
Mehaffey
Edward
Jacob Jake
1957
USCG
297
Meschi
Edward
J.
1965
U.S. Army
407
Messick
Mike
1968
U.S. Army
408
Messick, Jr.
Harry
1941
U.S. Army
152
Miller
Harry
E.
1945
USMC
155
Miller, Jr.
Charles
M.
1942
U.S. Army
153
Miller, Jr.
Daniel
1943
U.S. Army
154
Miller, Jr.
John
W.
1967
U.S. Army
409
Miller, Sr.
Donald
W.
1948
USMC
298
Mitchell
Theophilus
1949
U.S. Army
299
Mlinek
Martin
1944
USAF
156
Monroe
Harry
1961
U.S. Army
410
Montagna
Alfred
1965
U.S. Army
411
Montagna
James
R.
1950
U.S. Army
300
Montagna
Joseph
V.
1948
U.S. Army
301
Montagna
Robert
E.
1951
U. S. Navy
302
Moore
Harry
A.
1955
U.S. Army
303
Morgan
Karl
R.
1950
USAF
304
Morris
Festus
1968
U.S. Army
412
Musser
Charles
1966
U. S. Navy
413
Myers
Alvin
1949
U.S. Army
305
Myers
William
1812
NJ Militia
4
Myers, Jr.
Harry
A.
1967
USMC
414
Nelson, Sr.
Jesse
C.
1953
U.S. Army
306
Newkirk
Floyd
D.
1950
USMC
307
Niblock, Jr.
Edwin
R.
1980
U.S. Army
460
Nipe
Raymond
G.
1965
USAF
415
Nixon
William
E.
1942
U.S. Army
157
L.
Art
Bob
T.
Fred
H.
Sandy
488
Page Number
489
Last
First
MI
O'Connell, Jr.
Patrick
Orkin
Osborn
Owens
Pankok
Pankok
Pankok
Pankok
Pankok, III
Pankok, Jr.
Paras
Paras
Parris
Parris-Atwell
Peterson
Patton, Jr.
Paulus
Pelura, Jr.
Pennal, Jr.
Pew
Pitts
Plasket
Porter
Pratta, Jr.
Nickname
Entry Year
Branch of Service
J.
1966
USMC
416
Ellen
Charles
Hildreth
Carl
John
Leo
Thomas
Thomas
Harry
Gus
James
George
Gwyn
William
Ernest
Louis
James
Floyd
Raymond
Anthony
Jack
James
Samuel
Levitsky
Chick
R.
F.
C.
M.
A.
A.
E.
T.
1944
1968
1940
1944
1950
1946
1951
1998
1944
1943
1941
1953
1991
1940
1977
1945
1941
1950
1943
1983
1943
1945
1960
U. S. Army Nurse
U.S. Army
USAF
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
USAF
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
USCG
U.S. Army
USAF
U.S. Army
USMC
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
Army Air Force
U.S. Army
USAF
158
418
159
160
308
162
309
461
161
163
164
311
462
167
419
165
166
312
168
463
174
175
420
Priest
Anthony
L.
1943
U.S. Merchant Ma-
176
Ranck
Reed
Reilly
Roberts
Robinson
Robinson, III
Eugene
James
James
Howard
Robert
Elwood
1943
1998
1943
1948
1949
1970
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
USMC
U.S. Army
177
464
178
313
315
421
Rogers
Romansky
Romansky
Rush
Saunderlin
Saunderlin
Saunderlin
Schiffbaur
Schneider
Schruffer
Stephen
John
Thomas
Donald
John
Lester
William
William
Lewis
George
1971
1944
1953
1954
1942
1941
1945
1968
1944
1943
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
USMC
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
422
179
316
317
193
194
195
423
196
197
Seehousz
William
1949
USAF
318
E.
Arthur
N.
K.
J.
R.
V.
Jack
D.
Jim
M.
B.
L.
Chip
M.
F.
489
Page Number
490
Last
First
MI
Seeney
John
Seeney
Seibert
Joseph
Edward
Shelton
Shipman
Siebert
Nickname
Entry Year
Branch of Service
L.
1952
U. S. Navy
319
B.
J.
1980
1944
U. S. Navy
USMC
465
198
Arnold
S.
1952
U.S. Army
321
William
Harry
E.
H.
1957
1954
USCG
USAF
322
320
Siebert
Simkins
Raymond
Walter
C.
