DOB/DOD: October 3, 1921 (Norwalk, CT) – June 25, 1997 (Norwalk, CT); 75 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Katherine Restivo Young (1926-2016) on April 22, 1950, in Norwalk, CT
CHILDREN: One daughter, Valerie Young Leone (1953-).
LOCAL ADDRESS: 5 McKinley Street, Rowayton and 223 East Rocks Road, Norwalk
ENLISTMENT: September 15, 1942, in Springfield, Massachusetts
SERVICE NUMBER: 459699
DISCHARGE: January 12, 1946
UNIT: Company A, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division
FAMILY: Born to George E. (1892-1973) and Dorothy G. Stouter Young (1895-1983). One sister, Gwendolyn Mae Young Settanni (1919-2013). George worked as a sheet metal worker at Vought Sikorsky Aircraft prior to the Marine Corps. George Young’s father-in-law, John Restivo, is also a Purple Heart Medal recipient. His profile can be seen HERE.
CIRCUMSTANCES: Wounded in action on February 23, 1945, in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Recipient of the Purple Heart Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one bronze star, Presidential Unit Commendation Ribbon, Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia Clasp, World War II Victory Medal, and the US Marine Corps Marksman Rifle Badge.
Norwalk High School Class of 1940
Photos contributed by Gerry Leone
Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, in the Fall of 1942. Parachute School at Camp Lejeune, New River, North Carolina, in January of 1943, then Parachute Battalion, Company A, Camp Lejeune. In the summer of 1943, assigned to the 4th Paratrooper Battalion, Company A, Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California. In January 1944, transferred to the 5th Marine Division, 26th Marines, 1st Battalion, Headquarters Company, Camp Pendleton. After the Battle of Iwo Jima, transferred to Headquarters Battalion, 1st Casualty Company, then discharged in January of 1946.
From The Norwalk Hour February 13, 1995
BORN: Norwalk, October 3, 1921
EDUCATION: NHS (1940)
SERVICE: U.S. Marines (1942-46)
DECORATIONS: Purple Heart, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon (with Battle Star)
OCCUPATION: Retired applications engineer, Nash Engineering
RESIDENCE: 223 East Rocks Road
WIFE: Catherine Restivo Young, Homemaker
DAUGHTER: Valerie Anne Leone, dental secretary
NORWALK — He was in only one battle during four years with the U.S. Marines in World War II, but it proved to be the bloodiest in corps history. The details are a bit hazy a half-century later, but George C. Young can recall landing on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, with the third wave of the 5th Marine Division. As a mortarman with A Company in the ist Battalion of the 26th Regiment, the Private First Class remembers lugging the heavy weapon, plus rifle and pack, across the soft, dark sandy
beach of volcanic ash to a sheltering terrace created by the surf. “All hell broke loose as soon as we started setting up the mortar,” he said. “We got only one round off before we had so many casualties we threw the mortar in a shell hole and continued as riflemen.” Young’s unit was to help cut the island in two at its narrowest point, a half-mile wide at the base of Mt. Suribachi. Enemy gun spotters on the mountain had a clear view of every Marine inching forward shell hole by shell hole since there was no protective vegetation after periodic bombing over eight months and continuous naval bombing for 72 hours prior to the landing. The Marines suffered 600 dead and 3,000 wounded in the first 48 hours, by which time the island had been crossed, the Japanese defenders separated, and the battle for the first of two strategic airfields 750 miles from Tokyo had begun. It was then that Young’s fighting career ended in its third day when an enemy rifle round bore a hole through his shoulder, scraping the bone. “We were advancing toward the airfield at the time. The noise was worse than the pain. I just lay in a hole for a short while before a medic wrapped me up and | was helped to the rear.” Within hours he was aboard a ship and within days at a naval hospital outside of San Francisco. After completing his recovery at a naval hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, he convalesced during a 30-day leave at the Rowayton home his daughter now owns before returning briefly to Marine duty in Japan at war’s end. After mustering out, the son of the late George E. and Dorothy Stouter Young followed his father at Nash Engineering and became involved in veterans affairs. He will be in Washington, D.C., this coming weekend for a reunion with the 5th Marine Division and will be with members of Mahackemo Detachment, Marine Corps League of Norwalk, the following weekend in New Britain for the dedication of the $200,000 Marine Memorial Monument in honor of the 98 Connecticut men who died during the 23-day battle of Iwo Jima.
George C. Young is buried in St. John’s Cemetery, 223 Richards Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut. The plot number is unknown.
END
Honor Norwalk CT veterans 