Arthur R. Keiter
Arthur R. Keiter of Westmont (Haddon Township), NJ.
Rank: Private, U.S. Army
Serial Number: 32752894
Unit: 817th Ordnance Base Depot Company
Entered service from: New Jersey
Died:
Burial: Plot C, Row 5, Grave 26, Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England
Private Arthur R. Keiter was born in Pennsylvania in 1924, to Ira F. and Elma Schwalm Keiter. By 1930 the family, which included older brother Ira F. Jr., had moved to 928 North 6th Street in Camden, NJ. They later relocated to 1103 Belmont Avenue in Haddon Township, NJ. Arthur Keiter was a 1941 graduate of Collingswood High School. Known to friends as Art, his hobbies included art, movies, and skating. He wanted to become an artist and was involved in many after-school activities, including the Junior Red Cross. He was the President of Student Council in his senior year.
Arthur Keiter was inducted into the United States Army on March 8, 1943. He was trained at the Red River Ordnance Depot in Texarkana, TX, prior to being sent overseas in late August of 1943. Private Keiter died while serving with the 817th Ordnance Base Depot Company in the United Kingdom on September 11, 1943, less than a month after his arrival. He was survived by his parents and brother Ira D. Keiter, a sergeant in the Army Air Force serving at Groton, CT.
Arthur R. Keiter is memorialized on the War Memorial on Haddon Avenue in Westmont (Haddon Township), NJ.
Local Soldier Reported Dead In Great Britain
Camden Courier-Post —
Another local service man is dead overseas—less than a month after he had gone across. He is Pvt. Arthur R. Keiter, age 19, a graduate of Collingswood High School, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Keiter, of 1103 Belmont avenue.
Keiter entered the service on March 1st. He went away with a number of other local boys, but one of those unexplainable bad breaks which hit some men in service, prevented him from ever getting home again, even for a short furlough. He was sent to the Red River Ordnance Depot at Texarkana, Texas, and sailed for overseas early in August.
A brother, Ira D. Keiter, age 23, Army Air Corps at Groton, Conn., was home on a pass last week-end.
A touching sidelight on young Keiter’s death is reported by Miss Ruth Grubb, of the Collingswood High School. Almost at the same time the young man’s parents learned officially of their son’s death in England, a letter was received at the High School from him praising the Red Cross for their gifts and assistance to the American service men upon embarking and abroad. Keiter was chairman of the school Red Cross group during his high school days. He had written the letter almost immediately upon his arrival in England.
Photos
Arthur R. Keiter’s grave at Cambridge American Cemetery, England; and the Keiter family home at 1103 Belmont Avenue, Westmont (Haddon Township), NJ (July 2004).