Kiniry, Tim

Tim Kiniry was born November 15, 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and that’s where he spent his first two years, though he really grew up in New Jersey. Tim had four sisters and a younger brother, and they all grew up during the Depression, attending grammar school – Tim’s education ended at the 8th grade. During the Depression there were no jobs, so families raised vegetables and made ends meet. At age 19 Tim lived in a two-story house: going up the stairs on December 7, 1941 he heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor on the family’s Philco Radio. Tim did not go into the military right away; rather he waited to be drafted at age 21, when he was inducted and sent to Ft. Gordon, Georgia in August 1942. While there he was assigned to the 45th Evacuation Hospital and he completed medic training. Later he was transferred to Camp Kilmer, N.J. on his way to depart for England aboard the converted troop ship RMS Aquitania. The ship landed in sScotland, and Tim took the train to Wotton-under-Edge, in England. They were housed in a Masonic Hall, and they began to practice setting up 40’x50′ evacuation hospital tents. Tim left Southampton for the Normandy Beaches, arriving at Omaha Beach D-Day+10. His unit was based at Caen Evacuation Hospital, where they performed “the 12-hour shifts (that) were not an easy job.” Tim observed his first wounded patients on June 22-23, 1944: many were suffering from shell shock, and it was his responsibility to bathe them and administer medicines. The 45th Evacuation Hospital followed the front, and Tim was under fire in Eupen, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. The 45th Evacuation Hospital was the first to cross the Rhine River on April 21, 1945. The hospital was again set up at Nora Airfield, not far from Buchenwald. The 45th treated 200 inmates from the camp who were suffering from TB, marking a truly remarkable period in Tim’s life. V-E Day came a few weeks later, and in two months Tim was homebound. During his tour of duty 26,600 patients were treated by the 45th: 268 were lost. Tim was discharged and returned to civilian life, marrying in 1963. Crestwood students were able to zoom with Tim in January 2026, and in March 2026 Scott Masters paid him an in person visit in Millville, N.J. This webpage is a blend of both interviews; we thank Robert Trivellini and the Millville Army Air Field Museum for their assistance in introducing us to Tim.