|
PRIVATE
HARVEY WILLARD BLACKWELL JR. was born in North Carolina in 1921 to
Harvey W. Blackwell and his wife, the former Troy Virginia Ridge. He
grew up in Ruffin, North Carolina and was living there as late as 1940.
It appears that his father died in 1927. Mrs. Blackwell and her
sons Harvey, Bernard and Garland came to Camden shortly after the 1940
Census. Another brother, Leathan, had died in 1939 at the age of 14.
After
coming to Camden, Harvey W. Blackwell Jr. lived at 1042 North 18th
Street in the Cramer Hill
section of Camden NJ. Inducted into the Army in August of 1942, he
trained as a tank driver at Fort Knox KY, where he was stationed
in the fall of 1942, according to a December 1942 article in the Camden
Courier-Post. He was sent overseas shortly thereafter, and was assigned
to the 13th Armored Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division.
Private
Blackwell was killed in action on May 30, 1944 during the breakout from
Anzio, at the age of 23. He was survived by his mother, Mrs. Troy Virginia
Wilde, step-father Charles A. Wilde, brothers Private Bernard Blackwell
who was serving with an engineer unit, Garland Wilde, Charles Wilde Jr.,
and sisters Elizabeth and Margaret. Private
Blackwell's death was reported in the November
12, 1944 edition of the Camden Courier-Post. Mr. and Mrs. Wilde later
moved to Millville, New Jersey. |
