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| Sergeant Robert F Laing, Dison A Palmer Jr, Private First Class John Garamone, and Corporal Jack Bennett |
75 years ago today, on January 29, 1944, this photo appeared in the Plainfield Courier News out of Bridgewater NJ.
It is a photo of two men giving a haircut to a third man, while a fourth man sits nearby. The men are all US soldiers and the photo was taken shortly after the Battle of Tarawa in November of 1943, as part of Operation Galvanic. Tarawa is located in the south Pacific Ocean, about 2400 miles southwest of Hawaii, almost 5000 miles southwest of Los Angeles. The battle was a 4 day fight involving 53,000 US Servicemen, including 18,000 marines. The US suffered 3,100 casualties, including almost 1,700 deaths.
It is a photo of two men giving a haircut to a third man, while a fourth man sits nearby. The men are all US soldiers and the photo was taken shortly after the Battle of Tarawa in November of 1943, as part of Operation Galvanic. Tarawa is located in the south Pacific Ocean, about 2400 miles southwest of Hawaii, almost 5000 miles southwest of Los Angeles. The battle was a 4 day fight involving 53,000 US Servicemen, including 18,000 marines. The US suffered 3,100 casualties, including almost 1,700 deaths.
There is nothing particularly newsworthy about the photo, but one of the barbers is US Marine Corporal Jack Hindley Bennett of Marlton. He was 22 years old at the time of this photo.
In addition to fighting at Tarawa, Corporal Bennett also fought in the Battles of Saipan and Guadacanal. He was honorably discharged from the Marines on June 12, 1945 after having served for 31 months.
He returned to his home on Highway S-41 in Marlton after the war. (Highway S-41 was renamed to Route 73 in 1953.) Corporal Bennett received 2 Presidential Citations and a Purple Heart for a bullet wound in his back received from a sniper.
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| Jack Bennett on the list of war wounded |
Upon his return from service, Mr Bennett took a job at the Mountwell Pool in Haddonfield, where he was trained in using a resuscitator, inhalator and aspirator machine that was installed at 5 parks in the region.
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| July 1945, Mr Bennett (standing) using a resuscitator |
When I compare that to what I was doing at 22, I am always amazed and humbled seeing pictures of soldiers putting their lives in danger for the defense of our freedoms. Thank you Corporal Bennett for your service, and to all the other current and former members of the armed forces. Corporal Bennett died in 1999 at the age of 76.
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| Courier Post 8/4/1944 |
Note: I spent considerable time, along with my friend John Tait, trying to locate exactly where the Bennett's lived during the war. They lived somewhere very close to the town (and county) line between Marlton and Voorhees, in the area known as Kresson. While the present day unincorporated district of Kresson lies entirely within Voorhees, historically, both towns had a Kresson. The 1940 US Census has the Bennetts living in Voorhees Township.. But three newspaper clippings between 1944 and 1948, along with the US Navy wounded list refer to Corporal Bennett living on Highway S41 in Marlton. It is entirely possible that he lived in Voorhees the entire time, but had mail delivered through the Marlton Post Office. It is also possible that they moved frequently and during the war his parents lived in Marlton. After the war, the Bennett's lived in several locations in Voorhees.
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| 1940 Federal Census shows the Bennetts living in Kresson, Voorhees Township |
While her son was fighting overseas, Corporal Bennett's mother Ruth made a promise with god: "Lord, if you bring Jack back home, I promise to devote two hours a day to help a child for the rest of my life." (1)
Jack came home safely, and Mrs Bennett kept her promise. Over the next 38 years, she fostered 73 children in her home. She was honored by Camden County Division of Youth and Family Services in 1981 for her efforts. Ruth Bennett passed away in 2003, five days short of her 102nd birthday.
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| Ruth Bennett in 1981 |
(1) Courier Post 11/15/1981
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