DOB/DOD: October 25, 1920 (Stratford, CT) – February 25, 1945; 24 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Doris “Dody” May Young (1922-1988) on November 1, 1941, in West Haven. She remarried Irving’s brother, Russell Estabrook, on July 26, 1946, in West Haven.
LOCAL ADDRESS: 236 First Avenue, West Haven
ENLISTMENT: May 26, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut
SERVICE NUMBER: 987515
UNIT: Company K, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines, 4th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0746, Automatic Rifleman
FAMILY: Born to Irving W. Sr. (1889-1958) and Ruby Hemingway Estabrook (1888-1953). Fourth born of eight children. Siblings were Royal (1910-?), Elsie (1914-1995), Kenneth (1917-1992), Robert (1922-1994), Russell (1923-1983), Marion (1925-1995), and Donald (1927-2007). 1, 2 Irving Jr. worked at Vought Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford prior to the service. 3
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, in mid-1944. Training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, then on to the 17th Replacement Draft en route to Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California, in October 1944. Final assignment with the 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines, 4th Marine Division in January 1945. 4 Unknown nature and extent of how he was killed in action on February 25, 1945, the 6th day of the invasion. He was in the Marine Corps for 9 months. 5
Honored on a plaque at Painter’s Park, 251 Kelsey Avenue, West Haven, Connecticut; photo by Jeff DeWitt.
Initially buried in the 3rd Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Row 13, Grave 318. His wife had remarried and relinquished disposition of his remains to his father, who asked for his remains to be repatriated and buried in Lakeview Cemetery, 1219 Boston Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut; Veterans Section 19V, Grave 39. 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 – WWII draft cards: https://www.ancestry.com/cs/military/wwii-draft-card-collection
4 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/
5 – USMC Casualty Report received via FOIA request