Norbert C. Rowan
Norbert C. Rowan, Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps.
Rank: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps
Serial Number: 00369120
Unit: 1st Marine Division
Entered service from: Pennsylvania
Died:
Status: Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Memorial: Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines
Awards: Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster
Sergeant Norbert C. Rowan was born on July 23, 1921, to Mr. and Mrs. John N. Rowan. He grew up in North Camden, where his family lived at 213 York Street, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1940. After leaving school he worked at the John R. Evans & Company leather works in Camden. Three other John R. Evans employees, Francis J. Knox, Morris Wilson Rickenbach Jr., and Raymond Price, also gave their lives for America during World War II.
A fine ballplayer, he pitched for the Pyne Point baseball club in Camden’s Diamond League during the summer of 1941. Norbert Rowan enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in February of 1942. His older brother John had been drafted in April of 1941 and was then stationed with the 17th Field Artillery at Fort Bragg, NC.
Norbert Rowan saw action at Guadalcanal, where he was wounded in action. He returned to action and was killed during the fighting at Peleliu on September 17, 1944.
Sergeant Norbert Charles Rowan was survived by his father John N. Rowan of 1535 Gross Avenue, Pennsauken, NJ, brother John C. Rowan, and sisters Esther and Mildred.
Camden Courier-Post — February 24, 1942
Norbert C. Rowan, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Rowan, of 213 York street, enlisted in the Marine Corps. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High school in 1940 and worked for John R. Evans & Company. He was pitcher for the Pyne Point baseball team in the Diamond League last Summer. His brother, Corporal John G. Rowan, 23, was drafted in April, 1941, and is now attached to 17th Field Artillery, Fort Bragg. John is a former student at Camden Catholic High.
Corp. J. C. Rowan, Camden; Norbert C. Rowan, Camden.
Marine Predicts Christmas Victory
Camden Courier-Post —
Camden Man in Solomons Sure War Will Be Over Then
That’s the prediction sent home from the Solomon Islands by a Camden Marine, Norbert C. “Boo” Rowan. He is 21 and the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Rowan, 213 York street. Another son, Corp. John G. Rowan, is in England. “I don’t know whether we’ll be home by Christmas, but I’m confident the war will be over by then,” Norbert wrote his parents. Rowan sailed from this country with a large number of Marines aboard the liner Wakefield, formerly the Manhattan, which later was burned while returning from a different convoy trip to Europe. He wrote they were at sea for a number of days and related how he and his buddies were “presented” to King Neptune’s Court as the ship crossed the Equator.
“Then more days passed,” he wrote. “Finally, we landed at New Zealand, where we were stationed for a month. The people there were always inviting us to their homes to have a spot of tea.”
“Later, more ships arrived. There were a lot of Marines and lots of supplies. We worked night and day unloading the ships. Then we left New Zealand for our first crack at the Japs. I can’t tell you anything that happened, but you most likely read about it in the newspapers. I can tell you we made a landing party on the Solomon Islands.
“We go swimming in the Coral Sea and sleep under coconut trees, but I’d rather be back in the U.S.A.”