Cpl. Edward G. Funk

E.

EDWARD G. FUNK attended Bristol High School in Bristol, Connecticut, then received his ABA degree from Nichols Business College in June, 1941. He enlisted in the Marines Corps May 1, 1942, entered “boot camp” at Parris Island, SC and was then stationed at Camp Pendleton, Cal. After being offered a stateside “desk job”, he volunteered for overseas service and disembarked with the 24th Regiment in January, 1944, participating in the invasion of the Marshall Islands, Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. During action with the Intelligence Section of the 2nd Battalion, he was awarded a distinguished citation of Corporal and was discharged from the service in October, 1945. With his war experience behind him, through a previous agreement with his father, Eddie was allowed to bypass the family furniture business to attend art school. He was accepted at the prestigious Cooper Union School of Art in NYC where he began taking classes. However, on a trip with a good Bristol buddy to NC, he met his future bride on a blind date at Elon College. With the birth of their first child, Eddie’s aspirations of becoming a working artist was altered by a move south to Greensboro, NC and a new career as an architectural draftsman where he could at least use pencil and paper to support his young family. Ed and his wife, Florene, raised two sons and at the time of his sudden death in 1983 at age 62, he was still on staff with the engineering department of Burlington Industries. We feel very fortunate to have a place to share young Eddie Funk’s battle sketches of the Battle of Roi-Namur on this website. He was a generous and loving husband and father as well as a gifted artist who very seldom discussed his exciting days in the Pacific as a US Marine except to express sincere pride in his WWII service.