DOB/DOD: May 2, 1922 (Hamden, CT) – March 2, 1945; 22 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Dorothy Bigelow Nagel (1922-1995) on March 1, 1942, in Stamford, CT.
LOCAL ADDRESS: 2 Cedar Hill Avenue, New Haven. The house was torn down to build Interstate 91.
ENLISTMENT: January 26, 1944, in Springfield, Massachusetts, three weeks after his father died
SERVICE NUMBER: 943797
UNIT: Company L, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, 4th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0607, Mortar Crewman
FAMILY: Born to Charles (1891-1944) and Marie Nagel (1891-1974). Two sisters, Marjorie E. Nagel Leavenworth (1918-2001) and Nancy Marie Nagel (1931-1967). Worked at Winchester Repeating Arms Co. in New Haven prior to the service. 2
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. Infantry training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in the summer of 1944. Assigned to the 30th Replacement Draft in October 1944. 4 Died from a gunshot wound to the neck. 3 Private Nagel and PFC Harold Wooster of Naugatuck were in the same company. They died 11 days apart.
From the Connecticut Military Portrait Collection, Connecticut State Library, Identifier: PG570; used with permission
Photo contributed by Charles Jackisch.
Honored on a plaque outside of Hamden High School, 2040 Dixwell Ave, Hamden, Connecticut. Photo by Jeff DeWitt
On the memorial wall inside Memorial Town Hall, 2364 CT-10, Hamden, CT 06518 in Hamden, Connecticut. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.3
Initially buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Plot 1, Row 19, Grave 923. 3 At his wife’s request, his remains were repatriated in 1948 and buried in Evergreen Cemetery, 769 Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, New Haven, Connecticut; Section 3, Plot 15, Grave 6. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
1 – 1940 census https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
2 – https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238
3 – USMC Casualty Report received via FOIA request
4 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/