DOB/DOD: October 7, 1926 (Kearney, PA) – March 8, 1945; 18 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 67 Forest Street, Unionville
ENLISTMENT: February 2, 1943, in Springfield, Massachusetts
SERVICE NUMBER: 527135
UNIT: Company I, 3rd Battalion, 21st Marines, 3rd Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0522, Guard; 0745, Rifleman; and 0746, Automatic Rifleman
FAMILY: Born to Czechoslovakian-born Paul Matava (1887-1965) and Mary Valigursky Matava (1896-1990). Half-siblings are Margaret Matava Bye (1910-1989), Mary Matava Volovski (1913-1990), and Suzanne Matava Martin (1915-2013). Siblings are Rosalie “Rose” Matava Gorgen (1920-1999), Robert [USMC veteran of battles at Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Guam] (1921-2011), Elizabeth Matava Lusis (1924-2015), Irene Matava Bachman (1931-2022), Paul “Jerry” (1933-2023), Thomas (1935-2000). 1 PFC Matava was in the same company as PFC Walter Sokoli of Seymour, CT, and PFC Frank Souza Jr. of Bridgeport. PFCs Sokoli and Souza died the same day, and PFC Matava 12 days later.
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, in early 1943. Served at the Naval Ammunition Depot in Hastings, Massachusetts; Naval Ammunition Depot in Hingham, Massachusetts; Naval Ammunition Depot in Harthorne, Nevada, and back to the Naval Ammunition Depot in Hingham, MA in the Spring of 1944. Served with the 3rd Marine Division, 21st Marines, 3rd Battalion in October 1944 after infantry training in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Transferred to the 4th Marine Division, 30th Replacement Draft in January 1945. 3 Died from a gunshot wound to the chest. 2
Photo contributed by RJ Matava, a great nephew.
Honored on the Unionville Veterans Memorial, 40 Lovely Street, Unionville, Connecticut. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
Honored on the Farmington Veterans Memorial, 1 Monteith Drive, Farmington, Connecticut. 5 Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
Initially buried in the 3rd Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Row 30, Grave 736. At his father’s request, remains were repatriated in 1948 and buried in Saint Mary’s Cemetery, 621 Huckleberry Hill Road, Avon / Unionville, Connecticut. 2 Plot information can’t be confirmed by the sexton due to limited records from that time period. Footstone with small stone flower box behind it. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
1 – 1940 census https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
2 – USMC Casualty Report received by FOIA request
3 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/