As World War II loomed, Mr. Cassel received a draft notice and was told by his supervisor that he could be exempted from military service because his job was considered essential. He declined the exemption and entered the Army.
Mr. Cassel arrived with the 94th Infantry Division in France about three months after D-Day. He was a battalion operations officer in the 301st Infantry Regiment.
In early 1945, the 94th went up against the heavily fortified Siegfried Line, suffering severe casualties in bitter cold before punching through with the help of the 10th Armored Division.
Mr. Cassel helped organize the crossing of the Saar River in boats under direct fire from Germans. One of two Bronze Stars he received during the war was awarded for helping fellow battalion members escape a trap that could have decimated the unit.
During the war, Mr. Cassel shipped some battlefield artifacts to his home and kept a small, unofficial museum in his house. He took the collection to veterans events and Veterans Day presentations at schools.
One artifact was a large Nazi swastika flag that he had found neatly folded and hidden in the basement of a police station in Ludwigshafen, Germany. He recently donated his collection to the University of Georgia.
Until his recent illness, Mr. Cassel was the editor of the Hoodlum News, a quarterly newsletter for the 301st Infantry Association. He also attended reunions of the 94th Veterans Association and the Battle of the Bulge Veterans Association.
After the war, Mr. Cassel resumed work at Mobil and served as a councilman in Paulsboro. He retired in the late 1980s. His first wife, Eve, who died in 1994, was a longtime elementary school teacher in Paulsboro.
