Edwin S. Mills Jr.

Edwin Smith Mills Jr. was born May 25, 1896 in Camden, New Jersey, the son of Edwin S. and Kate Mills of 1804 Broadway, near the intersection of Broadway and Ferry Avenue. His father was a butcher who operated a business with his brother Charles Mills at 1806 Broadway. The Mills family lived there through at least 1910. These homes were razed after World War I to make way for the South Camden Trust bank building. By June of 1917 Edwin Mills Sr. had moved to 116 Collings Avenue in Collingswood, New Jersey.

After being drafted and receiving training, Private Mills went overseas with Company D, 312th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action near Grand Pre, France, October 23, 1918. While acting as a runner, Private Mills volunteered and carried messages through several heavy barrages and under direct enemy fire, always accomplishing his mission.

After the war, Private Mills returned to Collingswood and was working as a clerk at one of Camden’s shipyards when the census was taken in 1920. By 1930 he had married, and lived with his wife Roberta at 7 West Homestead Avenue in Collingswood, where he worked as a constable. In the late 1940s he lived at 511 Bettlewood Avenue, and was working as an insurance agent. Last a resident of Audubon, New Jersey, Edwin S. Mills Jr. passed away in January of 1967.

Private, U.S. Army
Company D, 312th Infantry Regiment, 78th Division, A.E.F.
Date of Action: October 23, 1918

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Edwin S. Mills, Private, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Grand Pre, France, October 23, 1918. While acting as a runner, Private Mills volunteered and carried messages through several heavy barrages and under direct enemy fire, always accomplishing his mission.

General Orders No. 46, W.D., 1919
Home Town: Camden, NJ