Haddonfield, N.J. — War Memorial

This pair of monuments is located in front of Haddonfield Memorial High School, 401 Kings Highway East (N.J. Route 41) in Haddonfield, N.J. The site holds two monuments — one erected in 1926 along with the High School, and a second erected in 1984. Haddonfield Memorial High School itself was “dedicated as a memorial to the men and women of the town who by service or sacrifice aided the cause of their country in the World War 1917–1918.”

One man memorialized here, Harry V. Taylor Jr., a 19-year-old from Haddonfield, along with 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, five other Camden County men — Jacob Kessler Jenkins and Carl Johanson of Pennsauken, 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
• The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association