Francis J. Marshall

CORPORAL FRANCIS J. MARSHALL was born in New Jersey in 1925. By the time of the 1930 census, he was living, along with older brother Bernard and sister Marguerite (Marie), with their mother Mathilde and step-father, Calvin Brong at 137 Kaighn Avenue. The Brongs both worked as cigar salespeople, they very probably operated a business nearby. Calvin Brong had previously worked as a trolley driver, he had become a widower by 1920, before marrying Mathilde Marshall. Francis Marshall graduated from Camden High School in the winter of 1943. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on February 1 of that year.

Francis Marshall underwent basic training at Parris Island NC. He was chosen for flight duty, and was trained in aerial gunnery, graduating form that class in November. He was subsequently stationed at Cherry Point NC as a member of Bomber Squadron VMB-614 .  

VMB-614 was commissioned on 1 October 1943 at MCAS Cherry Point. The squadron trained at Cherry Point plus NAAS Boca Chica and Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF) Newport. The squadron was initially equipped with PBJ-1C and -1D aircraft and effective in July 1944, with PBJ-1Hs equipped with AN/APG-23 airborne gun directing radar. The PBJ-1H was not a popular aircraft and they were replaced by PBJ-1Js modified with the eight gun nose for low altitude strafing missions. The air echelon departed California on 25 July 1945 followed by the ground echelon in early August; both echelons arrived at Henderson Field, NAS Midway Islands (28.13N, 177.26W) by the end of August 1945.

Corporal Marshall was killed when two planes collided on a training flight in North Carolina on February 23, 1944. He was 18 years old at the time of his death. Corporal Marshall was survived by his sister Marie Marshall, who lived and operated a candy store at 1054 South Second Street, Camden NJ, his step-father, Calvin Brong, who had retired, and his step-brother, Captain George C. Brong, then with the Army Medical Corps in North Carolina. 

Funeral services for Corporal Marshall were held on Saturday, March 3, 1944 at the Church of the Sacred Heart at Broadway and Ferry Avenue in Camden NJ, arrangements were handled by the Frank J. Leonard Funeral Home at 1451 Broadway.