DOB/DOD: April 30, 1926 (Hartford, CT) – March 10, 1945; 18 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 16 Dudley Street, Bristol
ENLISTMENT: June 19, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut
SERVICE NUMBER: 987673
UNIT: Company L, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, 4th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0745, Rifleman
FAMILY: Son of Peter (1873-1942) and Mary Pacciucco Manzone (1882-1937), both born in Italy. Siblings are Madeline Manzone Coratola (1900-1980), John (1901-1954), Fred (1904-1952), Antoinette Manzone Coratola (1906-1965), Louis (1909-1966), Michael (1918-1933), and James (1920-2007). Private Manzone was 7 when his brother Michael died, 11 when his mother died, and 16 when his father died. 1 Worked at New Departure Division of General Motors in Bristol prior to the service. 2
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina, in the Summer of 1944. Infantry training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Transferred from the 30th Replacement Draft, 4th Marine Division to the 4th Marine Division, 25th Marines, 3rd Battalion, Company L. 3 Died from wounds to the head. 4
Photo from FamilySearch.org
From The Hartford Courant January 21, 1949
Funeral Services for Private Joseph Manzone, 18, of 16 Dudley Street, Bristol, who was killed in action on Iwo Jima, March 10, 1945, will be held Saturday at 8 a.m. at the Dunn Funeral Home, 191 West Street, Bristol, and in St. Anthony’s Church at 9 a.m. Burial will be in the family plot in Mount Saint Benedict Cemetery. Private Manzone was born in Hartford on April 30, 1926, the son of the late Peter and Mary Pasciucco Manzone. He came to Bristol in his early youth. He attended the Park Street School and Bristol High School. He was employed at the New Departure Division of General Motors at the time of his enlistment in the Marine Corps on June 9, 1944. He received his basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Camp Pendleton, California; and Camp Maui, Hawaii, before going into combat. He served with the Fourth Marine Division and was the holder of the Purple Heart Medal and the Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon with battle stars. He leaves two sisters, Mrs. Anthony Coratola and Mrs. Carmine Coratola, both of Bristol; four brothers, John Manzone, Fred Manzone, and James Manzone, all of Hartford, and several nieces and nephews.
Honored on the Bristol (CT) World War II – Korean War Monument, 495 South Street, Bristol, Connecticut.
The letter below was contributed by Mary Adamick, niece of Joseph Manzone. It is included in its entirety and used with permission.
Here is a copy of the letter that I installed in my memoir. I was about six or seven then. I’m in my eighties now, and I decided I wanted to capture family stories from the era of the Depression and World War II, along with some events that family members do not think to ask about until it is too late.
During the war, as Mike and I watched our Uncles Jim and Joey, who lived upstairs, go away to war along with the Carnemola neighbors, Mom would help us “write” letters to Uncle Joey. In one letter, we asked 18-year-old Uncle Joey what war is like. He answered with a long letter written while he was on a troopship preparing to land at Iwo Jima with the Fourth Marines.
“Dear Mary and Butchie, I don’t know when or if you will ever get this letter, but I hope you both do someday.
“You see, kids, I’m on a big troopship with a lot of other Marines, way out in the Pacific Ocean. We are going to fight the Japs once more. I can’t tell you the name of the place where we are going to hit them, but by the time you get this letter, your Mommy and Daddy will have heard or read all about the battle. Then they can tell you where I am and what has happened.
“You kids are too young to understand what war is. War is the worst thing that can exist. War means that many boys have to leave home and the ones they love. War means that many boys will get hurt, and many will not come home again. Boys like Uncle Jim and Cousins Pete and Jim and myself didn’t want to leave home, but we had to.
“You see, kids, if you are playing in your backyard and a fresh boy tries to chase you out and play there himself, you wouldn’t let him. You’d fight back, wouldn’t you? Well, that’s what the Japs tried to do, only they are mean little men, and we fight in a different way. We fight with weapons, and we fight to kill.
“The Japs were jealous of us Americans, jealous for the things we have and for what we stand for—‘Freedom.’ That’s why they started this war, and that’s why we boys have gone out to stop them so that they can never bother little kids like you. You both can go right on playing until you grow up, and then you will understand what this is all about. I hope I have given you both an idea of what this is all about, and I’m sure that Mommy tries to explain things like this to you both. As soon as the fight is over, I will let you know that I am all right.
“Mary, I hear that you are now taking tap dancing lessons and that you are very good. I wish I could see you, but someday, when I come home, you will dance for me, won’t you?”
“And, Butch, so you finally got your bugle, did you, and do you play it good yet? I bet by the time I get back, you will be a good bugler.
“Well, kids I have to close now. Be good little kids, and at night, when you say your prayers, pray for all of us. Pray that the war will end soon, with a great victory for us. I love you both. God bless you. Love, Your Uncle Joe.”
Initially buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Plot 1, Row 31, Grave 1541. His remains were repatriated in 1949 and buried in Mount Saint Benedict Cemetery, 898 Blue Hills Avenue, Bloomfield / Hartford, Connecticut; Section M, Lot 509-512, Grave 2. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
1 – Pietro (Peter) Manzone’s page on ancestry.com: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/161352426/person/302107021269/facts
2 – https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238
3 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/
4 – USMC Casualty Report received via FOIA request