Joseph Alphons Matyasik

Rank: Private, U.S. Army

Serial: 42110753

Unit: 10th Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: March 1945

Awards: Purple Heart

Private Joseph Alphons Matyasik was born to Bronislaw and Stella Matyasik in Camden, New Jersey in 1919 and grew up in Camden, near St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church. Bronislaw Matyasik worked as a blacksmith at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard on Broadway. He was active in the church and also a member of the local chapter of the Polish National Alliance.

Joseph Matyasik was the seventh of eight children. The family had been living at 1407 South 10th Street for at least two years when he was born. Sadly, his mother died while he was quite young, leaving his father to raise his children alone. When the Census was taken in 1930 the Matyasik family lived at 1039 Liberty Street.

Joseph Matyasik attended St. Joseph Parochial School and was an alumnus of Camden Catholic High School. He was married when he was inducted into the United States Army on March 28, 1944 at Fort Dix, NJ. He served in the 4th Armored Division for eleven and one half months during which time he was stationed in Camp Stewart, Fort Bliss, Camp Maxey, and later overseas.

Private Matyasik was killed in action in Germany in March of 1945 at the age of 26. He was survived by his wife, Lucy Joan Matyasik, of 1558 Norris Street, Camden, NJ, a son Joseph Jr., his father Bronislaw, two brothers, Walter and Stanley, and five sisters, Elizabeth, Mary, Frances, Helen, and Dorothy.