DOB/DOD: December 13, 1917 (New Haven, CT) – February 24, 1945; 27 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 56 Woodward Avenue, New Haven
ENLISTMENT: July 14, 1942, in Springfield, Massachusetts
SERVICE NUMBER: 403813
UNIT: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 21st Marines, 3rd Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0737, Fire Team Leader
FAMILY: Parents John P. (1872-1942) and Albina F. Riordan (1884-1979). Both parents were born in Ireland. Joseph was the second youngest of 4 children. John (1904-1977), Mary Riordan Sullivan (1909-1990), and Katharyn “Kae” Riordan Barrett (1921-2011). 1 Worked at International Harvester Co. in West Haven prior to the service. 2 Completed 2 years of college.
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, in the Summer of 1942. Worked as a clerk in the Sergeant Major’s Office at Quantico, Virginia, from the fall of 1942 to the Spring of 1943. In October 1943, assigned to the 31st Replacement Battalion, Camp Lejeune, New River, North Carolina. His final assignment to the 3rd Marine Division, 21st Marines, 2nd Battalion, Company E, came in January 1944. Wounded in action in the Summer of 1944. 3 His cause of death is unknown. PFC John Budway from Bristol, Connecticut, was in the same company and died 10 days after Corporal Riordan. Wounded in action at Guam on July 26, 1944. Returned to duty on July 29, 1944.
Photos contributed by Sharon Tracey.
Honored on the WWII Roll of Honor Marker, 183 Townsend Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut. 3 Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
Initially buried in the 3rd Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Row 10, Grave 236. At his mother’s request, his remains were repatriated and buried in 1948 in St. Lawrence Cemetery, 280 Derby Avenue, West Haven, Connecticut;St. Christopher Avenue, Section R, Lot 36 ½, Grave #4. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
1 – 1940 census https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
2 – https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238
3 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/