SEAMAN FIRST CLASS ROBERT EDWARD HEARN was born on April 20, 1921. He was the oldest child of Charles E. and Laura Hearn. Charles Hearn worked as a fireman in the railroad, and the family owned a home at 204 Milton Street in the Poet's Row section of North Camden, in Camden NJ. The house was a stone's throw from the Delaware River. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School on Federal Street in Camden in February of 1940. Robert Hearn had joined the United States Navy by the summer of 1942. By August of that year, the 200 block of Milton Street had sent fourteen of its sons off to war. Besides Robert Hearn, two others did not return home, William Henry Merryfield and Wilbert Epley. He was killed in action on January 17, 1944 at Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain, in the Pacific Theater of Operations. His parents were notified of his death on February 28, 1944. His death was reported in the March 20, 1944 edition of the Camden Courier-Post. Robert Hearn was survived by his parents, sisters Grace, Jane, and Bertha Hearn, and a brother, Glenwood D. Hearn, all of the Milton Street address. Robert Hearn was returned home aboard the USAT George W.G. Boyce in 1948. He was buried at Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly NJ on June 24, 1948. |
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