Raymond E. Selah
Corporal Raymond E. Selah, Serial: 20224074, 111th Field Artillery Battalion, 29th Infantry Division, U.S. Army. Awards: Purple Heart. He lived at 2739 Tyler Avenue, Camden NJ. Buried at Beverly National Cemetery, Plot F, Grave 1714, Beverly, NJ.
Corporal Raymond E. Selah was born on January 26, 1920, the son of Joseph L. and Helen M. Selah. Joseph Selah worked as a caulker in one of the many shipyards in Camden NJ. The family lived at 1201 North 28th Street in Camden’s Cramer Hill section. By 1930 the oldest son, Joseph L. Jr., was working alongside his father at the shipyard. Other children in the family as of 1930 were Ella, Catherine, Margaret, Eleanor, Helen, Esther, and Louis C. Selah.
Raymond E. Selah joined the New Jersey National Guard in 1939. He was discharged after three years of service, and enlisted in the regular Army two weeks after Pearl Harbor. Before leaving for Europe in October 1942, he was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, and Fort Blanding, Florida. In Europe he was attached to the 111th Field Artillery Battalion, 29th Infantry Division.
The 111th Field Artillery landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. From the outset, things went very badly for this unit. Of the twelve 105 mm howitzers of the battalion, four were lost when a DUKW landing craft hit a mine, and seven of the eight remaining artillery pieces failed to come ashore as their DUKW amphibious trucks swamped in the water approaching the beach. All of the thirteen DUKWs assigned to the 111th took hits. The dazed survivors struggled ashore near Les Moulins at 8:30 AM and were told by commanding officer Lt. Col. Thornton Mullins “To Hell with our artillery mission, we’re infantrymen now.” A sniper soon killed the colonel, but his troops were active in the drive inland.
Corporal Raymond E. Selah was wounded during the landing and died of his wounds that day, June 6, 1944. He was 24 years old. His body was returned home after the war, and he was interred at Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly NJ on December 8, 1947. He was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Selah, of 2739 Tyler Avenue, Camden; two brothers, Louis and Joseph Jr.; and six sisters, Mrs. J. Dixon, Mrs. J. Lutz, Mrs. F. Donato, Mrs. G. M. Cosme, Mrs. A. Newhall, and Mrs. E. Hill, all of Camden.
Funeral Rites Held For Cpl. R. E. Selah
Camden Courier-Post —
Funeral services for Cpl. Raymond E. Selah were held today in the U. S. National cemetery, Beverly.
Corporal Selah was wounded on June 6, 1944, D Day, on Omaha Beachhead, France, and died the same day. He was 24 at the time of his death.
He joined the New Jersey National Guard in 1939. He was discharged after three years of service, and enlisted in the regular army two weeks after Pearl Harbor.
Before leaving for Europe in October, 1942, he was stationed at Fort Meade, Md., and Fort Blanding, Fla. In Europe he was attached to the 111th Field Artillery.
Surviving are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Selah, of 2739 Tyler avenue; two brothers, Louis and Joseph Jr., and six sisters, Mrs. J. Dixon, Mrs. J. Lutz, Mrs. F. Donato, Mrs. G. M. Cosme, Mrs. A. Newhall, and Mrs. E. Hill, all of Camden.
Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly, NJ
Monument at Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly, NJ. Corporal Raymond E. Selah is buried at Plot F, Grave 1714.