Arthur Krumm

Arthur Krumm was born in October 1921, in Jersey City. His father was a World War I veteran; and, two of his brothers had enlisted in the military before he did. Before entering the service, Krumm worked as a machinist in Harrison, New Jersey for a company that made parts for Liberty ships and pumps for the Navy.

The day Pearl Harbor was attacked, Krumm was driving to visit his uncle.  He recalled that after the attack, everyone was more patriotic. The New Jersey boardwalk was later darkened with screens to hinder German submarines.

Krumm saw an advertisement for Army Air Corps mechanics and joined the service in September 1942. He went to basic training in Harlingen, Texas, which he remembered as tough. After basic training, Krumm went to Laredo, where he was assigned to a military police unit that checked on soldiers going back and forth to Mexico. Then he was sent to an Air Force mechanics school in Gulfport, Mississippi for five months. Krumm went to Buffalo, New York for two months and then Miami, where he worked with civilians at Pan American Airlines. He then went to Romulus, Michigan, where he was outfitted and equipped to go overseas, yet did not know where exactly he was headed. Eventually, in June 1944, Krumm was assigned as a crew member to a C-46 plane with orders to go to Casablanca, Morocco.

Krumm stayed in Casablanca for about six months, where he served as a line mechanic for the Air Transport Command, until his crew volunteered to go to Italy. They flew to Naples, Italy and stayed there until the war was over.   Krumm was in Naples during Victory in Europe Day and attended a victory party on base. After the war ended, he was transferred to Rome. In January 1946, Krumm went home. He initially went to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and then to Fort Dix, where he was discharged.

After the war, Krumm got a job with his brother at New Jersey Bell, where he worked as a telephone installer before going into sales, then management, and moved to Wall Township. He retired from New Jersey Bell in 1982 and engaged in a second career of public service.

Krumm served on the Wall Township Committee for nine years, including a one-year term as mayor. He also served as Wall Township Code Enforcement Officer, was a founding member of the Wall Community First Aid Squad, served as president of Monmouth County Municipal Association, served on the Wall Township Planning Board, was a member of the Wall Township Republican Club and Wall Kiwanis Club, and even volunteered at the Wall Library in his nineties!

Arthur Krumm passed away on May 13, 2017 at the age of ninety-six. 

Additional Resource:

• The Coast Star Article