DOB/DOD: January 18, 1926 (Gill, MA) – March 19, 1945; 19 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 219A Sheldon Street, Hartford. The house is no longer there.
ENLISTMENT: August 30, 1943, in Springfield, Massachusetts, at 17 years old.
SERVICE NUMBER: 547903
UNIT: Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marines, 5th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0745, Rifleman
FAMILY: Born to Frank (1893-1970) and Esther Galanek Brzozowski (1892-1967). Both were born in Poland. Walter is the fourth born of five children. Siblings are Nellie Brzozowski Petchark (1918-1979), Jennie Brzozowski Zaremba (1919-1962), Chester (1923-2012), and Irene Brzozowski Pawlowski (1928-2014). 1, 2 Walter worked for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division prior to joining the Marine Corps.
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. Training at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California, in early 1944. Assigned to the 5th Marine Division, 13th Marines in January 1945. 4 Died from a gunshot wound to the head. 3
From The Hartford Courant May 12, 1945
Private First Class Walter J. Brzozowski, 19, died recently of wounds received on Iwo Jima in March, according to word received from the War Department by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Brzozowski, 219 Sheldon Street. Born in Gill, Massachusetts, Private First Class Brzozowski was employed at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Division, United Aircraft Corporation, prior to entering the Marine Corps in October 1943. He had been overseas since last October. Besides his parents, he leaves a brother, Corporal Chester Brzozowski, stationed in an Army unit in the South Pacific, and three sisters, Mrs. Jennie Zaremba and Miss Irene Brzozowski, both of Hartford, and Mrs. Nellie Petchark of New London. A memorial mass will be celebrated at a time to be announced.
Initially buried in the 5th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Plot 7, Row 9, Grave 1888. At his mother’s request, remains were repatriated and buried on April 10, 1948, in Mount Saint Benedict Cemetery, 896 Blue Hills Avenue, Bloomfield, CT; Section R, Lot 1047, Grave 2. 3Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
1 – 1930 census https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/
2 – 1940 census https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
3 – USMC Casualty Report received via FOIA request.
4 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/