Local address: 89 Freneau Avenue during the war, parents at 17 Mill Road later
The Klatt family originated in Minnesota. Father Emil (1893-1976) was born in Owatonna, Mn and married Minneapolis girl Gertrude Domering (1894-1978) in Hennepin County, Mn on July 11, 1912. Son Lowell was born on April 30, 1914, in Owatonna.
By 1920, the family had moved to Buffalo, NY, where Emil was employed as a “soda water clerk” in a local drug store. Son Arthur was born in that city on February 1, 1924.
The 1930 census has the family in Bloomfield, NJ, where Emil was employed managing a restaurant. By 1940 the family was in Matawan, with the parents operating the Matawan Inn (now the Brass Rail restaurant) at 89 Freneau Avenue, where the family apparently resided in the residence above the establishment. He also was employed at the Hanson–Van Winkle-Munning factory on Church Street as a millwright. Emil died in 1976, his wife in 1978. Both are buried in Old Tennent Churchyard, Tennent, NJ.
Lowell Vincent Klatt (1914-2007), 1st SGT, USA (pictured left, above) was a large man. At 6’ tall, 207 pounds, he started on the Irvington, NJ football team. There is no evidence that Lowell ever resided in Matawan, but the borough “claimed” him after his exploits in the war.
The 1940 census has him in Newark, where he was employed as a police officer – he apparently started employment with the Newark Airport Police after graduation from high school in 1933. His October 16, 1940, draft registration indicated he was then working for the Newark Fire Department, and was described as 5’, 11 ½” tall, 202 pounds with brown eyes, blonde hair and a light complexion. He had been boarding with the Russo family at 32 Hillside Terrace in Newark.
On March 27, 1941, Lowell enlisted in the army at Newark. Most likely because of his age, size and maturity, he was promoted to corporal in early training at Fort Eustis, Va. He was subsequently assigned to the 98th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Regiment and was sent to the Hawaiian Department in 1941. Attached to the Headquarters Unit of the 1st Battalion at Schofield Barracks at Oahu, he received a promotion to staff sergeant in November of 1941 – a remarkable feat for an individual inducted only eight months before, which is a testament to his maturity and ability.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor the following month, Lowell was credited with shooting down an enemy aircraft with a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), a large weapon usually assigned to the “big men” of a unit. For this action, he was awarded the Silver Star.
His obituary indicated he also was awarded the Bronze Star at Guadalcanal. He most likely was with the 25th Infantry Division at this time, a unit which shared Schofield Barracks with the 98th and saw service on the island starting in December 1942.
He was given stateside duty in 1943 and married his fiancé Helen Corrine (1915-1983) in Matawan on June 6, 1943. Lowell spoke of his war experiences at the Matawan Civic Club that April. He finished his wartime service in the States and was a 1st Sergeant when the conflict ended.
He returned to the Newark Fire Department and was seriously injured in a fire at a chemical plant in 1948. He was still employed with the fire department when the 1950 census was enumerated. He and his wife subsequently moved to Falmouth, MA where she died in 1983, followed by Lowell in 2007. Both are buried in the Old Tennent Churchyard, Tennent, NJ.
Arthur Richard Klatt (1924-1989), EM2, USN (later NROTC Midshipman at Stanford University) (pictured right, above). Arthur graduated from Matawan High School in June of 1942. He immediately after graduation registered for the draft, his record indicating he was large, like his brother – 5’11 ½ inches tall, 170 pounds, blonde hair, blue eyes with a light complexion. He was working at his parents’ restaurant at the time, residing with them on Freneau Avenue.
On February 27, 1943, he enlisted in the Navy at Camden, and the next week he shipped out to the US Naval Training Center in Bainbridge, Md. Upon completion of basic training, he reported to the Electrical, Packard Marine Engine School, Detroit, Mi and upon completion of the course he was assigned to the US Naval Training Center at Treasure Island, Ca, and was promoted to Electrician’s Mate, 3rd Class.
On January 25, 1944, he reported aboard the Cleveland Class light cruiser USS Denver (Cl-58), which had arrived at Mare Island, Ca, from the Pacific for repairs. The Denver had been damaged by Japanese gunfire during the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay.
On June 22, 1944, the ship arrived at Eniwetok for carrier escort duty, supporting strikes on Japanese bases in the Bonin and Marianas Islands. After bombarding Iwo Jima on July 4th, she continued screening fast attack carriers.
She subsequently provided gunfire support for the invasion of the Philippines. During the Battle of Surigao Strait on October 24th, she and other US warships engaged with gunfire the Japanese battleship Yamashiro, which was sunk with the aid of her 6” canon.
The Denver was constantly under enemy air attack, sustaining damage from an aerial bomb on October 28, and had men wounded from a kamikaze which crashed and exploded 200 yards from the ship.
1945 saw additional action, with her involvement in gunfire support on various invasion beaches, minesweeping and rescues of sailors from a sunk US destroyer and helped repatriate allied POWs from area prison camps. Arthur was promoted to EM2 on May 15, 1945. The ship received eleven (11) battle for its actions in the Pacific Theater.
While the Denver finished operations and returned home in October, Arthur had been transferred to the USS Phoenix (CL-42) in September. His next muster was at the US Naval Hospital, Farragut, ID where he was received on October 16, 1945 – it is unclear what the medical issue was.
In the spring of 1946, Arthur was enrolled as an ROTC midshipman at Stanford University. It doesn’t appear that he continued his service, though – on November 30, 1946, he married Edgemere Heights resident Cynthia Hotaling at St. Joseph’s Church in Keyport. The wedding announcement indicated he was employed at Hanson-Van Winkle-Munning Company at the time. The 1950 census had him residing in Holmdel, employed as a technician at a “lab powder plant” (his obituary indicated he retired as a supervisor at Hercules Chemical Company in Sayreville in 1986.)
Arthur and Cynthia subsequently had three children. He died on January 15, 1989, his wife in 2011.
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