Thomas Joseph

Rank: Private First Class, U.S. Army

Serial: 32267182

Unit: Company E, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: September 18, 1943

Buried at: Plot I, Row 10, Grave 38, Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy

Awards: Purple Heart

Private First Class Thomas Joseph was born in 1915 to George M. and Edna Joseph. His mother passed away before he was 14. He grew up in Gloucester City, New Jersey, where the family rented a home at 403 Bergen Street in 1930. His father worked first as a driver, and later as a night watchman in a nearby coal and lumber yard. His last address before entering the Army was 719 Hunter Street, Gloucester City.

Thomas Joseph was inducted into the Army on May 8, 1942, at Fort Dix, New Jersey. After basic training he was assigned as a rifleman to Company E, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division.

The 36th Infantry Division landed in North Africa on April 13, 1943, and trained at Arzew and Rabat. It first saw action on September 9, 1943, when it landed at Paestum on the Gulf of Salerno. The division faced determined enemy counterattacks but advanced slowly, securing the area from Agropoli to Altavilla. Private Joseph was killed in action near Ponte Sele, Italy, on September 18, 1943.

Thomas Joseph was survived by his brother George Joseph Jr. of 212 Essex Street, Gloucester City; brothers Robert E. and Theodore P. Joseph; and sisters Lilly Mae, Margaret, Ula N., and Hester J. Joseph.