Leonard Buffetta
Leonard Buffetta
Leonard Buffetta was born on August 25, 1918 in Pennsylvania to Louis and Faustina Buffetta, coming after Theodore and Louise. A daughter, Mary, and a son Enrico were also born in Pennsylvania prior to the family's coming to New Jersey, prior to the birth of another daughter, Gloria, around 1926. Two more children were born in Camden, son Colombo and daughter Anna Buffetta. When the Census was enumerated in 1940, the Buffetta family had moved to 604 Point Street in North Camden.
On November 16, 1940 Leonard Buffetta was one of the first 17 men who were drafted into the United States Army when the draft was re-instituted in anticipation of America's entry into World War II. He served in the Southwest Pacific as a Corporal with Company A, 47th Engineers Construction Battalion, finishing the war in Okinawa.
Leonard Buffetta was honorably discharged in 1946. He then returned to Camden and his family on Point Street. He was still living in the family home, and working in a Camden supermarket, when he committed suicide on August 25, 1951.
Leonard Buffetta took his own life, another one of far too many soldiers, sailors, and airmen who returned to civilian life after World War II with psychological problems. Locally, the many suicides of veterans and active personnel in Camden and South Jersey, and violent crimes such as the Howard Unruh incident in 1949, where a combat veteran with undiagnosed schizophrenia went on a shooting spree that took 13 lives were just the tip of the iceberg. When Leonard Buffetta took his life in August of 1951, the Veterans Administration was finally fully engaged in a massive hospital-building and hiring in response. There were 97 VA hospitals in operation in 1946. By 1950 there were 151, and as of November 30, 1952, the VA had 541 hospitals, regional offices and other field stations. The problem had been recognized long before the end of the war, however it did take time to build hospitals and train doctors, many of whom turned out to be veterans who had returned from World War II and received their education courtesy of the G.I. Bill.
Leonard Buffetta was buried in the Soldier's Row at New Camden Cemetery. The Buffetta family was still living on Point Street as late as 1980. Leonard Buffetta's nephew, Louis Buffetta, served for 20 years with the Camden Police Department.
Army Takes 17 City Youths In 1st Draft Call
Camden Courier-Post —
Survivors of List of 24 Begin Year’s Training At Fort Dix
6 FAIL TO PASS TEST; 7TH AWAITS DECISION
Camden’s first 17 peacetime trainees slept under army blankets in army tents at Fort Dix last night—soldiers at last.
This morning, after being questioned on sundry subjects, they will be issued uniforms and emerge—looking like soldiers.
They reached Fort Dix at 6:10 o’clock last night by bus and had their first taste of army coffee and sandwiches. After a wait of two hours they passed through the initial receiving station and at 8 o’clock ate their first army meal. They were issued blankets and toilet articles, assigned to tents. And so to bed the first members of Uncle Sam’s great draft army that by next June will reach 780,000 men.
The 17 are the survivors of a list of 24 called to service here yesterday morning. Six failed to pass the medical examination and one was held until today for further questioning. Members of the first contingent are: Harry Boody, Jr., 21, of 301 Liberty street; Cecil Graves, 35, of 819 South Second street; Joseph H. Ward, 27, of 2011 Federal street; John M. Bowers, 28, of 128 North Twenty-second street; Arthur F. Ballinghoff, 23, of 2950 Cramer street; George Borland, 30, of 2305 Howell street; Valdo Zannoni, 21, of 614 Point street; Leonard Buffetta, 22, of 604 Point street; William F. Fournier, 26, of 424 Bailey street; Joseph W. Milgala, 23, of 913 Mechanic street; Luca R. D’Oria, 21, of 820 Haddon avenue; James E. Wright, 25, of 541 Washington street; William DiBello, 26, of 621 Henry street; John S. Zawila, 21, of 1471 South Ninth street; Edward J. Haab, 35, of 201 South Sixth street; Theodore N. Guthrie, 25, of 840 Fern street; and Bernardo S. Doganiero, 24, of 274 Division street. Rejected: Jesse Massi, 30, of 813 South Fifth street; Joseph H. O’Hara, 23, of 864 Lois avenue; John Mohollen, 26, of 57 York street; Harvey Goodwin, 35, of 1107 Federal street; Robert Stockdale, 25, of 209 North Ninth street; and Charles A. Williams, 35, of 203 State street. Held for further questioning: Herman Foster, 35, of 819 South Second street.
