Joseph J. Piotrowski
Machinist's Mate First Class Joseph J. Piotrowski, son of John S. and Jessie Piotrowski, was born in Camden, New Jersey, on May 3, 1921. He lived at 1167 Chase Street in Camden; his U.S. Navy serial number was 02436401.
John Piotrowski had served with the Polish army during World War I, leaving Camden to join the volunteer Polish Army formed in Canada. He was active in veterans affairs, and was a past commander of the Wojtkowiak-Laskowski Post of the American Legion in Camden. He passed away in 1935.
As a youth, Joseph Piotrowski attended Bonsall Grammar School, Hatch Junior High School, and Camden High School in Camden. Before entering the U.S. Navy he took great interest in Boy Scout activities at St. Joseph Parish, where he and his family attended Catholic services. He also had worked for his brother Henry in the interior decorating business.
On June 1, 1938, Joseph Piotrowski and a group of friends took a rowboat into the Delaware River, intending to row around Petty's Island. About 100 yards out, Piotrowski and a friend, Pasquale Barbalace, of 1551 Norris Street, decided to swim to the island. Barbalace was apparently seized with cramps and drowned. The drowning was front-page news in the Camden Courier-Post on June 2, 1938.
Joseph Piotrowski enlisted in the United States Navy in 1939. On December 7, 1941, he was serving aboard the cruiser USS Helena at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. He survived the attack and was granted a furlough, during which he returned home to visit his mother, Mrs. Jessie Piotrowski, of 1167 Chase Street in Camden.
Joseph Piotrowski was killed in action on July 6, 1943, when the USS Helena was sunk at the Battle of Kula Gulf. He was survived by his mother; his sister, Irene; and his brothers, Henry and Edward. Lost at sea, he was honored by his family, who engraved his name on his father's tombstone at New St. Mary's Cemetery in Bellmawr, New Jersey. He is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines.
New St. Mary's Cemetery, Bellmawr NJ
Tag: joseph-j-piotrowski
Polish Heroes War Memorial
The Polish Heroes War Memorial at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, N.J. (Park Drive and Route 130) unites three monuments — to Casimir Pulaski (1936, moved here 1984), Thaddeus Kosciusko (1984), and, since 1995, the members of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church of South Camden who died in World War II.
St. Joseph's Parish WWII War Memorial
A bronze plaque in the vestibule of St. Joseph Church at 10th and Liberty Streets in Camden, presented by the Catholic War Veterans, St. Joseph's Post 418, and dedicated April 3, 1949, honoring the parish's heroic war dead of World War II.
St. Joseph's Church Keeps in Touch with Men and Women in Armed Forces
A 1944 Camden Courier-Post feature by Frank Sheridan on St. Joseph's Church (the Polish parish at Tenth and Mechanic Streets), whose 1,154 mothers gave sons and daughters to the war — four killed, two missing, one a prisoner — among them Joseph Piotrowski, lost when the cruiser Helena was sunk at Kula Gulf.
1150 Camden Poles In Service Honored
A service flag honoring 1,150 St. Joseph's Parish men and women in the armed forces was unfurled at Tenth and Mechanic Streets, where Mayor Brunner pinned gold stars on the mothers and a brother of parishioners killed or missing in World War II. Courier-Post, August 31, 1943.
Friends Fete Sailor From Pearl Harbor
A February 1942 Camden Courier-Post item on the welcome-home party given for Joseph Piotrowski, back from Pearl Harbor, at the home of his mother, Mrs. Jessie Piotrowski, 1167 Chase Street.
3 Friends Fail To Save Youth Drowned Here
Front-page Camden Courier-Post account of the June 1, 1938 drowning of 18-year-old Pasquale Barbalace of 1551 Norris Street in the Delaware River near Petty's Island, while three companions — among them Joseph Piotrowski of 1167 Chase Street — tried in vain to save him.