Edward F. Murtaugh
Grave of Private Edward F. Murtaugh, Calvary Cemetery, Pennsauken, NJ
Private Edward F. Murtaugh was born January 18, 1923, in Camden, NJ, the youngest of seven children born to John J. and Catherine Murtaugh. The Murtaugh family had moved to Camden some time between 1910 and 1914. The city directory of that year shows John J. Murtaugh at 8 North Marlton Avenue [North Marlton Avenue was renamed East State Street not long afterwards]. The 1924 Camden City Directory shows the family at 2004 Cooper Street; the 1927 edition lists them at 2114 Howell Street. The Murtaughs moved once again by 1929, when they settled in at 117 North 34th Street. By 1929, John J. Murtaugh was working as a core maker at the Eureka Brass Foundry, which served Camden’s shipyards, and brothers James, John, and Francis were all working in Camden’s various industries.
Besides Edward, older siblings Catherine, Thomas, and Margaret were still at home at the time of the April 1930 census. Like many other young men of his time, brother Francis Murtaugh had a heavy foot on the gas pedal, and was caught racing at 2:30 AM in October of 1936. For this he was fined all of $3.00. It truly was a different world.
Edward Murtaugh graduated from St. Joseph’s School on Westfield Avenue in Camden. He was working for an electrical firm in Philadelphia when he was inducted into the United States Army.
After undergoing basic training, he was sent overseas as an infantry replacement and assigned to Company C, 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division. He was killed in action during the attack on San Vittore del Lazio, Italy, on January 6, 1944. He was survived by his parents and siblings. His brother Francis had recently been discharged from the Marines after seeing duty on Guadalcanal, and Thomas Murtaugh was then a sergeant with the Army Air Forces at Myrtle Beach, SC. His death was reported in the evening edition of the March 9, 1944 Camden Courier-Post.
Edward Murtaugh was brought home to the United States after the war, and he was buried at Calvary Cemetery in what was then Delaware Township (present-day Cherry Hill), NJ, on October 2, 1948.
Private Murtaugh’s brother, John J. Murtaugh Jr., named his son after his deceased brother in November of 1947. Edward F. Murtaugh served in Vietnam and was a career firefighter with the Camden Fire Department, and later an officer with the South Jersey Vietnam Veterans Association.
Italy — 1944
North of Highway 6, the slopes of Sammucro flanked the route of advance toward Cassino. San Vittore, in the foreground, was the next objective after II Corps captured San Pietro.
Plans for the Attack — January 5, 1944
Pvt. Edward Murtaugh Funeral Saturday
Camden Courier-Post —
Solemn requiem Mass for Pvt. Edward F. Murtaugh, 20, will be celebrated Saturday at 9 a. m. in St. Joseph’s R. C. Church, Twenty-ninth street and Westfield avenue. Relatives and friends will meet at 8 a. m. in the funeral home at 2850 Federal street. Burial will be in Calvary cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home Friday night. All military rites will be conducted by East Camden post, 705, VFW.
Private Murtaugh, who was born in Camden, was killed Jan. 6, 1944, in Italy. He was a member of Company C, 135th Infantry. He entered the Army in March 10, 1943, and went overseas in October of the same year.
Surviving are his mother, Catherine; his father, John, of 117 North Thirty-fourth street; two sisters, Mrs. Catherine Sauer and Mrs. Margaret Dougherty, and four brothers, James, John, Francis, who served in the Marine Corps, and Thomas, who served in the Army Air Corps, all of Camden.
Francis Murtaugh Fined for Reckless Driving
Camden Courier-Post —
BATHTUB GIN MAKER IS HELD FOR COURT
Police Judge Liberman Also Frees Two Youths Accused by Tailor
Two district detectives yesterday told Police Judge Lewis Liberman that Earl Bundy, 24, was making bathtub gin in the family boiler at his home, 824 Sycamore street, when they raided the place Tuesday. He also had four barrels of mash, John Burns and John Huston, the sleuths, testified.
Bundy denied the charge, but Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando asked that Bundy be held without bail to await the action of the grand jury. Bundy was held.
The court also listened to "The Tale of a Coat." John Erconani, tailor, of 376