The Camden detachment was part of a total of 131 reaching the fort, including 15 from Manhattan, 16 from the Bronx, 54 from Newark, 12 from Elizabeth and 17 from Trenton. A detachment of 160 from Rochester failed to arrive owing to faulty train connections. All were greeted by a reception committee composed of army officers, the 71st Infantry band and Company G, 71st Infantry. The trainees were escorted to the initial receiving station, where they were registered and given preliminary army instructions in pamphlet form.
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All Cleared by 8 p.m.
The first 25 men to clear the receiving station were served supper within an hour after their arrival. The last of the draftees did not clear the station until 8 o’clock.
This morning they will have breakfast of oatmeal, French toast, syrup, jam, milk and coffee. Next they will undergo a psychological examination, to be followed by a general examination on family background, talents, ambitions and past activities. These tests are designed to fit each man into his proper niche in army life. Then will come the uniforms, and the making of soldiers will begin.
Camden’s first quota came from Board No. 7, wards 1, 2, 10; No. 8, wards 11, 12; No. 9, wards 3, 5, 6; No. 10, wards 4, 7, 9. The trainees underwent final physical examination at the Naval Militia Armory, after which those passing were inducted into the service by Capt. Charles Seltzer, of the army induction station. The oath they took follows:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America; that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies whomsoever, and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the rules and articles of war.”
This oath, taken under the Selective Service Act, differs from that taken by the regular recruits to the Army only in the omission of a phrase concerning the term of enlistment and one referring to “bounty, pay and rations.”
Feted by City Rulers
After the induction the Camden boys were taken to Kenney’s Cafe, 531 Market street, where they were the luncheon guests of the City Commission. There, Major Allyne M. Freeman, speaking as the representative of Lt. Col. Lee Sumner, in charge of the army recruiting station here, told them:
“Learn to smile, not to grumble and grouch. You will never be asked to do anything unlawful, but you must obey orders, no matter how hard the job. You must obey, otherwise the army would be a mob.”
As the boys left Camden in an army bus after the luncheon, they were cheered by many who had gathered to wish them luck. Parents, brothers, sisters, sweethearts and friends were there to cheer them on the way.
A similar sendoff is planned in Gloucester tomorrow for a group of 12 men who will leave the headquarters of Board No. 3, Broadway and Monmouth street, at 8:30 a.m. Mayor John F. Gorman, of Gloucester; Mayor R. D. Cranston, of Mt. Ephraim; Mayor N. C. Courtney, of Brooklawn; church pastors, the Gloucester High School band, students, relatives and friends will compose the cheering group.
Gloucester Trainees
Those who enter the service are: William E. Hughes, William J. Maurer, Robert B. Black, Harry Proposki, Benjamin E. Morris, Joseph F. Marini, William D. Spence, William C. Randolph, John F. Gorman and Joseph E. McCann, all of Gloucester; Richard V. Buck, of Mt. Ephraim, and Paul Cipolone, of Brooklawn.
Yesterday’s contingent was the first of the draftees to report for duty. It consists of 18,700 men. Most of the first group will be used to bring Regular Army regiments to full strength. Later, men will be sent to replacement centers, 21 of which are being constructed. The registration totals 16,500,000, from which places were drawn by lottery.
‘I Do Solemnly Swear That I Will Bear True Faith . . .’
And Here’s His Primer on Soldiering
Camden’s first draftees now have a chance to burn the midnight oil over preliminary instructions of the U.S. Army. They received their copies at Fort Dix last night. They are shown grouped around Pvt. Edward Quinn, and Arthur F. Ballinghoff, 23, of 2950 Cramer street, heading the line, receives his copy first.
Camden’s First Group of 17 Conscripts Inducted Into U.S. Army
Camden’s first group of 17 conscripts (top) being inducted into the U.S. Army yesterday before its departure for Fort Dix. The oath of allegiance is being administered by Capt. Charles Seltzer, of the Camden induction station. He is surrounded by members of the Camden city commission. John S. Zawila, 21, of 1471 South Ninth street, is shown (below), receiving his beddings at Fort Dix from Pvt. Otto Muller, of the medical detachment at the receiving station.
