Robert J. Clarke Jr.
Staff Sergeant Robert J. Clarke Jr. of Collingswood, NJ.
Rank: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army
Serial Number: 20221094
Hometown: Collingswood, New Jersey
Killed in Action: , Austria
Awards: Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster
Staff Sergeant Robert J. Clarke Jr. graduated from Collingswood High School in 1939. He had lived at 209 White Horse Pike in Collingswood. After high school, he worked for RCA in Camden. He was a member of the New Jersey National Guard, which was federalized on September 16, 1940. He was stationed for two years at Fort Lewis, OR, training soldiers for overseas duty. While serving at Fort Lewis, he married and had a son prior to shipping overseas in August of 1944.
Once overseas, Robert Clarke saw considerable combat, serving with a Cavalry reconnaissance unit as part of the 7th Army. He was wounded in November of 1944, and was able to return to his unit. Staff Sergeant Robert J. Clarke Jr. was killed while serving in Austria on May 2, 1945. He was 24 years old. His name appears on the World War II War Memorial at Knight’s Park in Collingswood, NJ.