Edward W. Shiok, Cpl., USMC
Edward W. Shiok was born in New Britain, Connecticut, in 1924. The son of Polish merchants, he left high school at age 17 to join the Marines in September of 1941. Immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he transferred to the 2nd Defense Battalion, 2nd Marine Brigade in San Diego, California, which was scrambling men and materiel from around the globe for the defense of Tutuila Island in American Samoa. In January of 1942 he sailed aboard the SS Matsonia and arrived in Pago Pago. There he was assigned to the 155mm Group of the 8th Defense Battalion, which then joined the American island hopping campaign through the Central Pacific. Shiok served three years in the Pacific Theater of War on American Samoa, Wallis, and Abemama.