June 28, 1912 (Southport, CT) – July 3, 1944; 32 years old
Unmarried
Last local address: Scribner Avenue, Norwalk
Enlisted December 18, 1941
Serial number: 31272734
82ND AIRBORNE, 325TH INFANTRY, 325TH GLIDER INFANTRY, HEADQUARTERS COMPANY
Officially listed as “Died of Wounds” in Normandy.
From The Norwalk Hour May 25, 1944
LOCAL SOLDIER TRAINS FOR FOURTH CAMPAIGN
Headquarters, European Theatre of Operations — Franklyn E. Slavin, 31, son of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Slavin, Ponus Manor, Norwalk, Connecticut, is training in England with a glider infantry unit for a fourth crack at the Germans. Private Slavin served in the African, Sicilian and Italian campaigns. Before the Anzio battle, Private Slavin fought near Salerno Bay, north of Naples. On the beachhead, Slavin said, sniper and artillery fire was particularly harassing. Three different houses in which he and his buddies were billeted, were hit by shells, he said. On another occasion he was pinned down by 20 millimeter and machine gun fire while moving up to his mortar squad on a terraced canal bank. Before entering the Army in December 1942 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Private Slavin was employed by the Bullard Company, Bridgeport.
From The Norwalk Hour September 20, 1948
Services for PFC Franklyn E. Slavin, son of Mr. and Mrs George W. Slavin of Pinellas Park, Florida, formerly of this city, were held Thursday at the Baynard Funeral Home, St. Petersburg, followed by military rites in Memorial Park Cemetery in that city. Commander Mark Wheeler and Chaplain Archibald McDonald of the American Legion Post officiated and a firing squad was present from MacDill Field. Pallbearers were Mark Wheeler, Frank Smith, Victor Walfe, Don Rathel, Charles Lincoln and John Anderson. Private First Class Slavin was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, 325th Infantry. He was killed in July 1944, in France. Also surviving is his brother George W. Slavin of Norwalk.
Buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, St. Petersburg, Florida; Division V, Section 2, Block 9, Space 3.
