DOB/DOD: January 6, 1960 (Kingston, Jamaica) – October 23, 1983; 23 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Gloria Dwarka on February 19, 1980, in Stamford, CT – divorced 1982; Married Doreen T. Williams on January 2, 1983, in Stamford, CT
LOCAL ADDRESS: Cerretta Street and Myrtle Avenue, Stamford
ENLISTMENT: March 28, 1980
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0351, Assaultman
UNIT: Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 24th Marine Amphibious Unit
FAMILY: Born to David (1933-2018) and Elizabeth A. Nemar Sundar [future last names, Dorka and Volcy] (1935-1995). One sister, Bridget S. Sundar Dwarka (1976-).
OTHER: Devon Sundar came to the United States from Jamaica in 1976.
From The Standard-Star (New Rochelle, New York) on November 13, 1983
…
In Stamford, Sundar was buried in St. John’s Cemetery following a funeral Mass at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church that was attended by several hundred people.
In his sermon, Reverend Jerry Mason recalled his own thoughts when he went overseas to fight in World War II.
“Devon gave his life bravely,” Mason said. “I say bravely because there is no man who is in the service of our Lord who does not recognize the possibility of his own demise when he goes into battle.
Sundar, an immigrant from Jamaica, was honored in a brief memorial service following the Mass.
“Corporal Sundar joins the list of heroes who have died for our country,” said Mayor Louis A. Clapes.
At the graveside. Sundar’s widow, Doreen Sundar, 24, clutched her mother and said, “Ma, I don’t want him dead.” Sundar’s mother, Elizabeth. Screamed in grief.
Three Marines fired a rifle salute, and a single trumpet played “Taps’ as Sundar was buried.
From The Hartford Courant on October 23, 1988
TIME DOES NOT ERASE PAIN FOR SOLDIERS’ KIN
When her husband died, Doreen Sundar found it hard to turn to people she didn’t know — relatives of other victims — for solace. She found comfort talking about her husband of only 10 months, Corporal Devon Sundar, with her family and close friends.
“Sitting down and creating him to someone else is hard for me,” said Sundar, 29, a district business administrator for Xerox Corporation in Stamford. “There was so much to him.”
Doreen Sundar used to keep pictures of her husband on the walls; he was 23 when he died. But after several years, she started taking them down.
“I figure he’s always around,” she said. “He doesn’t have to be up on the wall. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of Devon. I think about him all the time. It’s always pleasant thoughts.”
If she were not working today, Sundar said, she would visit the cemetery in Darien where her husband is buried. Like many times before, she will have a quiet conversation with her husband.
“You have to go on. He’d want me to,” she said with conviction. “It’s life.”
Honored on the Stamford Veterans Memorial, Atlantic Street, Stamford, Connecticut. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
Buried in Saint John Cemetery, 25 Camp Avenue, Darien, Connecticut; Singles Section ASD, lot 16. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
END