Bettlewood War Memorial
Freedom is not free. Sometimes, it comes at a very high cost.
The Bettlewood War Memorial at the Jennings School, E. Cedar and Johnson Avenues, Haddon Township, NJ.
In the Bettlewood section of Haddon Township, which due to geography is often described as Oaklyn, is a monument to those from that section who served. It is in front of the Jennings School at E. Cedar and Johnson Avenues. The Bettlewood monument was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1949.
Roll of Honor
World War II
| Name | Rank | Branch | Unit | Born | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William J. Giggenbach Jr. | 1LT | Army | Military Intelligence Service | ||
| John J. Hagan Jr. | SSGT | Army | 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division | 1919 | |
| Eugene Joseph Rowe | S1C | Navy | USS Arizona | ||
| James E. Spillane Jr. | 2LT | Army Air Forces | 1919 | ||
| Joseph Norman Vandergrift | TSGT | Army | Company G, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division |
Stone Honoring Bettlewood Dead To Be Unveiled Memorial Day
Camden Courier-Post —
Oaklyn News
A memorial stone, honoring Bettlewood’s war dead of World War II, will be unveiled on the grounds of the Bettlewood school, Johnson and Cedar avenues, as the climax of Memorial Day ceremonies being arranged by the Bettlewood Fathers’ Association.
Services at the school, at 10 a. m., will be preceded by a street parade which will form at Johnson and Clinton avenues at 9 a. m., and move down Johnson street to the school.
Mrs. Charlotte Johnson, president of the Camden County Gold Star Mothers, will unveil the stone. Lt. Cmdr. R. E. Clements, USN, will make the dedicatory address. The invocation will be given by the Rev. Charles R. Sweeten, of the Emmanuel Methodist Church, and the benediction by the Rev. Charles A. Sutton, of St. Aloysius Church. Ernest Whatmouth is chairman of the association committee arranging the program.
Music will be furnished by the Oaklyn band, which later in the day will join with the Audubon All Girl Drum and Bugle corps in the street parade. The procession will precede the Memorial Day services of the Oaklyn-Bettlewood American Legion post in Oaklyn borough hall.
Arthur Ballet is chairman of the Legion post committee in charge of this second Memorial Day ceremony. Ernest Talbot will act as master of ceremonies at the services in borough hall and Preston Lindeborn will act as marshal of the parade. Adam Gebelein will captain the newly organized color guard.
Exercises at borough hall will include the presentation of a medal by the post to William “Skeeter” McConaghie Jr., of 44 Ridgeway avenue, recently cited by the borough council for saving 22-month old Allen Lavin from drowning.
Beverly National Cemetery
| Name | Cemetery Plot |
|---|---|
| William J. Giggenbach Jr. | E 2039 |
HMT Rohna
Six men from Camden, NJ — Frank Ballerino, Michael Carr, Michael Yachus, Stephen V. Koscianski, Lewis Riondino, and Joseph H. Johnson — died together when the troop transport HMT 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 Kessler Jenkins and Carl Johanson of Pennsauken, 19-year-old Harry V. Taylor Jr. of Haddonfield, William McKeon of Blackwood, Merl Reagle of Lindenwold, and Elmer F. Day of Merchantville, were also lost that day. Many other men from South Jersey were killed as well. 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.