Pvt. Elwood Kindle
Pvt. Elwood Kindle was a member of Headquarters Company, 4th Engineers, American Expeditionary Force, United States Army, during World War I.
He was born in the Grenloch section of Washington Township in 1890 and moved to Pitman in 1898, where he lived on East Holly Avenue with his parents, Sarah and Jonathon. Pvt. Elwood Kindle was a member of Headquarters Company, 4th Engineers, American Expeditionary Force, United States Army, during World War I.
Kindle attended Summit Avenue School and as an adult owned a cement company with his brother, George.
American Legion Post 49, an elementary school and a street are named after him in Pitman.
According to the book, “Who was Elwood Kindle?,” written by Dr. Howard Hausmann in 2009, Kindle was struck in the temple by a fragment of shrapnel while engaged in duty on the banks of the River Vesle at St. Thibaut, France on Aug. 6, 1918. Hausmann reiterated an eye-witness account of the tragic event that led to Kindle’s death, as seen by Sgt. Harry Haner:
“During the second Battle of the Marne, our company was preparing to put foot bridges across the Vesle River at St. Thibaut. The enemy sighted our detail and opened fire. Many sought cover in a railroad embankment. Pvt. Kindle made for cover and a big shell hit within 100 feet of him. He was killed instantly. “
Through Hausmann’s research, he discovered that Kindle was buried and disinterred six times in France before his body was sent on a 107-day journey home to Turnersville.
Upon arrival, Kindle was interred at St. John’s Cemetery where he remained for 19 years until his father, Jonathan Kindle, wrote to the Secretary of War requesting his son’s remains be returned to Hurffville. Kindle was once again removed from his resting place to be reburied the same day at Hillcrest Cemetery in Hurffville with a full military funeral.
The Wall of Heroes honors the Gloucester County men and women who were killed in action or are missing in action while serving in the US military protecting our freedoms and rights.
The Gloucester County Freeholder Board unveiled The Wall of Heroes on Nov. 11, 2010 at the Gloucester County Justice Complex featuring the likenesses of 100 Heroes.
There are at least 350 Gloucester County residents who never made it home, so there is more work to be done. The community’s assistance in identifying those residents who may be eligible to be placed on the wall is crucial.
The Wall of Heroes consists of framed 5-by-8-inch translucent artistic renderings portraying reasonable likenesses of the persons whom the county is honoring. The wall represents all branches of the military and they are arranged by era.
Because The Wall of Heroes features artistic renderings of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, photographs are of particular importance. If there is no photograph that can be found of the person to be honored, only the name and other key information of the military personnel will be framed on the wall.
Information, applications and eligibility can be found at http://www.co.gloucester.nj.us/depts/v/vaffairs/heroapp/default.asp or by contacting the Gloucester County Office of Veterans Affairs at 856-401-7660 .
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