Elmer Franklin Day was born on January 9th, 1920 in Marlton, Burlington County, New Jersey. His father, Charles Day, was born in Pennsylvania and was a farmer. His mother, Catherine, was from New Jersey. Day had four older sisters named Doris, Elizabeth, Alice and Helen. His younger siblings were Harry, Mildred and Dorothy. When he was ten years old, Day’s family lived in Evesham, New Jersey and had a boarder named Robert Waugh.

From age 20 to 22 years old, Day worked as a farmer and as a truck driver for E. Hallingshed & Son. At age 21, he registered for the Draft in Merchantville, NJ. At this time, he was 5’8” tall and weighed 141 pounds. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a light complexion. When he was 22, Day married Marie Chmelar.

When Day enlisted in the US Army Air Corps, he was assigned to the 853rd Engineer Aviation Battalion. His rank was Sergeant and his service number was 32487149. Day was on the ship Rohna which was in the Mediterranean in the fall of 1943.

HMT Rohna was a troop ship carrying U.S. troops that was sunk by an air attack of the Luftwaffe on November 26 , 1943. The ship sank in the Mediterranean north of Béjaïa, Algeria. Rohna was part of convoy KMF-26 traveling east from Oran to the Far East via the Suez Canal. The following is a description of what happened that day.

Around 1600 hours on November 26th, 1943 an “Alert” alarm sounded, and all troops were ordered below decks while the gun crews and fire-control details were ordered to their stations. Several German twin engine bombers were noted from the southwest and the escort vessels opened fire. At 1700 hours, the HMT Rohna was hit by a Henschel Hs-293 radio-controlled missile at the water line and all power was lost. The 853rd were quartered near the impact and due to the blast, fires, and exploding ammunition accounted for most of the dead.

The weather had become difficult, and the sea was producing 15-foot swells. Of the 16 lifeboats only five were successfully launched. At 1730 hours, LTC Frolich ordered “Abandon Ship.” The water was very cold, and hypothermia took the lives of many who had successfully escaped the sinking ship. USS Pioneer collected 606 survivors alone. Overall, 1,015 of the 2,000 personnel were lost. Over 100 crewmen also were casualties of the bombing.

Sgt. Day lost his life on November 27, 1943 at the age of 23. His body was never recovered. Day’s name is listed on the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthage, Tunisia; there is also a gravestone for him in Beverly, New Jersey. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Thank you, Sgt. Elmer Franklin Day of the US Army Air Corps, for your sacrifice and service to our country.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII Fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen’ s name and read his/her story.

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Story location: Middlesex, NJ. Story date: 24 Jul 2023

Elmer F Day