65 Bodies Taken From Wreckage of Pennsylvania Train
PHILADELPHIA, Sept 7 [1943] -- [AP] -- Twisted wreckage of the Pennsylvania Congressional Limited gave up seven more bodies to rescue workers at noon-time today, bringing to 65 the number known to have perished when the train piled up heading into a curve in Northeast Philadelphia last night.  [read more page one in PDF file]

NOTE: subsequent reports tallied the final  death toll at 79

65 KILLED IN TRAIN MISHAP
(continued from Page One)

... column two list of dead ---Pvt Clarence [sic] Diskin, 508th Parachute Infantry (home address unknown)

  [read more page two in PDF file]

It is unknown where Pvt Diskin was going on this Labor Day weekend train from Washington to New York unless he had intended to fly from New York City to his home in Arizona.  But, since he could have flown from Washington, DC that seems unlikely.

Grave marker for Cpl Claud L. Diskin in the Mountain View Cemetery, Prescott (Yavapai County), Arizona.

Cpl Diskin died while on furlough from injuries suffered in a train accident, on 6 September 1943. A Jewish Welfare Board record was found documenting the death but containing little more information.  An entry documenting his demise appeared in the Service Company Morning Report of 8 September 1943 while the company was in Taylorsville, Tennessee on maneuvers.  It read simply "19106124, Diskin, Claud L, T5, From furlough to deceased, 6 September 1943"

Further research yielded the newspaper report shown at left .

He was born at 12:10 pm on April 11, 1913 in Prescott, Arizona to Peter and Rebecca Jane (nee: Larremore) Diskin

His father (age 48) had been born in Kentucky and resided at 123 Marino St.  He was employed as a "Cattle man" while his mother (32), from Texas, was a "Housewife".

The father's residence was recorded as 123 Marino St. while the mother's address was written as  233 Marino St.  The two addresses are about 1/10th of a mile apart.  It is unclear why the addresses differ.

A brief mention in the Prescott Evening Courier on December 24, 1940 stated "Claud Diskin, accompanied by his brother Pete, who has been spending several days in Prescott, plans to leave tonight for Mayer where he will spend Christmas with his parents."  Since Claud enlisted in Phoenix he may have been living there in 1940 as well.

According to his enlistment form, Claud (whose name was consistently spelled without an 'e' despite his birth certificate) completed 4 years of high school and was employed as a bartender when he enlisted on July 15, 1942 in Phoenix, AZ.  He was unmarried.

Claud's younger brother, Walter Bradford Diskin, was also in the Army during WW II, and drove ammunition to the front lines for the infantry. 

Walter was discharged in December 1945 and returned home where he marred Rhoda Clarice Edwards.  They had two sons, Claude and David; the first apparently named in honor of his late uncle.

Walter died on Nov. 17, 2007 and is buried in the same cemetery as his brother Claud.