DOB/DOD: May 31, 1919 (Griswold, CT) – March 10, 1945; 25 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 131 Glasgo Community, Griswold
ENLISTMENT: July 7, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut
SERVICE NUMBER: 987777
UNIT: 34th Replacement Draft, 3rd Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0521, Basic Marine
FAMILY: Born to Azarie (1880-1922) and Arcelia Lacroix Doyon (1887-1933). Youngest of 6 children. Siblings are Dianna Doyon Button (1906-1995), Arcelia Doyon Jodoin (1909-2002), Armand (1911-1992), Yvonne Doyon Petrin (1913-1963), and Isabella (1917-1992).
OTHER: After a long illness, Odell’s father died when he was just two years old. The 1930 census shows sister Bella and Odell’s stepfather was George J. Brown, whom Arcelia married in 1925. George Brown continued to raise Odell even after Odell’s mother’s death in 1933. They lived in Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1930, then back to Griswold, Connecticut, in the 1940 census. Before the service, Odell worked at Glasgo Finishing Company in Griswold, Connecticut. 1,2,3
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. Muster Rolls show him being assigned to the 34th Replacement Draft in the 3rd Marine Division. 5 Died aboard the USS Samaritan of multiple wounds received. 4 He was in the Marine Corps for 8 months. Private Doyon and Private Marvin Tinker of Niantic, Connecticut, were in the same unit and died a day apart.
Initially buried in the Army, Navy & Marine Cemetery on Guam, Plot C, Row 20, Grave 11. At his mother’s request, his remains were repatriated and buried in Saint Thomas Cemetery, 153 Sheldon Road, Griswold, Connecticut; Section D, middle, rear. 4Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
1 – 1930 census https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/
2 – 1940 census https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
3 – https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238/
4 – USMC Casualty Report received via FOIA request.
5 – Marine Corps Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/