| NAME: William Alfred Eddy, Jr. |
NICKNAME: Bill |
SERVICE NUMBER: 0-13908 |
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| HOME OF RECORD: Hanover, NH |
NEXT OF KIN: Parents, Colonel & Mrs William A. Eddy, Sr. |
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| DATE OF BIRTH: 2/26/1921 |
SERVICE DATES: 10/21/1940 – 3/18/1946 |
DATE OF DEATH: 7/18/1989 |
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| CAMPAIGN | UNIT | MOS | RATE | RESULT | |||
| Roi-Namur | B/1/24 | 2600 | First Lieutenant (Executive Officer) |
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| Saipan | B/1/24 | 2600 | First Lieutenant (Executive Officer) |
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| Tinian | B/1/24 | 2600 | First Lieutenant (Executive Officer) |
WIA | |||
| Iwo Jima | B/1/24 | 1542 | Captain (Commanding) |
WIA 2x | |||
| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS: Navy Cross, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with Gold Star |
LAST KNOWN RANK: Captain |
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Biography coming soon.
Jan. 2021 – Writing my father’s memories as we review this site…. Chester McCoy Sr. carried the radio for Eddy on Iwo Jima for a single day after the official radioman was wounded. He said Eddy was the calmest man he ever saw under fire. “Mortars were exploding all around and they both walked around while Eddy calmly called out instructions to artillery.” The mortars knocked out the nearby enemy and things calmed down for the day. Chester was then sent to the beach for stretchers. He returned with medics and the fighting was done for that day. Someone else was nominated to carry the radio the next day and Chester returned to being a rifleman.
My father Richard W. Vrana talked very highly of Capt. Eddy. He said he was a born leader, and was always the first one to advance, leading by example. He said he really knew how to encourage the men. My father on many occasions was a runner for him, and said it was an honor to be lead by him.
Captain Eddy is my cousin and his father, Col. William A Eddy is my cousin as well. Our common ancestor is Col. Eddy’s grandmother, Hannah Maria Condit. I cannot compare with either man, though we all look like Consdit’s with boxy heads and high foreheads. I am proud to call them my family. I am an officer in the USCG and on 9/11 I was among the very first first responders. I am proud to have received the 9/11 Medal of Bravery in honor of my family. The tradition lives on!
Folks should read up on Captain Eddy’s amazing father who served as a combat Marine officer in WWI in the Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918. The remarkable Col. William Alfred Eddy was raised in Lebanon, became a college professor and due to his excellent ability to speak Arabic played a central role in advising FDR to establish good relations with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia. The elder Eddy later played a central role in establishing the CIA after serving in many intelligence functions as a Marine officer during World War II. See William A. Eddy’s entry in Wikipedia. Capt. Eddy’s younger brother, who died in 2011, also served as a Marine officer in WWII and was recalled for service in the Korean War. A very famous photograph on the senior Eddy’s Wikipedia page shows Col. Eddy interpreting for Ibn Saud and FDR on the cruiser USS Quincey during World War II.