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| William J. Camp |
As we approach Christmas it's a fitting time to honor a soldier who lost his life on the day after Christmas 1944, and the family who still keeps his memory alive.
I recently wrote about Norbert Kuchman, a WWII veteran whose postcards I found on e-Bay. I alerted his son, Dave Kuchman, to the cards and he was able to acquire them. The cards were written by Norbert to an old girlfriend during the war and ended up on e-Bay after being sold in an estate sale after she died.
I recently wrote about Norbert Kuchman, a WWII veteran whose postcards I found on e-Bay. I alerted his son, Dave Kuchman, to the cards and he was able to acquire them. The cards were written by Norbert to an old girlfriend during the war and ended up on e-Bay after being sold in an estate sale after she died.
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| William and Marian Camp |
Private Camp was born in 1910. His birth name was William
John Czarnowsky, but he later changed it to Camp. Like many in his hometown of
Rochester, New York, he worked for Eastman Kodak Company. William
married Norbert Kuchman’s sister, Marian, on October 30, 1934. He enlisted in the Army on May 22, 1944, and just seven months
later while serving with the 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th
Infantry Division, he was killed when a German shell hit near his foxhole. He
left a widow and three sons, all now deceased. He is
buried at the American cemetery at Margraten, Netherlands. Marian did not
remarry and passed away in 1990.
The postcards Dave showed me (via email) were written
between June and August 1944 while Private Camp was in training at Camp Croft
near Spartanburg, SC. They were addressed to Private Camp’s middle son, James,
who turned four in June 1944, six months before his father died. In one card
Private Camp wished James a happy birthday. James died in 1997.
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| Private Camp wished his son a happy fourth birthday in this card |
Dave also sent me a photo of a plaque that hung in Eastman
Kodak offices for many years honoring Private Camp and two other employees who
were killed in the war.
Private Camp’s postcards are interesting, but another photo
Dave shared with me is positively gripping. It’s a photo of his dad, Norbert
Kuchman, kneeling at William Camp’s grave in the Netherlands in 1947. Those of
us who didn’t live through World War II can never imagine the upheaval it
brought to so many families. I can’t fathom the emotions Norbert must have felt
as he visited his brother-in-law’s grave. The two of them served in combat in Europe. One came home, one didn't.
In the photo the graves are marked with what appear to be wooden crosses. Today each grave is marked with a marble cross inscribed with the soldier's name. The American Battle Monuments Commission has an excellent web site where you can search for American soldiers who are buried overseas. http://www.abmc.gov/home.php
In the photo the graves are marked with what appear to be wooden crosses. Today each grave is marked with a marble cross inscribed with the soldier's name. The American Battle Monuments Commission has an excellent web site where you can search for American soldiers who are buried overseas. http://www.abmc.gov/home.php
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| Plaque honoring three Eastman Kodak employees who died in World War II |
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| Norbert Kuchman at William Camp's grave in the Netherlands, 1947. |
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| William Camp's grave marker at Margraten |
More about William Camp can be found at http://www.adoptiegraven-database.nl/index.php/margraten/american-war-cemetery-margraten-c/19534-camp-william-j
To Norbert Kuchman and William Camp – thank you for serving
our country. And kudos to Dave Kuchman for keeping their memory alive, lest we
forget.
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