DOB/DOD: September 19, 1924 (Manhattan, NY) – February 19, 1945; 20 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 29 Marlborough Street, Portland, Connecticut. The house is no longer there.
ENLISTMENT: May 31, 1943, in Springfield, Massachusetts.
SERVICE NUMBER: 861543
UNIT: Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines, 4th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 746, Automatic Rifleman
FAMILY: Born to Irving A. “Chappie” (1890-1980) and Lucile Darling Gildersleeve (1902-1965). Oldest of three children. Siblings are sisters Jacqueline Chapman Guernsey (1927-2009), and Lucile “Toots” Chapman Richards (1928-2012). 1,2 Irving was a Naval officer during WWI. He graduated from Annapolis in February 1918 and resigned his commission in May 1919 after the war. 3
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. Around October 1943, assigned to the Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts, through the summer. October 1944, was in the 17th Replacement Draft en route to Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California, and then his final assignment to the 4th Marine Division, 23rd Marines, 1st Battalion. 5 Died from a gunshot wound to the head. 4 PFC Chapman served in the Battle of Saipan and the Battle of Tinian but was killed in action on the first day of the invasion of Iwo Jima.
Westminster School, Class of ’43. Scott Reeves, Archivist, Westminster School, Simsbury, Connecticut, contributed the photo and narrative.
After completing almost six years at the Westminster School, he left school in April 1943 to enlist in the Marines. Chapman is noted as “ex-’43” because he left Westminster in April 1943, two months prior to graduating. Intermediate Football 1938; Second Squad 1939; First Squad 1940; First Squad 1941; First Squad 1942. Intermediate Ice Hockey 1938-39; First Squad 1939-40; First Squad 1940-41; First Squad 1941-42; First Spartans 1942-43 (no interscholastic hockey this year). Junior Baseball 1938; Intermediate Baseball 1939; First Squad 1942. Dance Committee 1942.
From The Westminster Bulletin, Vol. IX, No. 4, April, 1945
Henry S. Chapman, ex-’43, was killed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, where he served as a PFC in a mortar outfit in the Third Marine Division. After completing almost six years at Westminster, Chapman left school in April 1943 to enlist in the Marines.”
Photo from FindAGrave.com, with sisters Jacqueline and Lucile. 4
From The New York Times March 22, 1945
H.S. Chapman Dead on Iwo
Private First Class Henry S. Chapman, USMC, the 20-year-old son of Irving A. and Lucile G. Chapman of Portland, Connecticut, and 610 Park Avenue, New York, was killed in action on Iwo Jima on February 19, according to word just received by his parents. Private Chapman attended Harvey School, Hawthorn, New York, and later Westminster School, Simsbury, Connecticut, where he was a member of both
hockey and football teams, captaining the latter in 1942. He joined the Marines two years ago. Surviving, besides his parents, are two sisters.
Initially buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Plot 1, Row 2, Grave 51. At his father’s request, his remains were repatriated and buried in Portland Burying Ground, aka Trinity Center Cemetery, 47 Fairway Drive, Portland, Connecticut; Section 38, Lot 2, Plot 8. 4 His plot is 20 yards from PFC Ellsworth who died one day after PFC Chapman, February 20, 1945. Photo sent by Bob McDougall, Portland Historical Society, Portland, Connecticut.
1 – 1930 census https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/
2 – 1940 census https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
3 – New York, Abstracts of World War I Military Service 1917-1919 on ancestry.com
4 – USMC Casualty Report received via FOIA request
5 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/