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| Name | Narrative | Branch and Rank | Unit and Specialty | Conflict/Arena | Born/Died |
| William Garwood Bacon, Jr. | William Garwood Bacon, Jr. was born in Camden on June 26, 1920, the son of William Garwood Bacon, Sr. and brother of Robert G. Bacon. He went by the name Garwood. He married Mary Natalie Ruggieri and lived at 570 Rancocas Avenue in Delanco. He worked at E.W. Twitchell, Inc in Philadelphia. Garwood enlisted in the US Navy on Navy Day, November 11, 1941, one month prior to Pearl Harbor, as E-5 in the Naval Intelligence Branch in Philadelphia. His rate as E-5 was 2nd class yeoman. Garwood was called to active duty in February, 1942, first serving as a driver for the officers investigating waterfront activities, He also boarded Spanish and Portuguese speaking vessels off of Lewes, Delaware, going out on the pilot boat and then going up the Delaware to the port of Philadelphia questioning the crews. Looking for more action, he applied for the Naval Air program, but was told he was needed in Intelligence. So in 1943 he transferred by request to the fifth Naval District. He got boot training at Bainbridge, MD and was assigned to the 7th Naval Beach Battalion program in Virginia under Commander L.C. Leever. They practiced for many beach invasion scenarios, then departed for England in March 1944 on the SS Mauritania. On May 15, 1944, 7th Naval Beach battalion left their training bases for the marshaling area for the invasion of France after 9 months of intensive beach battalion training. For two weeks they were drilled in every aspect of the invasion. June 1st they clambored aboard the LCI(L)-92 designated by the army as LCI-L531. Garwood's duty was to deliver critical communications gear to the command center on the beachhead. Their craft was to land on beach, Dog White, at H hour plus 100 minutes. 8:10 a.m. Although he accomplished his mission, the next 24 hours of action was almost unimaginable. Garwood was critically injured in has foxhole on the beach on June 7 and evacuated to England. Garwood was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, two presidential citations, and an Army Unit Citation for his work with the 149th Engineer Combat Battalion, O Force. He held the rank of Chief Yeoman in the Naval Reserve. Garwood provided his detailed personal account of the D-Day invasion of Normandy on D-Day to Military.com. Read the full interview at: https://www.military.com/history/d-day-story-garwood-bacon.html. He was discharged in March of 1945, attaining the rank of Chief Yeoman. He worked for EW Twitchell Inc in Philadelphia. He was a talented composer and performed under the name of "Gar" Deacon. Garfield was an active Freemason. He died July 5, 1986 and is buried in the Masonic section of Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson. He was listed as Garwood Bacon, Jr. on the original Delanco WWII Honor Roll. | US Navy, Chief Yeoman | Naval Intelligence, 7th Naval Beach Batt, 149th Eng Combat Batt, O Force LCI(L)-92) | WWII, Phila Seaport Omaha Beach, Normandy | 1920 - 1986 |
Updated October 30, 2023