DOB/DOD: March 20, 1920 (Manchester, CT) – February 19, 1945; 24 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Anne Sipples Liss (1922-2011) on May 12, 1942, in Coventry, CT. She remarried Louis G. White of New York in 1946. One half-sister, Sandra Ann White (1947-2011).
LOCAL ADDRESS: 189 Oak Street, Manchester
ENLISTMENT: April 7, 1943, in Springfield, Massachusetts
SERVICE NUMBER: 845846
UNIT: Company C, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, 4th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0522, Guard; and 0604, Machine Gun Crewman
FAMILY: Born to Ben [WWI veteran] (1886-1926) and Rose Kanesky Liss (1888-1962). Later remarried to Joseph Zadorozny (1886-1967). Youngest of 3 children; brother Stanley (1916-1980), and sister Pola (1919-?). 1, 2 Worked as a Presser at Independent Clark in Manchester prior to the service. 3
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, in the Spring of 1943. Assigned to the Naval Ammunition Depot, Iona Island, New York, from July 1943 through July 1944. The final assignment was in October 1944 to the 4th Marine Division, 25th Marines, 1st Battalion. 5 Died from wounds to the abdomen. 4
From the book “World War II History of Manchester, Connecticut.”
Honored on a monument in Munro Park, 62 Porter Street, Manchester, Connecticut. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
Initially buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Row 10, Plot 1, Grave 492. Mrs. Liss relinquished the disposition of the remains to Walter’s mother. Remains were repatriated in 1948 and buried in Saint Bridget’s Cemetery, 190 Oakland Street, Manchester, Connecticut; far right side of the cemetery near a chain link fence. Photo by K.G. Keena Memorials after cleaning the headstone.
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 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/