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Atlantic Sun,
was sunk by a German submarine. Army Specialist Joseph Tiefenthaler, 21, of Brooklawn,
was killed in action during his tour of duty in Vietnam on May 13, 1967.
These veterans, along with more than 1,200 war veterans who
died while serving their country, can be found on a virtual memorial complete with
names, descriptions, photos and scanned copies of newspaper articles thanks to the
dedicated work of a Pennsauken man.
Phil Cohen, 52, spent many years in Camden. One day, while
paying a visit to City Hall, he noticed that a veteran he knew was killed in action was
not listed on a veteran memorial there. That inspired him to create his own
memorial.
"There were people missing who had given their lives for
this country," said Cohen. "I thought that was pretty poor, but now I
understand what happened."
Cohen started his quest in 2002 by finding all the veteran
memorials in Camden County. From there, he would go to the historical society and
research each name.
"There's more to these veterans than just a name,"
Cohen said. "They had families, wives and children. They grew up in these
communities."
During his research, Cohen ran into several obstacles
including, but not limited to, incorrect information. One particular case, he said, was
that of Pvt. William Coonrod who was listed in a county book, "Camden County in the
Great War," from Camden. Coonrod died at Camp Dix -- now Fort Dix -- from the
Spanish influenza on Oct. 5, 1918. However, further research revealed that Coonrod was
from Camden, NewYork, not New Jersey.
"This guy is on our county memorial although he's never
stepped foot here," said Cohen, "but that's OK. It's an honor to have him."
Cohen sacrificed lunch hours and evenings to sort through
newspaper articles and read morning and evening editions of the Courier-Post from the
past. His Web site has listings for World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War,
Cold War and Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
"I gave up football for two years," said Cohen.
"But it's all paid for by these men who paid the ultimate sacrifice."
Cohen's site has received attention from veterans and family
members all over the country.
"I've received hundreds of letters and phone calls,"
Cohen said.
Walt Sandell, 69, of Haddon Heights is a Vietnam War veteran
involved with Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1958 and is a graduate of Camden Catholic
High School. Sandell has been creating spreadsheets of Camden County veterans killed in
action to include their graduating high schools. Each name is linked to Cohen's Web
site.
"I wanted to find out who all the people from Camden
Catholic were," Sandell said. "Then it expanded to try to track down what high
school the different people went to and encourage them or spur memorials to all those
KIAs at the different high schools.
"But Phil had done all the work well ahead of me,"
he added. "(The Web site) is fabulous. He's done a tremendous amount of research."
Cohen said one of the most important lessons he's learned
from his research is that "everybody went (to war)." There was no
discrimination by race, ethnicity or affluence.
"(Cohen) is a real leader in our veterans' community
dedicated to preserving the veterans that passed before us," said Norman Sooy,
director of Camden County Veterans Affairs. "This is a great history log on our
veterans that once came from Camden County. I was always hoping someone would document
our monuments and veterans on the monuments, and that's what Phil has done."
Cohen said he will continue to do research and update the
site. He is currently working on Vietnam veterans and those killed in the war on
terrorism. He also accepts anything family members can provide such as photos,
information and newspaper clippings.
"It's very important to preserve history," Cohen
said. "We are the creation of our memories. If we don't learn from history, we are
doomed to repeat it and there's a great deal of history here."
Reach Kristy Davies at or
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