Alfred Leon Kluczynski
Alfred Leon Kluczynski
Rank: Seaman First Class, U.S. Naval Reserve
Serial: 6501400
Ship: USS Barnett APA-5
Entered service from: New Jersey
Died: , Oran, Algeria
Burial: Calvary Cemetery, State Highway 70 & Hampton Road, Cherry Hill, NJ
Biography
Seaman First Class Alfred Leon Kluczynski was born in Wilmington, DE to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Kluczynski on November 20, 1923. In 1940 the family moved to 431 Winslow Street in Camden, NJ, what was then the 8th Ward. Before entering the United States Navy on December 8, 1941, he had graduated from Camden High School and had worked at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyards, near his home. His father was a union official at the shipyard.
Alfred Kluczynski trained at Newport, Rhode Island. He was assigned to the USS Barnett, a troop transport, joining the ship on January 31, 1942. Seeing action in both the Pacific Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea, the USS Barnett took part in landing troops at Guadalcanal, Sicily, and Salerno. With the Barnett in harbor at Oran, on October 20, 1943, Seaman First Class Kluczynski, having been injured while working with a landing party, was taken to the 7th General Hospital in Oran. He was then moved to the U.S. Navy Dispensary in Oran, where he died the next day.
Seaman First Class Kluczynski’s death was reported in the October 28, 1943 edition of the Camden Courier-Post. He was survived by his parents, sisters, and step-sisters.
Alfred Kluczynski was originally buried in a military cemetery in North Africa. His body was returned to the United States aboard the USAT Barney Kirschbaum in May of 1948. Alfred Kluczynski was buried in what was then Delaware Township (present-day Cherry Hill), NJ at Calvary Cemetery on June 2, 1948. He rests next to his father and step-mother, who passed away in 1978 and 1983, respectively.
A. L. Kluczynski Rites To Be Wednesday
Camden Courier-Post —
Solemn requiem Mass for S/2cl Alfred L. Kluczynski, son of Alexander Kluczynski, of 1900 Fillmore street, will be celebrated at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Church of the Sacred Heart. Relatives and friends will meet at 8 a.m. in the funeral home of Frank L. Leonard, 1451 Broadway, where they may call Tuesday night. Burial, with military honors, will be in Calvary cemetery. A guard of honor and firing squad will be from George W. Booz post, 274, American Legion.
The Camden sailor was 20 when killed in action with a landing party in Algiers, Oct. 21, 1943. He had enlisted Dec. 8, 1941.
Born in Wilmington, Del., Seaman Kluczynski moved to Camden in 1940 and graduated from Camden High school the following year. He then worked at New York shipyard, where his father had helped organize the union and was a member of its executive board from 1934 to 1938.
Also surviving are his step-mother, Sophie; two sisters, Mrs. Cecelia Miller and Miss Helen Kluczynski, and two step-sisters, Mrs. Eleanore Podloch and Mrs. Irene Stipovich, all Camden.
Photos
Alfred Leon Kluczynski
U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Form
Alfred Kluczynski lived in this house at 431 Winslow Street, Camden, NJ