William Alfred Eddy, Jr.
"Bill"
Marine Corps Reserve | Service Number O-13908
February 26, 1921
in Princeton, NJ
Col. William Alfred Eddy, Sr. (USMC)
Mary Emma (Garvin) Eddy
The Hotchkiss School (1938)
Princeton University (1942)
General Theological Seminary (1949)
College student
October 21, 1940 (enlisted)
September 26, 1942 (commissioned)
December 12, 1942
from Quantico, VA
October 19, 1945
to Marine Barracks, New York Navy Yard
March 18, 1946
Resigned commission
Hanover, NH – address of parents, William & Mary Eddy
Service & Campaigns
Enlisted in Marine Corps Volunteer Reserve at New York City on 21 October 1940; assigned to Platoon Leaders’ Unit, Third Reserve District. Placed on inactive duty during academic year; attended training at Basic School Detachment, Quantico, summer 1941. To active duty in July, 1942; reported to Company H, Candidates’ Class, Quantico on 20 July 1942.
Commissioned second lieutenant on 26 September 1942, completed training with Company E, 12th Reserve Officers’ Class. Assigned to Baker Company, First Separate Battalion (Reinforced) at New River, North Carolina on 12 December 1942.
Outfit: B/1/24th Marines
Rank: First Lieutenant
MOS: 2600 – Company executive officer
Outfit: B/1/24th Marines
Rank: First Lieutenant
MOS: 2600 – Company executive officer
Outfit: B/1/24th Marines
Rank: First Lieutenant
MOS: 2600 – Company executive officer
Important Events:
July 24, 1944 – slightly wounded in action, cause and circumstances not known; not evacuated
Awarded Bronze Star Medal for service in the Mariana Islands:
For meritorious achievement in action against the enemy on the islands of Saipan and Tinian, Marianas Group, from June 15th to August 1st 1944, while serving with a Marine rifle company. Throughout the campaign, First Lieutenant Eddy performed his duties as executive officer of the company in an outstanding manner, supervising the supply of the frontline troops and evacuating the wounded, frequently under heavy enemy fire forward of our front lines. He led numerous patrols and coordinated the many attacks of his company with adjoining units. His complete disregard for his own safety and his aggressive fighting spirit were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Outfit: B/1/24th Marines
Rank: Captain
MOS: 1368 – Company commander
Important Events:
February 26, 1945 – slightly wounded in action, cause and circumstances not known; not evacuated
March 6, 1945 – slightly wounded in action, cause and circumstances not known; not evacuated
March 9, 1945 – temporarily replaced as commanding officer by Major Milton Cokin; served as executive officer
March 18, 1945 – resumed command of company
Awarded Navy Cross for actions during the campaign:
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain William A. Eddy, Jr. (MCSN: 0-13908), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer of Company B, First Battalion, Twenty-Fourth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, during operations against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands. On 19 February 1945, while leading his company after dark to the high ground on the Division’s right flank, Captain Eddy discovered that adjacent units were below and to the rear of his unit. When several small enemy counterattacks threatened his precarious position, he personally rallied his men and, encouraging them to hold their lines, led them on to annihilate many of the Japanese. On 8 March, during a heavy mortar barrage, Captain Eddy directed an attack on an enemy blockhouse and, although wounded in his right arm by a hostile rifle bullet, refused treatment to continue the assault and destroy the objective. Although heavy enemy fire frequently pinned down his company, he repeatedly stood up forward of his men to encourage them and lead them against the objective and, by his courageous efforts, was in a great measure responsible for the neutralization of the area and the annihilation of the Japanese where no advance had been made for seven days. His aggressive leadership, courageous fighting spirit and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Transferred to Headquarters Battalion, Fourth Marine Division on April 10, 1945, for duty as aide to the Division commander, MGEN Clifton Cates.
Returned to First Battalion, 24th Marines at Camp Maui on August 6, 1945; temporary duty with Headquarters Company, then took command of Able Company for remainder of overseas service.
On October 19, 1945, transferred to Marine Barracks, Navy Yard New York, then to Company A, First Headquarters Battalion, for duty with Savings Bond Division, Records Branch.
Resigned commission and honorably discharged on March 18, 1946.
Individual Decorations
Medal
Navy Cross
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
– with Gold Star
––with second Gold Star
Campaign
Iwo Jima (February 19 & March 8, 1945)
Saipan & Tinian (June 15 – August 1, 1944)
Tinian (July 24, 1944)
Iwo Jima (February 26, 1945)
Iwo Jima (March 6, 1945)
Citation
“For extraordinary heroism…”
(See above)
So I got back to a pickup spot, and he got on a field phone and called the beach and said to send a Jeep; he had several wounded. And they called back that it was dangerous and they weren’t sending any Jeeps up to the front line. So he hollered in the phone that if they didn’t send a Jeep he was going to call his men off the line, and he said out of the 212 men, he only had about 17 effective left, and he’d just as soon leave the front line anyway. And so they sent a Jeep up, and they got me back to an aid station.
So I kind of traded my life against the medal, and I’ve never been sorry for that.
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.