Lindenwold, N.J. — Camden County POW/MIA Memorial
The Camden County POW/MIA Memorial in Lindenwold, N.J.
This memorial is located in Lindenwold Park. The monument was built under the direction of Camden County American Legion 2003–2004 County Commander Raymond Goss, with the help of the Mayor and the Borough of Lindenwold, and many other people of good will.
The Camden County POW/MIA Memorial: “You Are Not Forgotten.”
The block and granite memorial bears the names of 58 soldiers from Camden County who were held captive or remained missing after World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam wars. To learn about each individual listed here, see the Camden County War Dead Index.
Tribute to POWs, Missing
Camden Courier-Post —
Karl Sherrer of Gloucester City portrays a prisoner of war at a dedication ceremony for the Camden County POW/MIA Memorial in Lindenwold. Tim Weiser of Magnolia, a member of American Legion Post 370, stands next to the memorial.
Sonny Hamilton of Gibbsboro, a Korean War veteran, gives the honor guard the command to fire. James Carey of Lindenwold, a member of American Legion Post 56, bows his head during the dedication ceremony.
Memorial dedicated in Lindenwold
By Steve Levine
Karl Sherrer huddled inside a bamboo tiger cage Sunday, the personification of a prisoner of war.
The message of the Army veteran's “imprisonment” was that POWs and soldiers missing in action should never be forgotten, even years or decades after the wars in which they fought came to an end. Dressed in a tattered uniform and made up to look the part, Sherrer's captivity underscored a ceremony Sunday dedicating the Camden County POW/MIA Memorial.
Though the Gloucester City man was never actually a prisoner of war, he had a close connection to some who were — members of a team on which he served were among the first Americans to be captured in Laos leading up to the Vietnam War.
“I got out six months before they were captured,” said Sherrer, 64.
The block and granite memorial was unveiled during a noon ceremony in Lindenwold Park off United States Avenue. The memorial — which benefited from donated labor, stone and other materials — bears the names of 58 soldiers from Camden County who were held captive or remained missing after World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
The wall is both a tribute to those who were left behind and a reminder that no American should ever be again, said Raymond Goss, a Korean War veteran and Camden County commander of the American Legion.
“If this country is going to send our young men and women overseas to fight a war, we want them all back,” said Goss, 70. “No one gets left behind.”
Camden County POW/MIA Memorial — Names Listed
| Name | Rank | Branch | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| World War I | |||
| Benjamin J. Sandlow | Army | ||
| Samuel W. Wilbraham | Army | ||
| World War II | |||
| Charles M. Adams | Air Force | ||
| Norman E. Albinson | Air Force | ||
| William E. Aron | Air Force | ||
| Robert G. Bogan | Army | ||
| William H. Bovell, Jr. | Army | ||
| James W. Bramen | Army | ||
| Edward P. Carey | Army | ||
| Frederick G. Corbett | Army | ||
| William Cummings | Army | ||
| Andrew Dancoe | Army | ||
| Calvin L. Davis | Army | ||
| Edward K. Davis | Army | ||
| Benjamin Dyl | Army | ||
| Wilbert Epley | Army | ||
| Charles J. Fay | Army | ||
| Edward L. Golden | Army | ||
| Samuel E. Goldy | Army | ||
| Walter J. Haines | Army | ||
| Paul F. Heck | Army | ||
| Leslie A. Holtzapfel | Army | ||
| Solomon A. Kantor | Army | ||
| Francis J. Knox | Air Force | ||
| John A. Lofland | Air Force | ||
| John S. MacLaughlin, Jr. | Marines | ||
| William R. McKee | Army | ||
| William J. Montague | Air Force | ||
| Charles R. Morrissey | |||
| Charles D. Powell | Army | ||
| William T. Saunders | Army | ||
| George W. Schlam | Army | ||
| Francis E. Senseman | Army | ||
| George C. Sherman | Army | ||
| Leon Skabicki | Army | ||
| Harry L. Straub | |||
| Bruno S. Ulak | Army | ||
| Robert E. Watkins | Marines | ||
| William C. Wieland | Army | ||
| David A. Young | Army | ||
| Korea | |||
| William L. Clifton | |||
| Robert H. Cope | |||
| Leo N. Di Cicco | |||
| John B. Evering | |||
| Jay W. Frisbey | |||
| Adrian A. Hackney | |||
| Raymond W. Hamilton | |||
| Howard R. Harbridge | |||
| Calvin H. Kitzmiller | |||
| Jay Mann | |||
| Warren E. O’Brien | |||
| Ralph H. Schooley | |||
| George G. Shecklen | |||
| Frank J. Stevenson | |||
| John R. Sweeney | |||
| Joseph F. Toner | |||
| Vietnam | |||
| Ronald L. Bond | |||
| James E. Kennedy | |||
HMTS Rohna
One of Lindenwold's young men, Merl H. Reagle, 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 — 19-year-old Harry V. Taylor Jr. of Haddonfield, William McKeon of Blackwood, Carl Johanson and Jacob K. Jenkins of Pennsauken, 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.