Maloney, Francis “Frank” Bernard

Name: Maloney, Francis “Frank” Bernard, Pvt, USA

Local address: 7 Fountain Avenue, Matawan, NJ

Frank was born December 7, 1913 in New York City, the second and last child of Michael Francis Maloney (1879-1967) and Mary Hogan (1887-1978). His father, a farmer, was born in Wickatunk, his mother an Irish immigrant from County Tipperary, Ireland who came to the US in 1905.

He graduated from Red Bank High School in 1932 and married Matawan resident Virginia Ann Malkmus December 28, 1934 – Mary would go on to graduate from Matawan High School in 1935. They subsequently had two children – Frank, Jr (1936-2004) and John (1937-2009).

The 1940 census and Frank’s draft record that year listed the Fountain Street address. He was employed by Hercules Powder Company in Parlin, and was described as 6’ tall, 200 pounds, brown hair and eyes with a ruddy complexion.

On October 1, 1943, he enlisted in the army in Camden, with the record indicating he was separated with dependents. After basic training, Frank was assigned to the 60^th Infantry Regiment, which spearheaded the invasion of North Africa the November before he enlisted. The 60^th then went on to invade Sicily in August of 1943.

Frank was a replacement and was with the 60^th when it debarked at Utah Beach on the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, France, June 11, 1944 – D-Day +5. It drove hard into France, completely outdistancing the rest of its parent division, the 9^th. Initially believed to have been lost according to the unit’s history, its 2nd Battalion had overrun the German defenses in the face of strong resistance and had cut the main highway to the northwest. The battalion then established a bridgehead on the Douve River and held the position until the rest of the division caught up to them, thus facilitating the cutting of the peninsula.

The furious German resistance continued to the morning of June 30^th, but the 60^th managed to seize the town of Beaumont-Hague by 11AM, and by 8PM the regiment had consolidated its gains, which included the villages of Joburg, Vauville and Herqueville.

Although the unit’s history indicated it took no casualties on July 1, 1944, army hospital records showed Frank died that date from artillery shrapnel wounds to his abdomen and leg – he may have been wounded the day before in the action described above.

Frank’s body was returned to the United States on June 26, 1948, and is buried in the St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Keyport. His wife subsequently remarried Thomas W. Cooper and died in 2004. Frank’s sister, Ella Maloney Clough, taught in the Matawan school system before dying in 1970. While both of Frank’s children are deceased, he has a living niece and five grandchildren.