Saturday, January 15, 2011

Eugene Freudenberg II (1925-1945) tombstone

Eugene Freudenberg II (1925-1945) was a private in the US Army, and was killed in action in World War II (b. June 29, 1925, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, USA - d. January 24, 1945, Luzon, Philippines) Military Service Number 42014477.

Eugene enlisted as a private in the US Army on September 17, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey. He had dropped out of high school after one year and wasn't employed. He was killed in the Battle of Luzon on January 24, 1945 just 15 days into the US invasion. Eugene was buried at the Santa Barbara Number 1 Cemetery in the Philippines and was disinterred on August 30, 1948. His skeletal remains were reinterred at Beverly National Cemetery in New Jersey on February 11, 1949. They initially used a Star of David on his plot because they thought the name Freudenberg was Jewish. His mother, Florence, went to visit the cemetery on October 24, 1949 and told the cemetery officials that he was Lutheran and they replaced the Star of David with a Latin Cross in the photo.

Image by Michael X. Bell on January 14, 2011.