1960
1968
U.S. Army National
U.S. Army
424
425
Simpkins
David
Earl
1943
USMC
200
Sinclair
Slape
Russell
Raymond
1952
W.
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
323
60
Slavoff
Smith
Eugene
Harold
V.
M.
1951
1948
U.S. Army
USAF
324
325
Smith
Smith
James
Harry
H.
Y.
1957
1942
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
327
204
Smith, Jr.
Snowden
George
Frederick
H.
E.
1943
1943
Army Air Force
U.S. Army
203
205
Sorbello
Joseph
T.
1942
U.S. Army
209
Spargo
Sparks
John
Adam
M.
C.
1953
2002
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
328
466
Sparks
Sparks
Charles
George
D.
P.
1940
1944
Navy Seabees
U.S. Army
210
211
Sparks
Sparks, III
Melanie
George
L.
P.
2000
1981
U.S. Army
USMC
468
467
Sparks, Jr.
Spicer
George
Chester
P.
1958
1942
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
329
212
Springer
Harry
E.
1963
U.S. Army
426
Strang
Stubbins, III
Douglas
Frank
W.
1971
1966
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
427
428
Stubbins, Jr.
Suchocki
Frank
Geraldine
W.
1943
1944
U.S. Army
USCG
213
214
Temmermand
Thomas
James
Paul
E.
B.
1948
1940
U.S. Army
USAF
330
215
Thompson
Thompson
Harold
Leroy
N.
H.
1961
1955
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
429
331
Timberman
Timberman
Charles
Laurence
C.
F.
1943
1951
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
216
332
Toms
John
W.
1944
U.S. Army
217
Torchio, Jr.
Touchstone, Jr.
Vincent
Ivan
A.
L.
1953
1946
U.S. Army
U. S. Navy
333
218
Touchstone, Jr.
L.
Ivan
1946
U. S. Navy
334
Turner
Stacy
R.
1989
U.S. Navy Reserves
469
Chet
490
Page Number
491
Last
First
MI
Uzdanovics
Van Namee
Van Namee
VanAtta
Andris
Dale
Donald
Malcolm
G.
H.
L.
Vanderslice
Venuto
Venuto
Villec
Waluska
Waters
Waters, Jr.
Watson
Watson, IV
Weber
Weible
Weiser
William
Joseph
Samuel
Richard
Frank
Robert
John
Marvin
Solomon
John
Harry
C.
Weiss, Sr.
Welch, Sr.
Wentzell
Wentzell
Wentzell
Wentzell
Wetzel
Williams
Williams
Williams
Fred
Isaac
Charles
Charles
James
William
William
Bruce
Donald
George
Williams
Wiltsey
Wollet
Wood
Wood
Granville
Edward
Christopher
Irving
John
Woody
Wright
Zane, Jr.
Dillard
Wayne
Milton
Zarin
Zarin, Jr.
Walter
William
Nickname
Entry Year
Branch of Service
1965
1966
1962
1973
U. S. Army
USCG
U. S. Navy
U. S. Navy
430
432
433
431
1951
1964
1964
1953
1945
1981
1967
1969
1966
1943
1945
1968
U.S. Army
USMC
USMC
U.S. Army
U.S. Marine Airwing
U. S. Navy
USMC
USMC
U. S. Army
U. S. Navy
Army Air Force
U.S. Army
335
434
435
336
219
470
436
437
438
220
221
439
1944
1966
1942
1950
1961
1966
1944
1960
1953
1952
U. S. Navy
U.S. Army
Army Air Force
USAF
USMC
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
USCG
USMC
USMC
222
440
223
337
442
441
224
443
339
340
T.
1952
1967
1993
1943
1942
USMC
U.S. Army
U. S. Army
U.S. Army
Navy Seabees
341
444
471
225
226
F.
1959
1962
1949
USMC
USAF
U. S. Navy
445
446
342
1944
1956
U.S. Army
U.S. Army
227
343
Larry
Casper
D.
L.
A.
J.
M.
Leroi
B.
H.
Barry
E.
E.
M.
J.
E.
R.
E.
Mickey
Sandy
Sandy
Skip
Mike
G.
M.
491
Page Number
492
SALEM COUNTY OFFICES
110 FIFTH STREET
SALEM, NJ 08079-1062
The Walkway of Freedom Dedicated to Those
Men & Women Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
492