Peter C. Van Gemert Jr.
First Lieutenant Peter Carl Van Gemert Jr., Serial: O-1289836, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, U.S. Army. Awards: Purple Heart. His mother lived at 2924 Federal Street, Camden NJ. Buried at Plot C Row 14 Grave 13, Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy.
First Lieutenant Peter C.J. Van Gemert was born in Maple Shade NJ. He was a junior at Moorestown High School in Moorestown NJ when he enlisted in the United States Army in 1937. His mother Evelyn moved to 2924 Federal Street, Camden NJ shortly afterward.
In 1939, while an enlisted man, Peter Van Gemert served on the honor guard for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England during their visit to the New York World’s Fair. He was sent to Hawaii in August of 1940, and was serving as a Corporal at Schofield Barracks when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In the Spring of 1942 he was sent to Officers’ Training School at Fort Benning GA, where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He was later stationed at Camp Claiborne LA, where he married Mae Digby.
Lieutenant Van Gemert went overseas in November, 1943 and saw action in the North African, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns. He was killed in action near the Mussolini Canal—Cisterna River area of the Anzio Beachhead on May 6, 1944. He was survived by his wife, Mae Digby Van Gemert, his mother Evelyn Van Gemert, two brothers Charles and George, an aunt Mrs. Cornelia Rogers, his father, and a half-sister Elise.
Son Sends Bouquet, Later Dies in Italy
Camden Courier-Post —
2 Other South Jersey Men Killed, One in France, and Two Wounded
When Mrs. Evelyn Van Gemert, of Camden, received a Mother’s Day bouquet from her son on May 14, she didn’t know he had been killed on the Anzio beachhead eight days before. The War Department informed her of the tragedy on May 29, it was revealed today.
Two other South Jersey soldiers have been reported killed in action and two others wounded, one of them in the French invasion, the son of a Merchantville school teacher, previously reported missing, now is listed as a prisoner of the Romanians.
Dead:
First Lieut. Peter C. Van Gemert, 25, of 2920 Federal street.
Tech. 4-G Emerson Spears, 21, of 7 Walnut street, Pennsgrove.
Pfc. Louis Howell, 26, of 1144 Louis street.
Wounded:
Pfc. John W. O’Neill, 3rd, of Cinnaminson township.
S-Sgt Joseph Jole, of Walnut street, Williamstown.
Prisoner:
Lieut. Edmund Cordery, 23, of 126 West Church street, Absecon.
Lieutenant Van Gemert was chosen for the honor guard for the King and Queen of England on their prewar visit to this country. It escorted them around the New York World’s Fair and led the dress parade at the request of the Queen, who commented upon his courtesy and addressed him by his middle name, “Carl,” according to his aunt, Mrs. Cornelia Rogers, of 64 South Twenty-eighth street.
Lieutenant Van Gemert was born in Maple Shade and was a junior at Moorestown High school in 1937 when he enlisted. His mother moved to the Camden address a few years ago.
A member of the 133rd Infantry, Van Gemert was at Schofield Barracks when the Japs raided Pearl Harbor. In a letter to his mother he described the scene as “the worst I’ve ever seen.” In the Spring of 1942 he was sent to Officers’ Training School at Fort Benning, Ga., where he received his commission. While stationed at Fort Claybourne, La., he was married to Mae Digby, who now operates a USO Center near an Army camp in Parksville, Tenn.
Killed on Anzio Beachhead
In November, 1943, Van Gemert went overseas and saw action in the North African, Sicilian and Italian campaigns. He was killed on the Anzio beachhead. On May 4 Van Gemert sent his mother a letter in which he urged her to see that Charles, an 18-year-old brother, finished his education as “this thing is no picnic.” Charles will be graduated tonight from Woodrow Wilson High school. He already has passed his physical examination and is scheduled for induction in August. Another brother, George, 23, is with the Marines somewhere in the Pacific and has not been heard from for several months.
Mrs. Rogers also revealed that her nephew was awarded a medal for bravery at Pearl Harbor. She said a Jap plane came towards Lieutenant Gemert as he was carrying some wounded near a hospital tent. He threw a grenade at the plane. The missile hit the pilot, killing him, and the plane crashed.
Mrs. Rogers said Lieutenant Gemert objected to his wife joining the WACS on the grounds he had seen too many women killed. Mrs. Rogers said the couple had planned to operate a dog kennel here after the war.