3 Camden Brothers Serving in Army
Camden Courier-Post —
Other So. Jersey Men Stationed at Posts in Other Services
Three sons of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Buffetta, of 604 Point street, are serving in the Army at widely-separated camps in the United States.
Leonard Buffetta has been in the service three years and is stationed at Fort Ord, Calif. His brothers, Theodore and Enrico, both joined up in April. Theodore is stationed at Atlantic City and Enrico at Fort Bragg, N. C.
Richard V. Labaczewski, 23, of 313 Atlantic avenue, entered the Army Jan. 21, 1941. In October, 1942, he transferred to the paratroops and is now stationed at Alliance, Nebraska.
Walter Michaleski, 21, of Springdale road, Haddonfield, is a second class petty officer in the Coast Guard and is at sea. He was formerly employed at an automobile agency. Anthony T. Orme, of 231 Berkley street, is stationed at Camp Davis, N. C. He has been in the Army since April.
Anthony Golding, of 1836 Broadway, entered the service early in 1941 but was discharged for being over age in November of that year. He was recalled March 9, 1942. He is in the artillery.
Gas Hose Leads Into His Car; Bullet Weapon
Camden Courier-Post —
By J. Herbert Phillips
Leonard Buffetta, 32, of 604 Point street, a checker for a Camden supermarket, was found dead at dawn today in an isolated field near Timber creek in Bellmawr.
Police Chief James Garrity, of Bellmawr, listed the death as suicide.
According to Patrolman George Dott's report to Garrity, the motor of the car was still running when he found it at 6:30 a.m. The interior of the car was filled with monoxide gas, still pouring through a strip of garden hose, attached to the exhaust pipe.
Weighted Accelerator
“To make certain he'd do a good job of it,” said Garrity, “Buffetta had weighted down the foot accelerator with a lug wrench. There was still half a tank full of gasoline in the 17-gallon tank, when Dott discovered the car.”
Dott said on his rounds at 5 a.m., the car had not been in the field, some 200 yards up the narrow lane from Creek road.
Coroner Robert J. Blake, who examined the body, said he would order a post-mortem to determine whether Buffetta died from suffocation or bled to death from the self-inflicted wound.
Revolver in Hand
And in the right temple of the body, slouched on the rear seat of the auto, was a bullet from a .32 calibre revolver in the right hand of the corpse. Under his left hand was the hose.
Within half an hour, Garrity learned that Buffetta at 6:30 p.m., Friday was embroiled in an argument with Bernadette Eshelman, 17, of 181 Lawnside avenue, Collingswood.
Police reported the girl accused Buffetta of brutally beating her, before she fled from his car, abandoning her unopened pay envelope issued that afternoon from another supermarket, where she, too, is employed as a checker.
Snapshot in Purse
The girl's name was drawn into the case when police found her handbag, containing a few dollars in cash, an unopened pay envelope, bearing the name Eshelman, and a figure indicating the envelope contained $30.50, and a snapshot of two girls, one of them, possibly Bernadette, Garrity said.
The body of Buffetta lay in the morgue of the West Jersey hospital. His oil-stained car was parked in the hospital yard, held for examination by Camden county detectives.
Garrity said he would start interviewing the 17-year-old Eshelman girl at her home, said she was in a highly nervous state.
“The girl told me Buffetta beat her up,” Garrity reported. “Her eye was blackened and she had other bruises.”
“She told me she left Buffetta's car in Westmont, after he picked her up, but would not count. Buffetta drove on, with her handbag.”
Calls Her Brother
The girl called her home and hysterically told her brother what had happened.
The brother drove to Westmont, put his sister in his car, and took her home.
Here the stories of Collingswood police and Garrity differ slightly.
Patrolman Kenneth Crane, on the desk of the Collingswood police station, told the Courier-Post he had heard the girl's family “tried to locate the man” Friday night, after they heard Berndatte’s [sic] story.
Had ‘Family Conference’
Garrity said the girl insisted today a “family conference” had decided that Buffetta would be questioned by the Eshelmans “tomorrow” . . . that is, today.
Edwin Eshelman, the father, works nights, Garrity said, and is not due home until 2 o'clock on Saturday mornings.
Bellmawr's police chief said he would turn over further investigation of Buffetta's background to county authorities.
