PVT John Verdin Wood

courtesy of Royzee

PVT John Verdin Wood was born 27 Sep 1918 in Huntington, New York on Long Island. He was the only child of John Wilson and Florence Francis (Verdin) Wood. His father, whose right arm was crippled by polio, worked as a salesman in a hardware store, as a traveling salesman, and then back to clerking in a hardware store and then in 1942 for Republic Aircraft Corporation. The family lived at various places in Huntington, renting on Wall Street, owning a $6000 home at 27 Irwin Place, then again renting, this time at the home they had owned. John had managed to complete high school and found work, first as a truck driver and then as a welder and worked for A. S. Pettit and Sons as well as Nassau Suffolk Lumber and Supply Company. He reportedly earned $300 in 1939 and continued to live with his parents. John married Dorothy May Smith in June 1943. A local woman, he may have known her all or most of her life. His mother died in August 1943 at the age of 52. 

John was drafted in January 1944. After completing his basic military training he was sent to the European theater. PVT Wood was transferred from the replacement depot to L Company 116th Infantry on 7 Aug 1944 to serve as a rifleman. The unit was then in the vicinity of Vire, France. He fought with the unit as the regiment approached Brest, France and was killed in action on 30 Aug 1944.

PVT Wood is buried in the Brittany American Cemetery. 

Dorothy re-married in 1947, the couple had no children. John Wilson Wood died at the age of 58 in 1948.