Theodore E. Bayruns

Rank: Private, U.S. Army

Serial: 42083111

Unit: 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: September 23, 1944

Buried at: Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France (Plot C, Row 7, Grave 86)

Awards: Purple Heart

Private Theodore E. Bayruns was from the 8th Ward of Camden NJ. He was the second child of the twelve born to Thomas & Helen Bayruns. His father had come to America from Lithuania in 1911. In 1930 the family rented a home at 738 Tulip Street, and the elder Bayruns was working as a waiter. Two doors down at 742 Tulip lived the DiCamillo family; their son Angelo DiCamillo also was killed during the war. When the census was taken in 1930, at home besides Theodore, was older brother Thomas, younger brothers Albert, Francis, Paul James, Benedict, and Robert, and sisters Eleanor, Elsie, Marie, and Elizabeth. The family later moved to a home at 2006 South 7th Street. The Bayruns family were members of St. George Roman Catholic Church at 910 Chelton Avenue, which served Camden’s Lithuanian community.

After attending high school, Theodore Bayruns worked as a welder. He was inducted into the United States Army on January 27, 1944 at Camden NJ, and reported for active duty three weeks later. Theodore Bayruns was killed in action while serving with the 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division, at Morey during the four day long pitched battle for the Bois de la Rumont in France on September 23, 1944. Private Bayruns was survived by his parents, brothers, and sisters.