Sept. 2, 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II , a global conflict that culminated in the loss of millions worldwide, including over 400,000 US servicemen. On that day in 1945, representatives from Japan signed the official surrender documents on the deck of the USS Missouri. The Kearny WWII memorial lists 178 names, either natives or former residents, who made the ultimate sacrifice. At this milestone, it’s appropriate to reflect on the noble service and sacrifice of those local soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who courageously fought and died overseas for our nation’s freedom.
While everyone in Kearny knows the heroics of the Rev. John Washington, who is honored annually in Febr at the Four Chaplains Mass at St. Stephen’s Church — who were some of these other local men, who left family and friends behind, who helped fill the ranks of every military branch, and who fought in virtually every major WWII campaign throughout Europe and the Pacific?
James J. Lenaghan, of 17 Grant Ave., was the second oldest of five children. Like his father, John, and his older sister, Kathleen, James had immigrated from Belfast, Ireland. In October 1942, James enlisted with the US Army, qualified as a paratrooper and was assigned to the elite 82nd Airborne Division, where he saw action in both Sicily and Italy. Private Lenaghan then participated in the air assault in Normandy as one of the first US soldiers to land in France on D-Day. He was wounded there and subsequently died in an English hospital on June 25, 1944, at age 22.
Malcolm C. Bindon, of 438 Highland Ave., elected to join the Marine reserves, following several of his classmates from Kearny High School. Malcolm was the only son of Herbert and Anna Bindon, and he had a younger sister, Ellen. He was called to service immediately after graduating from Franklin and Marshall College in 1943. Private First Class (PFC) Bindon was assigned to the 4th Marine Division and was a member of the assault troops who stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima. PFC Bindon, at age 23, was killed in action in that historic battle on Feb. 26, 1945, three days after the flag raising.
Frederick A. Koch Jr was a machinist and lived with wife, Charlotte, at 133 Kearny Ave. He joined the US Navy in April 1942, providing the reason for his enlistment as “Patriotism.” Petty Officer First Class (PO/1C) Koch was assigned to the USS Newcomb (destroyer). On April 6, 1945, supporting the invasion of Okinawa, the ship was decimated by hits from five kamikaze aircraft. Miraculously, through exhaustive efforts, the crew was able to keep the ship afloat, but lost over 40 sailors, killed or missing, including PO/1C Koch, at age 27.
During the later Korean and Vietnam Wars, The Observer would publish random articles when a local serviceman was killed in action and their service was rightfully recognized. During the peak combat span of WWII, virtually every publication headlined with local casualty summaries with up to nine service photos on the front page. Casualties were routinely categorized as killed, wounded, missing or captured, which were immediately scrutinized across the town upon publication. Virtually everyone in Kearny, and surrounding towns, knew of neighbors who had lost fathers, brothers or sons, many sadly just years beyond high school.
After the dreaded telegram on notification of a death, next of kin were presented with a heart-wrenching decision — whether to return their loved ones remains to a local or national military cemetery, or to allow them to rest where they fell. US cemeteries across Europe provide the final resting place for a number of Kearny’s WWII servicemen.
At least two rest in both England and the Netherlands, three in Luxembourg, four in Italy, seven in Belgium and 11 in France. Five Kearny soldiers alone are buried in the Normandy American cemetery, not far from where they came ashore. Several servicemen are also buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, plus several more in the Philippines.
Tragically, virtually all the town’s Navy fatalities were lost at sea. Kearny lost six sailors alone in the sinking of the USS Juneau (light cruiser) Nov. 13, 1942, in which 687 officers and sailors were killed in action. Some air crew losses were never recovered. While there are no graves, all those men are memorialized on Tablets of the Missing in New York, Hawaii, the Philippines, North Africa and across Europe.
On the magnitude of family sacrifice, two Kearny mothers shared a truly heartbreaking distinction.
Mrs. Mary Pisciotta, 36 Howell Place, and Mrs. Clara Garlick, 271 Hickory St., were both single parents and double Gold Star Mothers. Mrs. Pisciotta lost two sons in the span of just over two months — Navy Seaman 1C Vincent Pisciotta on the USS Wasp (aircraft carrier) in March 1945 and Marine Private Alfred Pisciotta on Okinawa in May 1945.
Mrs. Garlick lost both her boys within eight months – Staff Sergeant Harold Garlick, a tail gunner in a B-17 shot down over Europe in February 1944 (tragically, the only crew member not to successfully bail out), and Technician 5th Grade Edward Garlick of the engineer corps in a bridging accident in France in October 1944.
Kearny’s military contributions during WWII were noteworthy, and combat valor was common across the ranks of its young men, from the sweltering jungles of the Pacific to that frigid winter in the Ardennes. Collectively, those men fought with honor and distinction, often under horrific combat conditions. To borrow a phrase from President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, those 178 servicemen, “gave the last full measure of devotion.”
Their service and sacrifice should never be forgotten.
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