Garrity, however, added that the Eshelman girl admitted she had been meeting the older man for “some time” after he finished work in Camden, and she was through for the day at the counter of the Collingswood supermarket, where she works.
First Date, Girl Says
Bernadette a few hours after police talked with her, consented to a telephone interview with the Courier-Post.
“I first met Leonard when I was a sophomore at high school in Camden, two years ago. His sister, Ann, and I were friends,” she said.
“Chief Garrity says I had been meeting this older man for a long time . . . or met him several times. I had no chance or desire to meet him. I had no romantic interest in him. I just regarded him as a friend, because he acted nice to me.
“He came around to the store where I work a lot of times but yesterday (Friday) was the first time I'd ever been out with him.”
‘Going to Take Me Home’
“If this story is going to get into the papers, it should be correct. I'd never had a date with him before. I'd never been out with him alone before,” insisted the girl, who graduated from Camden Catholic High school last June.
“Where were you going last night?” Bernadette was asked. “Where was he going to take you last night?”
“He was just going to take me home,” the girl responded.
War II Veteran
According to a sister of Buffetta, Louise, 24, Leonard, who would have been 33 years old in September, was a veteran of War II, having served in the Army from 1941 to 1946.
Unmarried, Buffetta had not been known by his family to be romantically involved with anyone, his sister said.
Louise told the Courier-Post she was mystified by the police discovery of a gun in the car.
Although Leonard had been in combat areas of the Pacific theatre during War II, for more than three years, he had never owned a gun, his sister said, nor were any weapons ever kept at the Buffetta home.
Got Calls From Girl
Buffetta lived with his parents, at the Point street address, his sister, Louise and another sister, Ann, 17.
Ann, about the same age as the Eshelman girl, was a friend of the Collingswood girl, Louise declared.
Others in the Buffetta family are two married brothers, Theodore, 36, and Enrico, a year or so older than Leonard. A younger brother, Columbus, is single but lives away from home.
The married sisters of the dead man are Mary and Gloria, whose husbands' names were not revealed by Louise.
“He was very, very happy at home,” sobbed the sister. “I can't understand why he would do a thing like this. He had no romances . . . though he did get telephone calls now and again from a girl.”
Leonard's father, Louis, works in an auto plant in Chester, Pa., where he learned of the tragedy and started for home. The mother, Florence, was reported near collapse.
Mrs. Edwin Eshelman, mother of the girl, told the Courier-Post her daughter was a graduate of the Camden Catholic High school.
Bernadette, her mother said, is also one of a large family; with three sisters and three brothers.
Cohen Will Check Foul Play Angle In Buffetta Case
Camden Courier-Post —
Friend of Dead Man Throws Some Doubt On Suicide Verdict
A further investigation into the ostensible suicide of a North Camden man was promised today by Prosecutor Cohen, following a suggestion of “foul play” made by a friend of the deceased.
The victim, Leonard Buffetta, 32, of 604 Point street, was found dead in his auto on a field in Bellmawr Saturday morning, and the death was listed as suicide by Bellmawr Police Chief James Garrity.
Garrity reported a hose ran from the exhaust pipe to the inside of the car. There was a bullet wound in the man's head, and a gun clasped in his hand.
Prosecutor Cohen said a Joseph Brucolier, of 626 North Front street, telephoned him Saturday and suggested Buffetta may have been murdered. The caller said he was a friend of the dead man.
Brucolier, who works in a gasoline station opposite Garden State park, said he and Buffetta's brother found a smashed bullet in the car, together with a note requesting a $300 loan from the deceased, and signed “Tony.”
Cohen said County Detective Dube's report on the case said there was an entrance and exit by the bullet, and that there were powder burns on the man's head and hand.
The prosecutor declared that, even though there was every indication of suicide, his office will follow the case through. The bullet and gun will be turned over to the state police ballistics experts for examination, he said.
Coroner Blake, who examined the body, said there was little doubt but that the man ended his own life. He said he had seen the note requesting the loan, but attached no significance to it.
Buffetta was a checker in a Camden supermarket. Police Chief Garrity said he had learned the dead man was embroiled in an argument with Bernadette Eshelman, 17, of 181 Lawnside avenue, Collingswood.
Service Record and Burial
Leonard Buffetta — military service record
Leonard Buffetta — Soldier's Row, New Camden Cemetery
See also: The Price of Freedom