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| Name | Narrative | Branch and Rank | Unit and Specialty | Conflict/Arena | Born/Died |
| James Robert “Bobby” Willard | J. Robert Willard was born January 1, 1912 in Delanco NJ, the son of Joseph Aaron and Mary Jane Hansbury Willard. He graduated Burlington High School in 1929. He never married. He worked for United Container Corporation in Philadelphia before joining the US Merchant Marine on April 15, 1942. He engaged in Philadelphia as an Ordinary Seaman for the crew of the American vessel S.S. Agwidale. The vesseal was to sail to Murmansk, but was redirected to Edinburgh, Scotland. In the return trip, the ship was rammed, but managed to limp into Newfoundland and was laid up for repairs. Bobby was listed on the ship's return manifest arriving in New York, New York on August 29, 1942 from the port of Edinburgh, Scotland via St. John's Newfoundland as age 30, male, race American, nationality USA, able to read and scheduled to be discharged at arriving port. He engaged with a new freighter, a Liberty Ship, the S.S. Arthur Middleton, which sailed from New York on December 12, 1942, in a convoy of 44 vessels and 7 US destroyers, with a cargo of munitions and explosives bound for North Africa. His ship was torpedoed by German U-Boat (U-73) (Deckert) on January 1, 1943 about 3 miles outside of Oran, Algeria with only 3 survivors. Bobby was classified lost at sea. The Willards erected a memorial to him in Monument Cemetery. The inscription reads: “WILLARD/ IN MEMORY OF OUR/ BELOVED SON/ JAMES R./ BORN JAN 1, 1912/ DIED JAN 1, 1943/ LOST AT SEA". Robert Willard was listed with Delanco’s other WWII casualties in “The Delanco Story”, on the WWII memorial at Gateway Park in Delanco, and on the original Delanco WW II Honor Roll. | US Merchant Marine Ord Seaman | SS Agwidale SS Arthur Middleton | WWII North Atlantic | 1912 – 1943 KIA |
Updated October 30, 2023