Clarence James Rives Jr.
Left: High School Photo. Right: Clarence James Rives Jr.
Rank: Ensign, U.S. Navy
Serial: 429449
Unit: Aviation Repair and Overhaul Unit 2 (AROU-2)
Entered service from: New Jersey
Died: , Philippines
Burial: Arlington Cemetery, Cove Road, Pennsauken, NJ
Awards: Purple Heart
Biography
Ensign Clarence James Rives Jr. was born in Camden, NJ on July 15, 1924, to Clarence James and Miriam M. Rives. In 1930 he lived along with his parents and sister Mary in the home of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. James H. Ketchum, of 3618 Westfield Avenue in Camden, NJ. His entire early life was spent in that East Camden neighborhood, his parents eventually moving to a home at 226 North 32nd Street. He graduated in 1942 from Woodrow Wilson High School on Federal Street in Camden, and worked for the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company prior to entering the Navy in October of 1942. He was activated in April of 1943.
Trained as a pilot at Pensacola, FL, Clarence Rives won his wings and commission in October 1944. Ensign Rives went overseas in February of 1945. He was killed in the Philippines on June 16, 1945. He was test flying an FM-2 Wildcat (Bureau Number #74566). The engine failed shortly after takeoff and he spun in to the ground. His death was reported in the July 20, 1945 edition of the Camden Courier-Post. Clarence Rives was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence James Rives Sr., and his sister, Miriam, and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Whiley, all of Camden, NJ.
Clarence Rives Jr. was brought home after the war. He was buried at Arlington Cemetery in Pennsauken, NJ, where he now rests next to his parents.
He’s that curly-headed lad,
That doesn’t make much noise,
But he’s always in on all the fun,
And a friend of all the boys.— Woodrow Wilson High School Yearbook, 1942
Ens. C. J. Rives Jr. Rites Tomorrow
Camden Courier-Post —
Services for Ensign Clarence J. Rives Jr., of 338 Garden Avenue, will be held tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the funeral home of Inglesby & Sons, Cove and Wyndam roads, Pennsauken, where friends may call tonight. Burial will be in Arlington cemetery.
Military rites will be conducted by a squad from the Philadelphia Naval Base.
Ensign Rives, a navy test pilot, was killed June 16, 1945, in the Philippines, at the age of 20. A graduate of Woodrow Wilson High school in 1942, he joined the Navy in October, 1942, went on active duty in April, 1943, and won his wings in October, 1944, after graduation from the navy flying school at Pensacola, Fla.
Ensign Rives went overseas in February, 1945, and saw service in the East Indies and the Philippines. He had been employed by the Socony Vacuum Oil Co.
Surviving are his father, Clarence J.; his mother, Miriam; a sister, Miriam, and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Whiley, all of Camden.
Photos
Grave of Clarence James Rives Jr. at Arlington Cemetery, Pennsauken, NJ.