Anthony A. Kuzdrall
First Lieutenant Anthony A. Kuzdrall — Camden Courier-Post, 1941
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Forces
Service Number: O-548608
Unit: 6th Bomber Squadron, 29th Bomber Group, Very Heavy
Role: Bombardier, B-29 Superfortress
Entered the service from: New Jersey
Died: April 16, 1945 — Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii
Awards: Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
First Lieutenant Anthony Kuzdrall was a career soldier. He had enlisted in the Army in 1929 as a private in the Field Artillery. Given an opportunity to join the Air Corps, he re-enlisted in 1932 at Wheeler Field in Hawaii, and had been in the Air Corps for eight years at the time of Pearl Harbor. He was serving as a Technical Sergeant at Hickam Field in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Hickam Field. His wife Merle and daughter Irene were with him in Hawaii at the time.
Once conditions allowed, Merle and Irene Kuzdrall went to live in Lansing, MI. Another child was apparently on the way — a son, James Kuzdrall. At some point thereafter, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, and subsequently promoted to First Lieutenant. A photo of Lieutenant Kuzdrall was published in the Camden Courier-Post right after Pearl Harbor. Another story about him ran in the February 4, 1944 edition of the Courier-Post. At that time, he had written home stating that “he enjoys jungle life, but it lacks razor blades and scissors.” He is sporting a full beard in that photo.
Anthony Kuzdrall was awarded the Silver Star for heroism during the Battle of Midway, and the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions at Guadalcanal. On April 11, 1944, it was reported in the Camden Courier-Post that Lieutenant Kuzdrall was awarded the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster for operational and combat missions at Guadalcanal, in a ceremony at Colorado Springs, CO. Mrs. Kuzdrall and the two children were at that point living at Colorado Springs. He went on to win two more Oak Leaf Clusters for the Air Medal.
At the time of his death, he was serving as a bombardier on a B-29 Superfortress in the crew of Captain William W. Watson, with the 6th Bomber Squadron of the 29th Bomber Group, Very Heavy, based on the island of Guam, and engaged in the bombing of the Japanese home islands.
Anthony Kuzdrall was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Kuzdrall, of 111 Church Street, Atco, NJ; his wife Merle C. Kuzdrall; and children Irene and James; two sisters, Miss Florence Kuzdrall of Atco and Mrs. Elizabeth Sikora of East Berlin, NJ; and three brothers, Thaddeus M. of Berlin, NJ, Stanley Jr., also of Berlin, and John Kuzdrall, of Atco.
Source: American Battle Monuments Commission
Camden Courier-Post — February 4, 1944
First Lieutenant Anthony A. Kuzdrall — Camden Courier-Post, February 4, 1944
Camden Courier-Post — April 11, 1944
First Lieutenant Anthony A. Kuzdrall at the Air Medal ceremony, Colorado Springs, CO — Camden Courier-Post, April 11, 1944
Flier's Wife Gets Final Word Of Death in Action Three Years Ago
Camden Courier-Post —
By WILBUR MORSE JR.
Three years ago the world suddenly came to an end for Mrs. Merle Kuzdrall, patient and devoted organizer and founder of the Camden County Gold Star Wives. Mrs. Kuzdrall, a young widow who lives with her three small children at 4717 West Elm Avenue, Pennsauken, received word that her husband, First Lieutenant Anthony A. Kuzdrall, Army Air Corps bombardier, was missing in action after a raid on Japan.
Shortly afterward came a more official report. Lieutenant Kuzdrall’s plane had been shot down. Three of the crew had been identified as prisoners of war; three had been reported dead. Successively, the prisoners were also reported dead.
Then, nearly three years to the day, Mrs. Kuzdrall finally received from Maj. Gen. Edward F. Witsell the official confirmation — April 16, 1945, the date her husband had perished. After 120 bombing missions in the Pacific theater, the B-29 Superfortress carrying Lieutenant Kuzdrall had exploded and sank in Sagami Bay.
Mrs. Kuzdrall and Lieutenant Kuzdrall met at a serviceman’s dance and were married some months later. At the time of Pearl Harbor, they were living at Hickam Field, Hawaii. Anthony Kuzdrall was serving as a Technical Sergeant when the Japanese attacked on that day of infamy.
It was last fall that Mrs. Kuzdrall undertook to organize a Camden County chapter of the Gold Star Wives.
Difficult for Widows
“The role of the war widow is a difficult thing to understand,” she says. “So many people think the government has taken care of us very generously. As a matter of fact, widows, especially with children, find it very hard to live on the small pension they are granted.”
“That is one of the things the Gold Star Wives, in their national organization, are trying to remedy. We are working to win medical and dental care for the widows and children and educational advantages for our children.”
“But what I see as most valuable is what the Gold Star Wives as an organization offers. It fills a big empty space in many women’s lives, in its social contacts.”
Organizes Unit
When she read about the work the Gold Star Wives were doing in other cities, Mrs. Kuzdrall decided there should be a chapter in South Jersey. Singlehandedly she undertook to gather the women of this area together in a unit. A charter was granted by the national group and, starting with a few original members, the chapter has grown to more than 30, with regular applications increasing at every semi-monthly meeting in city hall.
Mrs. Merle Kuzdrall
Charter Members at Meeting of Gold Star Wives
Camden Courier-Post —
WHEN the Camden County Chapter of Gold Star Wives of War II, organized Monday night, these charter members attended. Seated from left to right are Mrs. Caroline Simone, Mt. Ephraim; Mrs. Marion Rhinasso, Lawnside; Mrs. Merle Kuzdrall, Merchantville; and Mrs. Lucille Hernandez and Mrs. Gertrude Fay, both of Woodbury. Standing from left to right are Mrs. Nellie H. Oswald, Camden; Mrs. Lillian A. Lockwood and Mrs. Dorothy M. Ware, both of Haddonfield; Mrs. Katherine Palmer, Camden, an honorary member; Mrs. Agnes Kruse, Pennsauken; Mrs. Beth Hartline and Mrs. Margaret Murray, both of Camden; and Mrs. Evelyn Reed, Audubon. Mrs. Kuzdrall, organizer of the group, was named temporary coordinator of the first chapter in the state. — Camden Courier-Post, November 27, 1947
County's Gold Star Wives Seek Records on Kin of War II Dead
Camden Courier-Post —
The Gold Star Wives organization of Camden County has launched a program to find as much information as possible about the survivors of men who were killed or died in War II. Mrs. Merle Kuzdrall, Pennsauken, said this information is necessary to further the organization’s efforts to help war widows, orphans, and others who need service dead.
Plans are to establish medical and dental funds to care for those who are in need. “To do all that is planned, however, we will need as much information as possible about those who survived war dead,” Mrs. Kuzdrall said.
The Courier-Post will list the county’s war dead alphabetically. Survivors of those listed, and to whom personal letters will be sent, should write to Mrs. Kuzdrall at 4717 West Elm Avenue, Pennsauken, as soon as possible. — Camden Courier-Post, April 26, 1948