Camden County, NJ HMT Rohna Memorial

Freedom is not free. Sometimes, it comes at a very high cost.

Twelve soldiers from Camden County — six men from South Camden, one from Haddonfield, one from Blackwood, one from Lindenwold, and one from Pennsauken — seven of them members of the 31st Signal Construction Battalion, died together when the troop transport HMT Rohna was struck by a German guided glider bomb and sank off the coast of North Africa. In addition, several other men from South Jersey were also lost. A total of 1,015 men were lost that day, but the story was never told to the families or the general public for over 57 years due to wartime censorship. At the time, conflicting stories were issued about the fates of these men. Some families were told that their sons were killed, others were told that their family members were missing in action. What little information that was released was delayed for months after the incident.

While during wartime, an excuse for censorship existed, any excuse for not revealing the truth about what happened to these men ended at the close of WWII. Virtually all of the parents of the men who died when the Rohna sank went to their graves never knowing the fate of their sons, and that was simply wrong. Not only were the families wronged, but in the case of Camden, an entire community was violated. Simply put, by January of 1946, the truth should have been told… try to imagine if SIX young men from your community disappeared without explanation one day.

The purpose of this page is to pay tribute to these young men who died for their country, and to call attention to the event so that young people may be told, and their memory endure forever.

The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association

MSNBC Coverage — Tom Brokaw — See the video

July 27, 2002 — Camden, NJ Hosts Memorial Service for HMT Rohna Victims & Families

Royal Navy, British Merchant Navy & Indian Merchant Navy Rohna Casualties

Lost In The Service Of Our Country — November 26, 1943

Survivors listed in the hope that a family member finds this.

Situated on the grounds of American Legion Post 274 at Broadway & Jefferson Street in Camden NJ, this monument is inscribed with the names of 24 men from what was then the 8th Ward of Camden NJ, who gave their lives in the service of our nation during World War II. Three of these men, Frank Ballerino, Michael Carr, & Michael Yachus, met their fate when the HMT Rohna was sunk by a German guided missile.

Please note that Private Michael Yachus’s family spells the name as on the monument “YATZUS.” When he went into the Army, he went in as “YACHUS,” that is how he is listed on all Department of War records.

Adjacent to the 8th Ward of Camden lies the then mostly Polish parish of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, centered around the church at 10th & Mechanic Streets. In 1995 the South Jersey Division of the Polish American Congress honored the lost heroes of St. Joseph’s parish with a monument at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken NJ. One of the 39 men whose names are engraved on this monument, Stephen V. Koscianski was aboard the HMT Rohna when she sank on November 26, 1943.

On the grounds of the Delaware Gardens Fire Company at 47th Street and Browning Road in Pennsauken NJ, this monument is dedicated to the nine men and one woman who gave their lives in the service of our nation during World War II. Of the nine men whose names are engraved on this monument, Jacob Kessler Jenkins was aboard the HMT Rohna when she sank on November 26, 1943.

Erected in 1947, this monument is dedicated to the men and women from the Blackwood NJ area who served in World War II. Four men who lost their lives in World War II are noted on this monument. Of these four, William McKeon of Blackwood NJ lost his life when the Rohna was attacked on November 26, 1943.

November 26, 1943

MSNBC Coverage of the HMT Rohna — Tom Brokaw, NBC News

Camden County, NJ Monuments & War Memorials