DOB/DOD: February 24, 1926 (Killingly, CT) – March 23, 1945; 18 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: Maple Street, Dayville
ENLISTMENT: August 23, 1943, in Springfield, Massachusetts, at 17 years old
SERVICE NUMBER: 547874
UNIT: Company H, 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0604, Machine Gun Crewman
FAMILY: Born to William (1887-1968) and Sarah “Sadie” Reddy Dennett (1895-1944). Siblings are Robert (1922-1932), Charlotte Dennett Carter (1924-2015), John (1929-2018), and sister Mary Dennett Gazzola (1935-2025). His brother Robert died at only 10 years old in 1932. His mother, Sarah, died 4 months before Edward on December 24, 1944. 1, 2
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, in late 1943. Artillery training at Camp Lejeune in New River, North Carolina, in early 1943, and then on to Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California, in April of 1944. He was assigned to his final unit, the 5th Marine Division, 26th Marines, 3rd Battalion, in the summer of 1944. 5 Officially “Died of Wounds” received in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Died three days before the end of the battle.
Photo contributed by nephew John Gazzola.
Photo contributed by Lourie N. Formby III. The description reads, “PFC Edward Dennett, horsing around with Marine buddies at Camp Tarawa, Hilo, Hawaii in the Fall of 1944 prior to shipping out to Iwo Jima.” Used with permission. 3
Honored on a plaque at the Killingly, Connecticut Town Green, 245 Main Street, Killingly, Connecticut. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
His remains were repatriated in 1948 and buried at Saint Joseph Cemetery, 350 Hartford Pike, Killingly, Connecticut; the plot and marker are in the back right corner of the cemetery. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
1 – 1930 census https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/
2 – 1940 census https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
3 – E-mail correspondence with the photographer.
4 – https://public.fokti.com
5 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/