Charles Banko
| NAME: Charles Banko | NICKNAME: Charlie | SERVICE NUMBER: 972671 | |||||
| HOME OF RECORD: 21 Dahl Avenue, Keasby, NJ | NEXT OF KIN: Parents, Alexander & Julia Banko | ||||||
| DATE OF BIRTH: 5/9/1926 | SERVICE DATES: 6/23/1944 – 9/1945 | DATE OF DEATH: 2/25/2015 | |||||
| CAMPAIGN | UNIT | MOS | RATE | RESULT | |||
| Iwo Jima | B/1/24 | 521 | Private | WIA | |||
| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS: Purple Heart | LAST KNOWN RANK: Private | ||||||
Charlie Banko was born in Keasbey, New Jersey, in 1926. His Hungarian-American parents, Charles and Julia (Kopenash) Banko, raised four sons at 21 Dahl Avenue in Woodbridge Township.
When the war began, the older Banko boys went into the service. The oldest, Louis, joined the Navy in 1943. Charlie, the next in line, received his draft notice at the age of eighteen, and was summoned to Parris Island to become a Marine. He was whisked through boot camp and infantry school at Camp Lejeune; within six months he was on his way to the Pacific with the 30th Replacement Draft.
Private Banko was assigned to Baker Company, 24th Marines in late February 1945, as the battle of Iwo Jima was raging. Although a stranger to his company and to combat, Banko was soon fighting on the front lines in some of the worst terrain on the island. He managed to survive for a full week, but on 8 March 1945 an explosive shell detonated nearby. Shrapnel ripped Banko’s right hip and caused a compound fracture of his left tibia. He was immediately evacuated from the line, and wound up at a naval hospital in Pearl Harbor for treatment. Banko’s wounds were far too severe to allow a return to combat; he was sent back to the United States for additional treatment, and in September 1945 received a medical discharge from the service.
Charlie Banko wore a Purple Heart back home to Keasby, and has carried Japanese shrapnel in his hip and leg for the next seven decades. Despite his injuries, he immediately went to work, at one time holding as many as three simultaneous jobs.
Eventually, he settled into a career with the Woodbridge Township Police Department, and spent thirty-six years in uniform before his mandatory retirement at the age of 65. He remained on as the department’s Archives Curator until 2007. In his busy life, Banko also served as chief of the town’s fire department, was active with the Hungarian Reformed Church, and raised four sons with his wife Sandra.
Charles Banko passed away on the morning of 25 February 2015 – almost exactly seven decades after joining Company B. Fellow officer Kevin Cuffe remembered Officer Banko in this eulogy:
I served with Officer Charles Banko, gentleman, with the Woodbridge Township Police for 35 years. He was a mentor and police officer’s police officer and always a hard-charger Marine. He will be sorely missed by his wife and family and by many, many citizens of Woodbridge and all of us who served with him. Semper Fi, Charlie. Be welcomed into the arms of your comrades guarding the gates of Heaven. Never forgotten.
Thanks to Ginny Otte for the additional information about Charles Banko.
Mr. Banko is my partner’s uncle. He was a police officer after USMC and still carries shrapnel in his body from Iwo Jima, 70 years later.
Ms. Otte – thank you for writing. It is a pleasure to know Mr. Banko is still with us!
If possible, I would very much like to speak with you, your partner, or Mr. Banko himself about his life story and particularly his time in the Marine Corps. Would you please email me about this at webmaster@ablecompany24.com?
Thank you,
Geoffrey
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After the war, Charlie became a Volunteer Firefighter with Protection Fire Company No 1 of Keasbey, NJ. He served as Fire Chief from 1 June 1959 to 31 May 1960. He was the Chairman of the Fire Company’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in 1958. He was a key member of the Fire Company’s Championship Bowling Team for many years, even after he moved out of the Fire District and left active firefighting service. He was a beloved Keasbey Firefighter and always came back to visit his brothers in Keasbey. He was a dapper fixture at our Memorial Day services in Keasbey, always dressed in a suit jacket & tie as we paid tribute to Keasbey’s Most Valiant Sons. We, his bother Firefighters were/are all better people for having Charlie in our lives. May perpetual light shine upon him. Semper Fi.