Two World War II veterans with ties to South Jersey were among the servicemen and women remembered Nov. 11, Veterans Day.
John A. Hatala Jr., 100, who just last year was formally welcomed into the only Catholic War Veterans Post in the Diocese of Camden, died Oct. 21.
About a week later, U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Charles Arnao was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Cherry Hill. The remains of Lt. Arnao, a POW who was killed during World War II, were accounted for earlier this year.
Local Catholic War Veteran
Father Matthew Weber, pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Bridgeton, celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Hatala on Oct. 29. He remembered the U.S. Army veteran as a man dedicated to his faith and family.
In April 2024, Father Weber was among those to visit Hatala at his home in Rosenhayn, welcoming him into Catholic War Veterans Post 1578 (Immaculate Conception Memorial). Father Weber is the post’s chaplain.
“I feel honored,” Hatala said during the visit as his wife, Louise, sat by his side – wide smiles on both of their faces.
Hatala was also an avid carpenter; he was featured in a Catholic Star Herald news video in 2020 – which remains the highest-viewed video on the Catholic Star Herald’s YouTube channel to this day.
Born April 16, 1925, Hatala was raised on a farm in Depression-era Vineland. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps at age 18, training as a navigator in Louisiana. He achieved the rank of second lieutenant and became a navigation instructor; he also trained bombardiers to be navigators during the war.
Hatala, who was buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Vineland, is survived by his wife of 76 years; daughter Lisa Waechter and her husband, Dennis; and his sons, John and his wife, Susan, and Greg and his wife, Diana. He is also survived by six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Final Resting Place for POW
Lt. Arnao, a native of Philadelphia, was buried Oct. 30 in Cherry Hill. His nephew, Joe Centonze, helped arrange the burial. Lt. Arnao was laid to rest not too far from where Centonze and his wife own gravesites. Staff from the Diocese’s South Jersey Catholic Cemeteries were also present for the burial.
In 1943, Lt. Arnao was serving in the Philippines when he was captured and held as a Japanese prisoner of war. He was killed on Jan. 9, 1945, when the ship he was being transported on was attacked and sunk.
At the end of World War II, the American Graves Registration Command recovered 311 bodies on a beach near modern-day Taiwan. As his remains could not be identified, he was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
Lt. Arnao’s remains were officially accounted for March 18.
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