DOB/DOD: May 13, 1924 (Brooklyn, NY) – March 2, 1945; 20 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 426 Platt Avenue, West Haven
ENLISTMENT: March 17, 1943, in Springfield, Massachusetts.
SERVICE NUMBER: 845658
UNIT: Ordnance Company, 8th Field Depot, 4th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0978, Ordnance Stock Man (Quartermaster)
FAMILY: Born to Ernest (1894-1971) and Hedwig “Catherine” Gautche Brandenberger (1898-1924 [died 6 weeks after giving birth to Walter]). They were both born in Switzerland. Oldest of three children. Two half-siblings, Ernest Jr. (1927-1974), and Helen Brandenberger Phelps (1933-2015). 1,2 Walter worked in the A.C. Gilbert Company’s Branford Plant in New Haven prior to the service. 6
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island in early 1943. Assigned to Casual Company 2 at Treasure Island, California. In 1944, he was assigned to HQ Company, 2nd Base Depot Supply Service, Amphibious Corps, then Ordnance Company, 6th Base Depot, Supply Service, Fleet Marine Forces, and finally to the 4th Marine Division, 8th Field Depot, Ordnance Company. 8 Died from a gunshot wound to the chest. 7
West Haven High School Class of ’42 3
Photos from grand-niece Nicole Brandenberger. Walter is far left in the photo below.
Memorial certificate contributed by great-niece Nicole Brandenberger. The certificate was presented to the Brandenberger family and was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Purple Heart Medal certificate contributed by great-niece Nicole Brandenberger. Signed by General Alexander Vandegrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy.
From The Herald-News (Passaic, NJ) on May 9, 1945
NUTLEY – Private First Class Walter E. Brandenberger, USMC, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Brandenberger, 393 Walnut Street, Nutley, was listed by the Navy Department today as killed in action in the Pacific.
From The Boston Globe on June 19, 1948
HOLLISTON, June 19 – Veterans organizations and a detachment of Marines from the Charlestown Navy Yard paid military honors to Private First Class Walter Brandenberger, USMC, killed on Iwo Jima in March 1945, in St. Mary’s Church this morning at 10. A high mass of requiem was celebrated by Reverend Leo A. O’Leary. The body was escorted to Lake Grove Cemetery, where the Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars assisted in the honors. The business places of the town closed during the hour of the funeral.
Honored on a plaque at Painter’s Park, 251 Kelsey Avenue, West Haven, Connecticut. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
Initially buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Plot 1, Row 32, Grave 1586. At his father’s request, he was repatriated and buried on June 19, 1948, in Lake Grove Cemetery, 1 Cemetery Avenue, Holliston, Massachusetts; South Section, Plot 227A, where Waban Avenue curves towards the lake. 8Photos 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.classmates.com/siteui/yearbooks/73751
4 – https://www.fold3.com/page/653606212/walter-ernest-brandenberger
5 – https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74059360/walter-e-brandenberger
6 – https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238/
7 – USMC Casualty Report received via FOIA request
8 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/