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TECHNICIAN
FIFTH CLASS JOHN FRANCIS REILLY
was born in 1917 in Pennsylvania. The fifth
of twelve children, he was the child of Peter J. and Johanna Reilly, who
had moved to NJ around 1926, By 1930 they owned a home on Milford Road
in Berlin NJ, and his father was working as a produce salesman. Three of
the grown children were also working. Also living with the Reilly family
were two cousins, Charles and John McKendrick. John
McKendrick would enlist in the Navy in 1941 and lose his life in
combat against the Japanese in the Pacific.
John
Reilly
was inducted into the U.S. Army
on May 12, 1941, and served in 24th Armored Engineer
Battalion. He also served as an instructor at the training center
for armored forces at Fort Knox KY. He was awarded the American Defense medal., He was
injured while on active duty, and
discharged on September 28, 1943.
John Francis Reilly died from injuries received
in active service, at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Philadelphia PA, on
January 29, 1944. His death was reported in the evening edition of
the Camden Courier-Post on January 31. He was interred in the family cemetery, and was
survived by his parents, brothers Peter, James, Francis, Edward, and
Joseph; sisters Rosalie, Helen, Joan, Margaret, Virginia, and Dorothy;
and cousin Charles Mckendrick. His funeral was arranged by the
Leonard Funeral Home at Wright Avenue in Berlin.
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