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Private First Class Chester J. Gdowik of 947 Jackson Street, Camden, served with the 6th Armored Infantry Battalion, 1st Armored Division. A South Camden native who worked in the machine shop at New York Shipbuilding before his induction, he was killed in action in Italy on May 25, 1944.
Anthony Joseph Bibinski of Camden served as a Private First Class in the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He took part in the invasions of Anzio and Southern France and was killed in action on November 20, 1944.
Private Edward Kasper, born Edward Kasperowicz to Vincent and Estella Kasperowicz of Camden's Polish St. Joseph Parish, served as a radio operator with Company I, 324th Infantry Regiment, 44th Infantry Division. He was killed in action in France on October 27, 1944, at the age of 24, and is buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Gloucester Township, NJ.
Technical Sergeant Benjamin William Dyl of Woodlynne, New Jersey, who grew up at 1524 Mount Ephraim Avenue in Camden's Polish community, served with the 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. Wounded and captured while leading a patrol in January 1945, he died in a German prisoner of war camp on February 5, 1945, after only ten months in the service.
Private First Class Louis Bontkowski of 1191 Liberty Street, Camden, NJ served with Company A, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, joined the division in April 1944 in time for the D-Day landings, and died of wounds on September 13, 1944. He is buried at St. Joseph Cemetery, Gloucester Township, NJ.
Kenneth Jennings Netherby of Camden, NJ served as a Motor Machinists Mate Third Class in the United States Navy during World War II. He died of causes not related to combat while serving, survived by his wife, of 936 North 19th Street in the Cramer Hill section of Camden.
Joseph Xavier Voll (1925–1945) of Camden, NJ served as a Fireman First Class in the United States Navy and was one of the original crew of the USS Caswell (AKA-72). He was killed in an accident at Riverton, New Jersey on January 12, 1945, less than a week short of his 20th birthday, and is buried at Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly, NJ.
John J. Gorman (1922–1944) of 1040 North 19th Street in the Cramer Hill section of Camden served as a Corporal in Company C, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He was killed October 2, 1944 during the siege of Aachen, Germany, and is buried at New St. Mary's Cemetery in Bellmawr, NJ.
Harvey W. Blackwell Jr. of Camden, NJ served as a Private in the 13th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division. He was killed in action May 30, 1944 during the breakout from Anzio and is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy.
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.
Corporal Isadore "Israel" Goldstein (1914–1945) of 2578 Baird Boulevard, Camden, served with Company D, 759th Tank Battalion, U.S. Army. He was killed in action on April 5, 1945 at Nassau, Germany while saving 21 other soldiers, and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.
Platoon Sergeant Frank Aloysius Duffy (d. 1944) of 225 North 10th Street, Camden, served with the 4th Marine Division, U.S. Marine Corps. He landed on Roi Island in the Marshall Islands and was killed in action on July 2, 1944, earning the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He is memorialized at the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii.
Private Anthony J. Flemming (1913–1944) of Camden, NJ, served in Company E, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, and was killed in action on November 25, 1944, during the assault on the Siegfried Line in Germany. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Aviation Machinist's Mate Third Class, Patrol Bombing Squadron VPB-119, U.S. Navy; killed in action May 1, 1945 when his PB4Y-2 Privateer was shot down over Hainan Island. He had lived at 320 Birch Street, Camden, NJ.
Three parish bulletins from St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church (the Polish parish) at 10th & Mechanic Streets in Camden, NJ — dated November 29, 1944; February 7, 1945; and the VE Edition of May 1945.
Korean War veteran Stan Bednarczyk of Audubon remembers his Camden next-door neighbor Chester Gdowik — the big kid who invented "Mr. Muscles", played third base for the Falcons, and was killed in Italy in 1944 — in a Memorial Day column for the Courier-Post.
Tom Brokaw's NBC Nightly News report on the sinking of the HMT Rohna on November 26, 1943, in which 1,015 American troops were lost — the greatest loss at sea of U.S. personnel in World War II.
A requiem high Mass for Pfc. Louis Bontkowski of 1191 Liberty Street was set for St. Joseph's R.C. Church, with burial in the veterans plot of St. Joseph's cemetery at Chews Landing and military honors by Laskowski-Wojtkowiak Post 74, American Legion.
The Camden Courier-Post announces a full military funeral for Pvt. Chester J. Gdowik, killed in action in Italy on May 25, 1944, with High Mass at St. Joseph's Church and burial at St. Joseph's cemetery, Chews Landing.
A solemn high Mass for Pvt. Edward Kasper, killed in action in France on October 27, 1944, was set for Friday morning at St. Theresa's Church in Runnemede, with burial in St. Joseph's cemetery at Chews Landing.
Camden Courier-Post notice of the solemn requiem Mass for Corporal John J. Gorman of 1040 North Nineteenth Street, killed at Aachen, Germany, held at St. Anthony of Padua Church in November 1947.
A July 1945 Camden Courier-Post report that Technical Sergeant Benjamin W. Dyl of Woodlynne had died of wounds on February 5 in a German prison camp, after being wounded and captured while leading a four-man reconnaissance patrol.
In a February 1944 letter to Camden County registrar Victor J. Scharte, Corp. Frank A. Duffy of Marine intelligence described the invasion of Roi Island in the Kwajalein Atoll and enclosed captured Japanese money as souvenirs. Camden Courier-Post, February 21, 1944.
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.
More than 5,000 persons — the biggest Polish gathering in Camden's history — attended the October 11, 1936 unveiling of the Casimir Pulaski monument in Pulaski Square, with speeches by Mayor Frederick von Nieda, Monsignor Arthur B. Strenski, Congressman Charles A. Wolverton, and Polish consul Dr. Szygowski.
Announcement that a monument to Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski would be dedicated on October 11, 1936, in Pulaski Square, Camden — the site of the old City Hall — with a parade and ceremonies involving the 32 units of the United Polish Organizations.