Gloucester City, N.J. — War Memorial

Situated on Broadway in Gloucester City, N.J., this site contains separate monuments dedicated to those who served in WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. There are also park benches donated by American Legion Post 135, VFW Post 3620, and the Gloucester City Chamber of Commerce. The World War II Memorial was dedicated in October of 1947.

Gloucester City, N.J. has given 65 of its young men to our nation since 1917, a huge loss in proportion to the actual population of the town. Gloucester has honored its fallen heroes with a series of monuments on the east side of Broadway in the center of town.

Lost in Service

David Barnaby, Private, of 521 Hunter Street, Gloucester City, was fatally injured when he was kicked by a horse over the right eye, near Hausen, Germany, on February 2, 1919. He was a member of Battery F, 76th Field Artillery, in the Army of Occupation, and was sent on a detail for horses to Hausen. On the return Barnaby asked permission to fall out to adjust his saddle. The detail had gone but one hundred yards when Corporal Hayes saw him fall. When the detail reached Barnaby they found him badly injured and he was taken to the hospital at Mayen, Germany, where he died on February 5th. He was the son of Mrs. Rebecca Barnaby, of 521 Hunter Street, Gloucester City.

Frederick H. Baynes, Sergeant, of 935 Monmouth Street, Gloucester City, was killed in action in the Meuse-Argonne offensive on October 9, 1918. He enlisted in the old Third Regiment, National Guard of New Jersey, and was sent with the regiment to Camp Edge, Sea Girt, on July 25, 1917, and later transferred to Camp McClellan, Anniston AL. He became a member of Company G, when the regiment was changed to the 114th Infantry. He was the son of Frederick H. and Rebecca Baynes of Gloucester City.

William M. Hickman, Private, of 613 Market Street, Gloucester City, was killed in action on September 29, 1918. He was one of twelve volunteers who endeavored to capture a German machine-gun nest in the Argonne Forest. He was shot in the hip and as he fell was shot in the forehead and instantly killed. He was the only one of the twelve to be slain. Private Hickman was a member of Company B, 145th Infantry, and was drafted April 29, 1918 and sent to Camp Lee VA, for training. He arrived in France on June 22, 1918. This young soldier was the son of William C. and Elizabeth Louise Hickman, of Gloucester City.

John J. Sheldon, Private, of Gloucester City, died at Syracuse Recruit Camp, Syracuse NY on October 13, 1918, from pneumonia. The young man had been drafted July 29, 1918 and sent to Syracuse, where he had been assigned to Battery A, 126th Field Artillery. He was the son of Louis and Mary Sheldon, and resided at 100 North Broadway, Gloucester City.

Townsend C. Young, Private, of Gloucester City, was killed in action October 12, 1918, north of Verdun when the 29th Division entered the Meuse-Argonne battle. He was a member of Company G, 114th Infantry, and went away from Camden with the Third New Jersey National Guard, on July 25, 1917, and was trained at Camp Edge at Sea Girt NJ and Camp McClellan at Anniston AL. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Young, of Gloucester City.

Six men from Camden, N.J. — Frank Ballerino, Michael Carr, Michael Yachus, Stephen V. Koscianski, Lewis Riondino, and Joseph H. Johnson — died together when the troop transport HMTS Rohna was struck by a German guided glider bomb and sank off the coast of North Africa. In addition, six other Camden County men — Jacob K. Jenkins and Carl Johanson of Pennsauken, 19-year-old Harry V. Taylor Jr. of Haddonfield, William McKeon of Blackwood, Merle Reagle of Lindenwold, and Elmer F. Day of Merchantville — also were lost that day. In total, 1,015 men were lost, but the story was never told to the families or the general public for over 57 years due to wartime censorship.

• The Rohna Disaster — Camden County Internet War Memorial
• MSNBC Coverage — Tom Brokaw