Thomas Hendricks Simon, Jr.

The grandfather of Tom Jr. was a farmer in “the Neck,” the southernmost part of Philadelphia where the sports stadiums are located today. After Tom Sr., married Mary Campbell, he worked as a laborer at the Navy Yard. By the outbreak of World War I, they moved to the West Passyunk neighborhood because he began working at the Atlantic Oil Refinery on the Schuylkill River. He worked there the rest of his life.

Their firstborn son was Charles, in 1909, followed by Tom Jr. in 1911. Charles died in 1913, but two sisters came next, followed by five brothers. Tom lived at home as an adult and helped the family move farther west, within walking distance of the refinery, and he worked there as a pipefitter.

He was 29 when the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was signed into law. It required registration for the draft by all male citizens ages 21-35, which Tom did in October of 1940. On July 29, 1942, Tom was drafted into the Army and assigned to Company G of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.

The 22nd spent nearly two years in combat training, including the early part of 1944 in England. They came ashore on Utah Beach on D-Day, June 6. They liberated the village of Azeville by June 9th, but Private Simon was killed in action from artillery fire on June 15. (Another member of the 22nd was also buried here at Mount Moriah. PFC William Dougherty continued with his unit through northern France but died November 21 in Germany.)

It must have been difficult for Tom’s parents to wait for more than two months before being notified of his death. Nearly four years later his body was returned home for a funeral service on May 22, 1948. A military gravestone was placed over his grave but a photograph has not yet been taken.

He was the only member of the Simon family buried here, but he wasn’t the only one to serve. Four of his five brothers were in World War II or Korea, one of whom received the Bronze Star and another was a three-time Purple Heart recipient for his injuries.