Many Merchantville residents made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the United States. During World War I, four (4) Merchantville residents lost their lives on the battlefields of Europe during the Great War. Their legacies and home addresses were historically preserved on the town's 1921 Armistice Day monument. They are:
Corporal Frederick W. Grigg, raised in Merchantville as one of ten children, he served with General Pershing before deploying to France.
He was killed by shrapnel in the Argonne Forest in October 1918 while serving with Company E, 113th Infantry Regiment; First Lieutenant Jacob Feldman, 17 W. Park Ave. Serving in Army Company D, 110th Infantry, he was fatally wounded in September 1918 during a charge toward Hill 212 in France, famously yelling "Forward, Men!" to his troops after being shot multiple times; Lieutenant J.G. Henry Bowes Jr., Wellwood Avenue and Volan Street. He commanded Submarine Chaser 209 in the U.S. Naval Reserve before losing his life; and, William Winner, 26 Volan Street and died while serving his country during the war.
Merchantville residents who lost their lives in WWII are: Elmer F. Day, on November 26, 1943, during the sinking of the HMT Rohna, one of the worst wartime tragedies in U.S. history; Joseph Charles Arrison, Machinist's Mate 3c, USNR, recorded among the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps casualties; John Peter Enright Jr., Seaman 2c, USN, attached to the USS Hugh L. Scott was declared dead on November 12, 1942, in North Africa; and, Joseph Edward Halpin, crew member noted among the borough's official Gold Star military casualties.
Merchantville, NJ natives who gave their lives in the Korean War include PFC Richard Donald Williams and PFC Thaddeus Franklin Stevens Jr. Army Sargent Michael Egan was the only military casualty from Merchantville, NJ, who lost his life in the Iraq War.
A member of the U.S. Army, Pennsylvania National Guard, was killed in action when an explosive detonated near his military vehicle during a patrol in Iraq on September 19, 2005.
Public records do not list anyone from our community who lost their life in service of our country during the war in Afghanistan.