Anthony Michael Forsthoffer

Rank: Private, U.S. Army

Unit: Company L, 315th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: September 26, 1918

Buried at: Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne, France — Plot F, Row 5, Grave 10

Awards: Purple Heart

Private Anthony Michael Forsthoffer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 25, 1895 to Anthony and Anna Forsthoffer. The Forsthoffers were German-speaking immigrants from what was then the empire of Austria-Hungary. The family lived on Randolph Street in Philadelphia through at least the summer of 1910. The elder Forsthoffer owned his own blacksmith shop.

Anthony Forsthoffer lived in the Merchantville Grove neighborhood of Pennsauken, NJ during the 1910s, on what is now called Oakview Avenue at Maple Avenue. On June 5, 1917, he registered for the draft in Philadelphia, PA. He was then living at 926 North Randolph Street in Philadelphia, and working as a machinist at 618 Chestnut Street. He had been a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Foresters of America organizations.

Anthony Michael Forsthoffer was drafted on May 27, 1918. He was sent to Camp Meade, MD, and assigned to the 315th Infantry Regiment. He went overseas with his unit on July 7, 1918.

Private Forsthoffer was killed in action on September 26, 1918. His death was reported in the November 11, 1918 edition of the Camden Post-Telegram. He was buried at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in Romagne, France.

In 1930 Mrs. Anna Forsthoffer signed up for the government-paid Mother’s Pilgrimage to her son’s grave in France.

A street was named for him in Pennsauken. At some point over time the name “Forsthoffer Avenue” became “Frosthoffer Avenue.”