John J. Hagan Jr.

Rank: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army

Serial: 32267355

Unit: 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: July 15, 1944

Burial: Plot C, Row 2, Grave 24 — Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England

Awards: Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal

Staff Sergeant John J. Hagan Jr. was born in Pennsylvania in 1918. He grew up in the Bettlewood section of Haddon Township, and had lived at 12 East Park Avenue. He was a 1935 graduate of Collingswood, NJ High School, where he took the General course of studies. His yearbook described him as “A quiet lad who accomplishes many things.” He had worked at the John Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia before entering the service on May 11, 1942 at Fort Dix, NJ. He underwent basic training at Camp Croft, SC, and subsequently served at Camp Gordon, GA, Fort Dix, NJ, Camp Gordon-Johnson, FL, and Fort Jackson, SC. John Hagan Jr. was assigned to the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division and had been promoted to staff sergeant by June of 1944.

Sergeant Hagan went overseas with his unit in January of 1944, and landed on Utah Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. A letter, dated July 2, described his D-Day experiences, and the hasty return of the French populace after the Germans had been driven from their homes.

Sergeant Hagan participated in the capture of Montebourg, and was in the battle for Cherbourg when he suffered the injuries which took his life. He was mortally wounded when the jeep he was riding in hit a landmine near Cherbourg, France on July 8, 1944. He was evacuated to the 160th General Hospital in the United Kingdom, where he died from his wounds on July 15, 1944, at the age of 26. His death was reported in the August 21, 1944 edition of the Camden Courier-Post.