|
SERGEANT ROBERT S.
HART was born in December 9, 1920, the son of Darlington Cope and Sarah
Florence Stanton Hart. His father was a jeweler. Darlington Cope Hart
had a jewelry store at 309 Broadway in Camden, New Jersey from the
1920's to the early 1950's. The Harts had moved to New Jersey from
Fulton County PA and settled in the Parkside section, at 1114 Langham
Avenue about 1915. The family also had ties to Pasadena CA, where Sarah
Hart's parents, the Stantons, resided. Besides Robert, known to friends
and family as “Bob”, there was brother, Neal L. Hart, and sisters
Marian, Beatrice, and Ruth. He attended the Cooper B. Hatch Junior
High School in 1934 and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School on Federal
Street in Camden NJ in 1938. Quiet by nature, he was known as a fast
runner (10.9 seconds in the 100 yard dash). He did not, however,
participate in Track or many other extra-curricular activities.
Sergeant Hart
enlisted into the United States Army in August of 1942, and was called
to active duty on January 7, 1943. He qualified for flight duty, and was
trained in aerial gunnery and as a radio operator. While attending radio
school at Sioux Falls SD in 1943, he met and fell in love with a local
girl, Miss Dorothy Johnson. They became engaged, and were to be married
before he went overseas.
Sergeant Robert S.
Hart was killed in an accident involving a moving aircraft propeller at Biggs Field TX on
February 25, 1944. Partially sedated from flight medicine, he stumbled
near the propeller and was fatally injured. Sergeant Hart had recently written home that Miss Johnson was to
join him and that they were to be wed, as he was due to go overseas
soon.
Robert Hart was returned to New Jersey and he was
buried in Harleigh Cemetery in Camden NJ. He was survived by his
parents, sisters Mrs. George Krautter of Brooklyn NY and Mrs. Samuel G.
Wyatt of Camden, and brother Neal Hart, who was then serving as an
Aviation Cadet stationed at San Marcos TX, when Sergeant Hart lost his
life. His death was reported in the March 1, 1944 evening edition
of the Camden Courier-Post.
|
