Frank J. Blair
Staff Sergeant Frank J. Blair was the son of Joseph and Mary Blair. Born in New Jersey in 1921, his early years were spent in North Camden. In 1930 the family lived at 313 North Sixth Street. The Blair family later moved to 987 North 23rd Street in Camden, NJ's Cramer Hill neighborhood. In 1930 the family included brothers Joseph Jr., Albert, and Jessie J., and sisters Rita and Helen. Frank Blair was a June 1940 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School on Federal Street in East Camden. Other members of his graduating class included Teddy Yurkiewicz, Tom Glennon, and Angelo DiCamillo.
Frank Blair had enlisted in the United States Army sometime after July of 1940. Qualifying for flight duty, he was a crewmember of a B-24 bomber. Along with another Camden County, NJ man, Sergeant Norman Albinson Jr. of Haddon Heights, he served with the 308th Bomb Group, based in Kunming, China.
Staff Sergeant Blair was killed in action on July 13, 1944. He was awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart. He is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Woodrow Wilson High School Yearbook, June 1940
FRANK J. BLAIR — 987 N. Twenty-third St. — Cramer Junior High — "Blair"
With characteristic good humor "Blair" breezes through life thoroughly enjoying himself by making things pleasant for those around him. Intramural Baseball (1); Junior Varsity Football (2, 3); Open House (2).
Tag: frank-j-blair
23rd Street
23rd Street originates in the former Pavonia section — now Cramer Hill — and extends south to Federal Street in East Camden, noted in the 1887–1888 Camden City Directory. The James G. Blaine School stood at the southeast corner of 23rd Street and Wayne Avenue.
State Cop Defied; Motorist Is Fined
Sixteen motorists were arrested by State Police of the Berlin barracks for motor vehicle violations; among them was Frank Blair of 987 North Twenty-third Street, fined $2.50 for careless driving.