DOB/DOD: April 7, 1926 (East Granby, CT) – March 11, 1945; 18 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 44 Florence Street, East Hartford
ENLISTMENT: June 28, 1943, in Springfield, Massachusetts
SERVICE NUMBER: 547726
UNIT: Headquarters & Service Battery, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marines, 5th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0345, Truck Driver
FAMILY: Born to Edward E. (1898-?) and Gertrude Krist Roberts (1903-1968), both born in Russia. Siblings are Leon (1928-2001), Doris (1930-2008), Ronald (1932-2001), and Patricia Roberts Sieber (1934-2020). 1
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, in late 1943. Infantry training at Camp Lejeune, New River, North Carolina, in early 1944. Assigned to the 5th Marine Division, 13th Marines, 2nd Battalion, beginning in the Summer of 1944. 4 Died at Marine Camp Naval Air Station #24, Hilo, Hawaii, as a result of acute alcohol poisoning. 2
From the Connecticut Military Portrait Collection, Connecticut State Library, Identifier: PG570; used with permission
Photo contributed by Lynn Plack, niece of PFC Roberts.
Initially interred in the US Army Homelani Cemetery at Hilo, Hawaii. At his mother’s request, he was repatriated and buried on February 7, 1949, 3 to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), 2177 Puowaina Dr, Honolulu, Hawaii; Section B, Site 616. 2 Photo from Ancestry.com.
1 – https://www.ancestry.com/search
2 – USMC Casualty Report received via FOIA request
3 – https://www.interment.net
4 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/