John L. Sullivan
Private John L. Sullivan, Company A, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, U.S. Army. Serial: 13112903. He lived at 2935 Constitution Road, Camden NJ.
Private John L. Sullivan was born in 1916 in Camden NJ. Known to friends and family as Jack, his parents divorced before he turned 13. In 1930 he lived with his mother, Elizabeth, at 6156 Upsal Street in Pennsauken NJ, where she worked as a packer in a cigar factory. She later re-married, to a man named Laflin.
Jack attended public school in Pennsauken and was a student at Merchantville (NJ) High School through his sophomore year, when he transferred to the Camden County Vocational School on Browning Road in Pennsauken NJ, where he studied printing. After high school, he found work at the R.M. Hollingshead Corporation plant in Camden, where he worked as a lithographer. Jack Sullivan had wed, and lived with his wife Elvira at 2935 Constitution Road in Camden NJ. His mother also lived at that address.
Private Sullivan enlisted in the United States Army. He trained in Georgia and went overseas with his unit in October of 1942. He saw considerable action in North Africa. He had written home to friends at the R.M. Hollingshead Corporation: “After my experiences in North Africa, I would be glad to come home to America and work for nothing.” In his last letter home, dated March 17, 1943, he wrote that he had been in the same clothes for 15 days and nights.
“But don’t worry. I know I’m going to come back. Keep your fingers crossed, and pray for me.”
Private John L. Sullivan was killed in action in North Africa on March 28, 1943, during the fighting in Tunisia. He was 26 years old. Private Sullivan was survived by his wife, Elvira, and his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Laflin, of the Constitution Road address in Camden NJ. His body was returned to the United States after the war and he was buried at New St. Mary’s Cemetery in Bellmawr NJ. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Pvt. J. L. Sullivan Rites Will Be Held Monday
Camden Courier-Post — 1943
High Mass for Pvt. John L. Sullivan will be celebrated Monday at 9 a. m. in St. Joan of Arc R. C. Church. Relatives and friends will meet at 8 a. m. in the funeral home of Frank J. Leonard, 1451 Broadway, where friends may call Sunday night. Burial will be in New St. Mary’s cemetery, Bellmawr, with military rites.
Private Sullivan was killed in action in North Africa March 28, 1943, at the age of 26. He was in Company A, 39th Infantry. He went into the army Sept. 1, 1942, trained in Georgia and was sent to England Oct. 5, 1942, after which he was shipped to North Africa.
Born in Camden, he attended public schools here and later went to Merchantville High school, which he quit in his sophomore year to study printing at the Camden County Vocational School. He had been a lithographer in the R. M. Hollingshead Co. plant.
Surviving is his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Laflin, of 2935 Constitution road, where Private Sullivan resided.