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Albert Andrew Molchany

SGT in 603rd Engineer Camouflage Bn : Co B, 4th Platoon

ASN#33057708

Born 1918 in PA, Died 2002

County of residence at enlistment: Lehigh County, PA
Other residence(s): Whitehall Township, PA; Cementon, PA
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: bar loaders
Notes: A/K/A Albert A Molchaney; final rank S/SGT; occupation bartenders in NARA archive
Source: 603rd Camouflage Engineer Roster provided by W. Anderson; Ghost Army roster by state; Company B Names and Addresses roster

Albert Molchany was born on September 7, 1918 in Cementon, PA (part of the township of Whitehall), the second of eight children. His parents had both been born in Slovakia and emigrated to the US as children; his father worked at a cement plant.

Albert attended Whitehall High School for two years and was active in Scouting as a teenager. The 1940 census describes him as working as a bar loader in a public project (probably WPA work). When he registered for the draft, on October 16, 1940, he reported that he was working for Michael W. Haberern, whose daughter he would eventually marry. He was also an officer in the Laurel Fire Company.

He enlisted in the Army on May 6, 1942. His older brother Paul also joined the Army, and served in the Medical Corps. By the time he went to Europe with the Ghost Army, as a member of the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion, he had earned the rank of SGT. A caricature of him appears in Jack Masey's wartime book of sketches entitled You on KP.

He was discharged on October 12, 1945 with the rank of Staff SGT and returned to Whitehall where he went to work at Lawrence Portland Cement Co. On November 20, 1948 he married Emma May Haberern. She was an electronic worker at Western Electric, and continued working there until 1956.

The couple would go on to have five children: Phyllis, Denise, Martha, Brian, and Mark. By 1961 Albert was working as a crane operator at the kiln burner of the former National Portland Cement Co., Whitehall. He retired in 1983 and went to work as a salesman for Nestor's Sporting Goods in Whitehall, where he worked until he was 81!

He was also a member, along with his brothers, of the Holy Name Society at Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Northampton.

He died on May 11, 2002 and is buried at Egypt Cemetery in Egypt, PA (another area of Whitehall Township).

Photo:

There is a caricature of him in Jack Masey's wartime book, You on KP.

Sources:

1920 census record

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/34089430:6061?tid=&pid=&queryId=d9e589f7d7966e6cf447694c6dbd2181&_phsrc=giE3&_phstart=successSource

1930 census record

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/52723369:6224?tid=&pid=&queryId=d9e589f7d7966e6cf447694c6dbd2181&_phsrc=giE5&_phstart=successSource

1934 article in The Morning Call (Allentown PA) re his involvement in Scouting

newspapers.com/image/274910831/?terms=albert%20molchany&match=...

1940 census record

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/20806048:2442?tid=&pid=&queryId=d9e589f7d7966e6cf447694c6dbd2181&_phsrc=euy8&_phstart=successSource

1940 draft card

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/8773190:2238?tid=&pid=&queryId=d9e589f7d7966e6cf447694c6dbd2181&_phsrc=euy3&_phstart=successSource

1940 article in The Morning Call (Allentown PA) re his involvement with the Laurel Fire Co.

newspapers.com/image/274926660/?terms=albert%20molchany&match=...

1942 enlistment record

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/7767365:8939?tid=&pid=&queryId=d9e589f7d7966e6cf447694c6dbd2181&_phsrc=euy7&_phstart=successSource

1942 article in The Morning Call (Allentown PA) indicating he is a Private in the Army

newspapers.com/image/275048915/?terms=albert%20Molchany&match=...

1944 article in The Morning Call (Allentown PA) indicating he is a Sergeant and in England

newspapers.com/image/275089781/?terms=albert%20molchany&match=...

1947 article in The Morning Call (Allentown PA) re his membership in the Holy Name Society

newspapers.com/image/275170390/?terms=albert%20molchany&match=...

1948 marriage record

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3128353:61381?tid=&pid=&queryId=d9e589f7d7966e6cf447694c6dbd2181&_phsrc=giE6&_phstart=successSource

1948 wedding announcement in The Morning Call (Allentown PA)

newspapers.com/image/275193778/?terms=albert%20molchany&match=...

1950 Pennsylvania US Veterans' WW2 Compensation Application

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1520930:3147?tid=&pid=&queryId=d9e589f7d7966e6cf447694c6dbd2181&_phsrc=euy2&_phstart=successSource

2002 Social Security applications and claims index

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/30411515:60901?tid=&pid=&queryId=d9e589f7d7966e6cf447694c6dbd2181&_phsrc=euy4&_phstart=successSource

2002 Find a Grave record; includes brief obituary

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10485751/albert-andrew-molchany

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