Samuel D. Harrell Jr.
Sergeant, U.S. Army
Serial: 32752627
Company B, 188th Parachute Infantry Regiment
11th Airborne Division
Entered the Service from: New Jersey
Died: December 7, 1944
Buried at: Cedar Green Cemetery
East Academy Street
Clayton, New Jersey
Awards: Purple Heart
Introduction
Sergeant Samuel D. Harrell Jr. of Camden NJ worked for the R.M. Hollingshead Corporation in Camden NJ prior to entering the Army. He had married before the war, and had given an address in rural Janvier NJ, a few miles south-east of Glassboro. After going overseas, his wife Anna came up to Camden to stay with his parents.
Volunteering for paratroop duty, he was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division, and took part in the invasion of the Philippines. He was killed fighting the Japanese on Leyte on December 7, 1944, according to the January 4, 1945 edition of the Camden Courier-Post.
Samuel Harrell Jr. was brought home to New Jersey after the war. He was buried at Cedar Green Cemetery in Clayton NJ in May of 1949.
Sgt. S. D. Harrell Jr.
Camden Courier-Post —
Clayton, May 4. — Services for Sgt. Samuel D. Harrell Jr. will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. in the funeral home at Broad and Maple streets. Burial will be in Cedar Green cemetery. Military rites will be conducted by Homer L. Ewan post, American Legion, and other veteran organizations.
He was killed in action Dec. 7, 1944, at Leyte, Philippine Islands, at the age of 20. Sergeant Harrell, a paratrooper in Company B, 188th Infantry, 11th Airborne Division, entered the service March 5, 1943, and went overseas May 5, 1944. He was a student at the Clayton High school. When he entered the army he was employed by the R. M. Hollingshead Corp., Camden.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel D. Harrell Sr., survive.