James A. Cochran Jr.

PRIVATE JAMES A COCHRAN JR. was the son of James A. and Evelyn K. Cochran. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1918. By January of 1920 James Cochran Sr., a veteran of World War I had moved his family to a house on Highland avenue in Center Township NJ. Center Township was divided up in the 1920s, and the Cochran family lived in the part that became the borough of Runnemede. By 1930 James Cochran Sr. and his brother Harry lived in adjoining houses on Clements Bridge Road in Runnemede NJ, they apparently had moved there around 1920. James Cochran Sr. was supporting his family as a pipe fitter at a sugar refinery. Evelyn Cochran worked as the clerk of the Runnemede School Board.

James Cochran Jr. was a graduate of Audubon High School. He was an active member of the Runnemede Lutheran Church. He found employment after high school as a clerk with the Runnemede Board of Education, and was active in local politics and other civic affairs. He was inducted into the Army in May of 1943.

Assigned to the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion, he trained at Camp Beale CA. He went overseas via the Boston Port of Embarkation on October 25, 1943. The 37th arrived in England on November 1st.

James Cochran was killed in action on D-Day, June 6, 1944 during the landings in Normandy. He was survived by his mother, brothers Raymond and Norman, and his uncle, Harry Cochran, and his uncle's family.

June 24, 1944

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2007

Photo courtesy of Jan Van Impe